How 2002 helped Utah win the Winter Olympic Games in 2034

SALT LAKE CITY ( ABC4 ) — Salt Lake City is set to join an exclusive list of cities that have hosted the Olympic Games more than once when the 2034 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games come to the Beehive State. And it was their first time hosting in 2002 which helped make that dream a reality.

Only 10 cities have so far had the opportunity to host the Olympic Games more than once: Athens, Beijing, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Innsbruck, Lake Placid, London, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tokyo. Salt Lake City will be the 11th city to make the list.

Utah leaders, including Sen. Mitt Romney, suggested the 2002 Olympic Games set Utah up for success to join that list.

“There is no question about [what made the 2002 Olympic Games great.] It was the volunteers,” said Romney in an exclusive interview with ABC4. “We had over 20,000 people who gave 17 straight days. They didn’t get tickets, they didn’t go to events, they were there to save the world. They did it with smiles, with enthusiasm, [and] with energy.”

Romney said in 2002, Utans welcomed the world and made a positive impression with an extraordinary experience for not only the athletes but the spectators who came to visit. He recounted Utahns seeing the opportunity to serve and rise to the occasion.

“[They do that in every dimension of life,” said Romney. “That’s what made it so unusual to have the Games so successful as they were and made our Games so memorable.”

When the Future Host Committee for the IOC came to visit Utah in April , Chairman Karl Stoss said he felt that same spirit even in 2024.

“We could feel the enthusiasm and the spirit of Utah,” Stoss said. “The spirit from the Games from 2002 is still here.”

Another gift of the 2002 Olympics was the world-class venues – many of which have been kept and are still in use today. Romeny said the venues are still being used for what they were designed to be used for, which he called very unusual in the Olympic world.

“These Olympic venues were not mothballed,” Romney said. “So, we have athletes that come all over the country to train in Utah and many of them have come to live in Utah.”

The 2002 Winter Olympic Games put Utah on the map as the center of winter sports in the United States and left a legacy in Utah that would elevate the state to a successful 2034 Olympic bid.

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