The summer Olympics are set to begin this week in Paris. The opening ceremonies are scheduled for Friday, but the excitement will kick off on Wednesday morning.
The International Olympic Committee will reveal the host city for the 2034 Winter Games, and all eyes are on Salt Lake City, Utah.
It has been more than two decades since Salt Lake City last hosted the Winter Games and over ten years since it began its quest to host another edition.
Throughout the past thirty years, Terrence Burns has been involved in 14 Olympic bids, with six of them successfully winning. He acknowledges the efforts put in by entrepreneur Fraser Bullock and his team to bring the Olympics back to Utah.
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“It takes a long time to put all of that together — so you never see that. Frankly, as an Olympic fan, the effort required to win the Olympic Games is hidden like a duck gracefully gliding across the water, where you do not see how vigorously its legs are paddling beneath the surface,” mentioned Burns. “Fortunately, Salt Lake has all the necessary resources already in place. There is no need to construct anything new, which aligns with the IOC’s latest directive. If you have to build it, then there is no point in bidding. Salt Lake embodies this philosophy.”
Burns highlights that bringing the Olympics to the United States is a distinctive process compared to other nations.
“Unlike other countries, the U.S. government does not have a dedicated ministry of sport or a high-ranking sports official. The federal government does not inject billions of dollars into Salt Lake like the French government is investing in Paris,” he explained. “In the U.S., hosting an Olympic Games is primarily privately funded.”
The 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City ended up generating a profit of $56 million. Whether Salt Lake City makes a profit or not, securing a second Olympics could have a lasting impact on the city.
