Salt Lake City, Utah is hoping to bring international attention to the Beehive State once again. The capital of Utah was green-lighted as the sole US-sponsored bid for hosting the 2030 winter games, after the city was chosen over other candidates including Denver and Reno.
While the decision is disappointing for Coloradans, Salt Lake City was chosen for a variety of logical reasons. Since hosting the games in 2002, the Salt Lake metro area has maintained and upgraded many Olympic venues, while also continuing to host some premier winter sports championships.
The moment @slcmayor found out that SLC will be bidding for the Olympics! #SLC #SLC2030 #SLCyouin2030 pic.twitter.com/0i2ezm1N7A
— Salt Lake 2030 (@SLC2030) December 15, 2018
Looking back to the 2002 Winter games, which were initially marred by bribery scandals, SLC proved to be a very successful venue– especially for US Olympians
All together, Team USA netted 34 medals, a new record, which vastly surpassed previous games. More importantly, the 2002 games were a financial success for Utah, leaving a surplus fund that allows for the upkeep of various venues for future events.
Estimates for hosting the 2030 Olympics in Utah are in the 1.35 billion dollars range, a measly figure compared to the staggering costs of Sochi, Russia’s 2014 extravagance (*$50 billion estimated). The low financial costs, efficient transportation infrastructure and previous success of Salt Lake City as a host, all factored in as the committee made their selection.
Odds are now looking favorable for Utah to host the games with few other international cities entering the biding process as of now. Sapporo, Japan is a possible bid.
Holding the 2030 Olympics in Salt Lake City would also be the first time any country has hosted both the winter and summer games back-to-back, since Los Angeles, California was selected to host the 2028 Summer Olympics.