While Salt Lake City is still basking in the glory of the highly successful 2002 Winter Olympic Games, it looks like the city might have a shot at future Games.
A privately funded exploratory committee has just been formed to decide by February 1, 2018 whether to bid for the 2026 or the 2030 Winter Games. The U.S. Olympic Committee, has until March 31, 2018 to name an American candidate.
The committee is led by Govenor Gary Herbert and Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski. The three co-chairman are Fraser Bullock, the chief operating officer of the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City; Utah Senate President Wayne Niederhauser and Utah Sports Commission President and CEO Jeff Robbins. The leaders of two national winter sports organizations based in Salt Lake City will serve as the committee’s vice chairmen, U.S. Speedskating President Mike Plant and U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association Chairman Dexter Paine.
Innsbruck, Austria has already backed out of the bidding and Sion, Switzerland has postponed a bid. Salt Lake City had been looking primarily at the 2030 Winter Games but the committee has stated that they’re looking at all options at this point, including the 2026 Games. Both Denver and the Reno-Tahoe area are expected to compete for hosting.