[2030・2034]The Full Story Behind the Simultaneous Selection of Two Winter Olympics Host Cities: Alps and Salt Lake City

On July 24, 2024, the 142nd IOC Session convened in Paris, just days before the opening of the 33rd Summer Olympic Games.

The main focus of the day was the “Double Award” process, which simultaneously selected the host cities for the 2030 and 2034 Winter Olympics.

Facing challenges such as a dwindling pool of viable candidate cities due to climate change and rising hosting costs, the IOC shifted its strategy toward securing reliable host cities sooner. On this day, it decided to award the 2030 Games to the French Alps and the 2034 Games to Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Moment the Host City Was Announced

As soon as the electronic vote of confidence concluded at the IOC Session, President Thomas Bach immediately declared in French that the 2030 Games would be held in the French Alps. (Announcement begins at 1:08:12 in the video)

This announcement included the unusual phrase: “sous réserve des conditions fixées par la session du CIO” (subject to the conditions set by the IOC Session).

“Chers collègues et amis, chers amis français, sous réserve des conditions fixées par la session du CIO, le Comité International Olympique a l’honneur d’annoncer que les 26èmes Jeux Olympiques d’hiver 2030 sont attribués aux Alpes françaises.”

Following the decision to host the Games in the French Alps, the General Assembly agenda will now move to selecting the host city for the 2034 Games.

After the electronic vote concluded, President Thomas Bach announced that Salt Lake City, Utah, will host the 2034 Games. (Announcement begins at 3:09:00 in the video)

“The International Olympic Committee has the honor to announce that the XXVII Olympic Winter Games 2034 are awarded to Salt Lake City-Utah!”

The Winter Olympics in Crisis: Host Cities Disappearing Along with the Snow

The Winter Olympics now face a crisis of survival.

A study report titled “Climate Change and the Future of the Winter Olympics” released by the IOC predicts that by 2050, many past host cities will no longer meet the weather conditions necessary to reliably hold snow sports events.

Furthermore, Olympic hosting costs continue to balloon, while cases of cities abandoning bids due to public opposition are proliferating.

The pool of viable host cities for the Winter Olympics is rapidly shrinking.

The IOC Faces the Crisis with Flexible Selection

To overcome this crisis, the IOC was compelled to overhaul its host city selection process.

• It will continue the “preferred candidate city” system adopted for the 2032 Brisbane Games
• Strongly recommending the use of 100% existing facilities to avoid new construction
• For the Winter Games, selecting reliable host cities with suitable climates and strong operational capabilities up to 10 years in advance to buy time for climate change countermeasures

Thus, the French Alps and Salt Lake City, Utah, were selected.

However, both cities received conditional approval—an unprecedented decision.

French Alps Decision Made “Subject to Financial Guarantees”

The decision for the 2030 French Alps Games took the unusual form of being “conditional.”

French Political Turmoil Delayed Financial Guarantees

The IOC Session imposed the following conditions on the French Alps regarding Games costs:

• Submission of a government guarantee by the French Prime Minister by October 1, 2024.
• Securing parliamentary ratification of this guarantee by March 1, 2025.

Cost guarantees from bidding cities are essential for hosting and are typically submitted before the vote. However, France was in political turmoil at the time, preventing the guarantee from being finalized.

President Macron’s Pledge

President Macron personally addressed the IOC Session, sending a message that the conditions would be met.

• He pledged France’s national commitment to the French Alps Games.
• He promised the next Prime Minister would make the guarantee a national priority.
• He emphasized that France had made and fulfilled the same promise during the Paris Games decision seven years prior.

Through the President’s personal guarantee and the track record of “Paris,” he finally swayed IOC members who had been uncertain about hosting to grant their trust.

Salt Lake City, Utah Rocked by Political Intervention

For Salt Lake City, burdened by the bribery scandal surrounding the 2002 Games, the decision to host the 2034 Games became a chance to restore its honor after 32 years.

The bid committee earned high praise from the IOC with its proposal to use only existing facilities.

Conflict Between the Sports World and the U.S. Government

However, just before the IOC Session, a new conflict began.

The story traces back to the 2021 Tokyo Games. At that time, some Chinese athletes tested positive for doping.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) attributed this to contaminated food, but the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency accused them of a cover-up, leading to the U.S. Department of Justice investigating WADA.

The IOC Constrained the U.S. Government with a “Cancellation Clause”

The IOC took seriously the situation where the U.S. government was showing a stance of intervening in the world of sports. The IOC inserted an unprecedented “cancellation clause” into its contract with Salt Lake City, Utah.

“Should WADA’s supreme authority be undermined or the application of the World Anti-Doping Code be obstructed, the IOC may unilaterally revoke the hosting rights.”

This was an extremely harsh condition for the host city, but Salt Lake City, Utah accepted it, and the hosting rights were awarded.

Fighting for the survival of the Winter Olympics

By moving up the decision on the host city for the 2034 Games, the IOC has bought itself a final window of opportunity to consider the future of the Winter Olympics.

Moving forward, various measures will be examined, including a rotating host city system, changing the timing of the Games, and establishing a decentralized hosting model. For the Winter Olympics after 2038…

Voting Results

A confidence vote on the preferred candidate city was held at the IOC Session.

Although the vote passed by an overwhelming majority, over 10 votes were cast against or abstained. This result suggests that some IOC members harbored concerns about financial guarantees and opposition to government intervention.