Salt Lake City reaffirms its position before the State Legislature – Sport & Société

2023-06-21 22:02:45

Four months following the transpartisan support expressed by the House of Representatives and the Senate of Utah (United States), Salt Lake City’s candidacy was presented on June 15 before the Coordination Commission established by the Legislature of State to review and support the Olympic and Paralympic ambition of the Host City of the 2002 Winter Games.

View of the Utah State Capitol, United States (Credits – Utah State Legislature)

In the starting-blocks for more than ten years to organize the Winter Games once more, Salt Lake City and Utah are today more ready than ever and particularly determined to raise the challenge.

Also, and while having repeatedly mentioned the availability of the territory for 2030, the leaders members of the American candidacy took advantage of the first meeting of the Coordinating Commission of the State Legislature to reaffirm their clear preference for the 2034 deadline.

During this hearing – conducted on Thursday, June 15, 2023 – Fraser Bullock notably explained the reasons which led the SLC-Utah Bid Committee to adapt the strategy and the concept.

As stated by the Director General of the said Committee:

Is it 2030 or 2034? Our answer is yes.

We are willing to host either edition of the Games, depending on the best interests of the Olympic and Paralympic Movements and Utah.

The reason [pour laquelle 2034 constitue l’échéance privilégiée] is that hosting the 2030 Games would only come 18 months following Los Angeles hosted the 2028 Summer Games. events.

This crucial point – already mentioned in previous declarations by the leaders of the Candidature Committee – was also taken up in a 44-page document presented to the members of the Coordination Commission.

View of the renovated Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Games cauldron (Credits – Rice-Eccles Stadium)

In this dossier, Salt Lake City has taken care to detail each constituent element of the candidacy and the project, knowing that the Commission’s mission is to advise and inform the Representatives and Senators of Utah, while keeping a close eye on the course of the process of selection of the future host by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

With this in mind, the American candidacy presented in turn the governance structure of SLC-Utah, the Olympic and Paralympic ecosystem, the characteristics of the Winter Games – with in particular the evolution in figures since the 2002 Olympics – but also the decision-making process set by the IOC in recent years in an approach that puts more emphasis on the principle of sustainability and above all dialogue with the contenders.

For the Committee, it was also a question of demonstrating to the members of the Coordination Commission the level of solidity of a candidacy which enjoys institutional and popular support without equal to date among the candidacies in the running for 2030-2034.

Specifically, Salt Lake City argues that the questionnaire formulated by the IOC on the themes of vision, concept, legacy, but also experience, sustainability, governance and economy, is now 90% complete.

This figure testifies no more and no less to the determination of the candidature to meet the Olympic requirements, even though this questionnaire is theoretically to be completed at the time of entry into the phase of targeted dialogue with the institution of Lausanne (Switzerland). ), in other words, when a bid is considered a preferred option by the IOC for a defined deadline.

The Salt Lake City – Utah Committee delegation poses in front of the Olympic rings at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 15, 2022 (Credits – SLC Committee – Utah)

Salt Lake City’s lead is reflected in other fundamentals as well.

In fact, 75% of the 32 annexes compiling maps, tables, sustainability studies, and financial information crucial to the development of the project have been finalized.

About the package of the 23 guarantees requested from the public authorities, the agreements relating to the use of the sites have been completed to the extent of 75%, while the accommodation criteria – available hotel capacity – are met at 78%.

As for the rights marketing and institutional support, 70% of the guarantees have been obtained to date.

In detail, 100% of the guarantees required from local authorities have been provided, which represents 10 guarantees from 6 cities and 4 counties in Utah. In the same spirit, 100% of the guarantees expected from the State authorities have also been obtained.

On the other hand, and taking into account a historically lesser presence in the organizational framework of the Games in the United States – even if the contribution in terms of security is decisive – the American federal State remains at this stage in the background, with only 10% of the guarantees given to the Candidature Committee.

Spencer Cox, Governor of the State of Utah, United States, May 02, 2023 (Credits – Spencer Cox / Official Facebook Page)

In addition to this essential data for understanding Utah’s Olympic and Paralympic ambition, the Bid Committee also paid particular attention to the legacy of the Games.

In the dossier presented to the Coordinating Commission of the State Legislature, Salt Lake City prides itself in particular on being able to count on more than 1,000 events hosted since 2002, including 250 events of international scope at the highest level, including stages World Cups or World Championships in the snow and ice disciplines on the program of the Games.

On the strength of this observation – which is fully combined with the optimal reuse of the sports sites mobilized during the 2002 Olympic Games – the candidacy also outlines the prospect of substantial economic benefits for Utah in the event of a new organization of the planetary event by 2030.

The Games would have in fact a non-negligible impact of around 3.9 billion dollars (3.55 billion euros) and a positive social impact with up to 30,000 jobs linked directly or indirectly to the event.

The bid also intends to take advantage of a probable return of the Games to support the transformation of the territory towards an ever more virtuous and sustainable model, particularly in terms of transport and tourism, with also the concern to increase the into account accessibility and inclusion, not to mention an increased consideration of the relationship between sport and health.

At the end of the presentation orchestrated among others by Fraser Bullock, with the assistance of Catherine Rey-Norman, President of the Candidature Committee, Senator Mickael McKell, in his capacity as co-president of the Coordination Commission, praised the work made to date, reiterating the support expressed by the State of Utah as a whole.

As he asserted:

My takeaway is that we are ready, we are on schedule, and you have strong support here in Utah, both in the executive branch and in the Legislature and the public.

[Les membres de la Commission vont désormais] track your progress.

Obviously, bringing the Games is a huge commitment for the State of Utah and it’s a commitment we’re thrilled to make..

View of part of the Utah Olympic Park (Credits – Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation)

In the light of this enthusiastic statement, Salt Lake City will now be able to continue its efforts with the same energy and certainly an additional dose of confidence to approach the next steps.

This week, an update on the race for the Games should be made by the President of the Future Host Commission, Octavian Morariu, on the occasion of the meeting of the IOC Executive Board in Lausanne, scheduled for June 20-22. 2023.

Therefollowing, the Bid Committee will officially present its project to the General Assembly of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) in mid-September, with the High Mass of the American Sports Movement scheduled for September 14-15, 2023. .

Less than a month later, on October 12 and 13, the IOC Executive Board might address the question of a double attribution of the Games of 2030 and 2034 – on the model of the simultaneous attribution 2024-2028 carried out in 2017 – with also the issue of the location of the Winter Games in the context of climate change. On this specific point, the idea of ​​a regular rotation between a few determined hosts might be mentioned.

This meeting will precede the holding of the 140th IOC Session which will take place between October 15 and 17, 2023 in Bombay (India), an appointment initially chosen to designate the host of the 2030 Olympic Games before the Olympic institution shakes up its own process.

Following, between the end of November and the beginning of December, the IOC Executive Board should obtain additional clarifications and, no doubt, a formal recommendation from the Future Host Commission to initiate the phase of targeted dialogue for 2030 only or 2030. -2034.

Be that as it may, the choice of the organizer of the 2030 Winter Games will be officially confirmed next year, on the occasion of the 141st Session which will take place in the French capital on July 23 and 24, 2024, at two days before the Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Paris Games.

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