Salt Lake City will host 2034 Winter Olympics and Paralympics

Wed, Jul  24, 2024 - By Utah and ICO press releases

Salt Lake City, Utah, has been selected to host the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, the fifth time the Winter Olympic Games have been held in the USA and 32 years since Utah last hosted the Olympics. The decision was made on July 24, 2024 during the 142nd International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session in Paris, France.

The Winter Olympics are tentatively scheduled from February 10-26 and the Paralympics from March 10-19, 2034. Previous Olympics were held in Lake Placid (1932, 1980), Olympic Valley (1960), and Salt Lake City (2002).

The 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games are scheduled to use 13 existing venues from the 2002 Games alongside a single temporary venue. Skiing and snowboarding events expected to be hosted at Deer Valley Resort, Solider Hollow Nordic Center, Park City Mountain, Snowbasin Resort, the Utah Olympic Park, and a temporary structure for freeski and snowboard big air in downtown Salt Lake City.

“The Olympic and Paralympics represent so much more than competition. At its core, the Olympic movement is about building community and celebrating excellence, things we do really well in Utah,” said Utah Governor Spencer Cox. “More than 80% of Utahns and 100% of our elected leaders supported our Olympic bid. We’re ready to host another Winter Games and we can’t wait to welcome the world back to Utah in 2034.”

Since 2002, Utah has been dedicated to maintaining every single Olympic venue, and has become a vital training site for United States and international athletes. Athletes from more than 30 nations have regularly trained in Utah, taking advantage of world-class facilities and training venues.

Utah set Olympic attendance records in 2002, selling more than 1.5 million tickets, with more than 70,000 fans in attendance per day — the highest attendance ever for a Winter Games. In addition, the 2002 Games sold a greater percentage of the available tickets than any previous Winter or Summer Olympic Games. The 2002 Winter Games had 2.1 billion viewers in 160 countries and territories and amassed 13.1 billion viewer hours, breaking records for broadcast, ticketing and sponsorship at the time. During the Games, Utah had 22,000 volunteers and 2,399 athletes.

The 2002 Games are often referred to as the “most successful Games in history” and the 2034 Winter Olympic Games will improve on that success, reaching new heights for Utah. We are prepared, excited and honored to host the Winter Games as they return to the Beehive State in 2034.

“This a great day for winter sport in the United States and around the world,” said United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) President Gene Sykes. “The Games vision brought forth by the Salt Lake City-Utah team – inclusive of state and city leaders, the remarkable bid team and the community that showed support for this effort throughout – has been collaborative and forward-looking from the very start. We are thankful to the IOC and to Karl Stoss who led the Future Host Commission, and we look forward to the process of organising what we know will be terrific Games in 2034.”