The IOC wanted it this way and is rubbing its hands: the bid campaigns for the Games are no longer what they used to be. They don't even really exist anymore. But the Olympic body has kept a relic: the on-site evaluation visit for applicants.
The commission for the future host of the Winter Olympics continues the tradition, this week in Salt Lake City, Utah, the city selected by the IOC for the “ privileged dialogue » in view of the 2034 edition. The same delegation will travel to the French Alps at the end of the month (April 26 to 29), whose file was chosen by Lausanne for the Games in 2030.
In both cases, it is not yet written that the mass is said and that, barring a monumental error of course, victory is in the pocket. But the exercise fools no one. The IOC envoys will leave Salt Lake City with a smile on their faces, convinced of having made the right choice. Then they will go to the French Alps with the same motivation: to confirm on the ground the merits of their selection.
Arriving Tuesday evening in Utah, the IOC delegation began its visit under the sun. Always good to take. Facing the media, Wednesday April 10, its president, the Austrian Karl Stoss (photo above, center), carefully chose his words, being careful not to express himself in a too affirmative future. But his enthusiasm suggests it: the matter is closed.
« We have a very good feeling, explained a smiling Karl Stoss, at the end of a long presentation by the bid committee, on the sixth floor of the Rice-Eccles stadium tower at the University of Utah. We got to see and feel the enthusiasm and spirit of Utah."
Later in the day, the delegation of IOC members and Olympic experts took a tour of the American football stadium, whose capacity has been increased to 51.000 since the Salt Lake City Winter Games in 2002. . “ It's perfect ", decided Karl Stoss. It also took public transportation, the TRAX train, to travel non-stop between the university campus and the Delta Center. “ Great, confided the Austrian. Much better than at the time of the 2002 Games."
The message is clear: the 2034 Winter Games have not yet been won in the United States – they will not be won before a formal vote at the IOC session on July 24 in Paris – but it is just like that.
In Salt Lake City, the project leaders know this. They already express themselves almost as winners. “ I really have no worries, recognized Fraser Bullock, the head of the Salt Lake City-Utah bid committee. It's like I'm a kid who was just given a new toy and I want to show it to the world. We have been working for this day for years. And here we are, we can show off Utah and its great people. »
Same confidence among the city's mayor, Erin Mendenhall, proud to be able to explain to envoys from Lausanne and the media that the Olympic project has broken down political barriers. “ It goes beyond politicsshe assured. It’s kind of our secret sauce, as we call it. Democrats and Republicans, we come together to achieve difficult things."
According to a survey commissioned by the Deseret News and conducted in February 2023 by the Hinckley Institute of Politics, more than 80% of Utahns support the Winter Games bid.
The visit of the future host commission continues until the end of the week. On the program: participation in a community forum, then a visit to the Utah Olympic Park, near Park City, and a stop at the Soldier Hollow Nordic ski center, before a final press conference, Saturday, April 13.
The Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce explained: several buildings in the city center were exceptionally illuminated at the start of the visit, and will remain so until its last day, as an illustration of the support of local economic forces. Lausanne will appreciate it.
