The Americans are not wasting any time. Just three months after the IOC session voted to award them the right to host the Winter Games in Salt Lake City in 2034, they are already changing the map of competition sites. The change is not insignificant, since it concerns the ice hockey rink. In the bid file, the Olympic tournament was planned for the Maverik Center in West Valley City, an arena that can accommodate just over 10.000 spectators. But Ryan Smith, the owner of Utah's new NHL franchise – the Utah Hockey Club – announced somewhat unexpectedly that ice hockey would ultimately be played at the Delta Center (photo above). Used by the Utah Jazz in the NBA, the multi-sport arena should normally have been used for figure skating and short track. Fraser Bullock, the general manager of the organizing committee, acknowledged that the swap between the two sites had been under discussion for several months. Hockey will therefore inherit the Delta Center. The other two disciplines will be transferred to the Maverik Center, which was used for hockey at the Salt Lake City Games in 2002.
