The leader of one of the French Alps regions that will host the 2030 Winter Games arrived in Utah Thursday eager to see the state’s Olympic venues firsthand.
“Last July, we presented our candidacies together, and we won together. I heard a lot about what was here in Salt Lake. I’m really excited and happy to be here,” Fabrice Pannekoucke, president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France, told reporters at the state Capitol through a translator.
Touring the venues for Utah’s second Olympics, in 2034, “will help us work together to better promote Games that are more accessible,” Pannekoucke said.
“It’s important to talk about how we get people from the bottom up to the top of the mountains and how we can improve access for visitors amongst the different event sites. And how we can make sure that the Games are a big celebration,” he said, and “easy in terms of transportation and mobility.”
Before the delegation leaves Utah Saturday, Pannekoucke and other officials in the United States as part of a larger trade mission are expected to see the Utah Olympic Park near Park City, the site of the ski jumps and sliding track first used in the 2002 Winter Games, as well as ski at Deer Valley Resort and take in a Utah Jazz game at the Delta Center, set to host Olympic hockey in 2034.
There are also meetings, with Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and Fraser Bullock, the president and CEO of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games that was behind the successful bid, awarded by the International Olympic Committee last year on July 24, Utah’s Pioneer Day, just after France was named the host for 2030.
Henderson, who sat down with the French delegation just before Thursday’s news conference, said in a statement she and “President Pannekoucke met and discussed potential collaboration between Utah and the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region of France.”
The lieutenant governor said “There are numerous similarities between the two regions, including geography and having both previously hosted the Olympics. Utah can have its own unique Games and also draw the best ideas from others who have been successful in their own right.”
Bullock said he hopes to form a partnership with the French Olympic organizers.
“We’ll be doing some things in the same arena and collaborating, sharing ideas, sharing strategies, is just really exciting for us,” the Utah Olympic leader told reporters, calling it “a bilateral exchange” of ideas.
“We want to learn from them, because they are ahead of us in 2030,” he said. “We have done Games before, so we’re going to share our thoughts of how you do a successful Games.”
But, he pointed out, Paris just hosted the 2024 Summer Games that offers lessons for both the future Winter Games hosts.
This isn’t the first time French officials involved in the upcoming Olympics have visited Utah. A year ago, Renaud Muselier, president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region that will host ice skating and other 2030 Winter Games events, assured Utah’s Olympic leaders that France would “be ready” to host despite the bid’s late entry into the race.
Concerns about the impact political upheaval in France would have on the required financial guarantees from national and local governments continued to raise questions about the country’s readiness to host in 2030 until just before the IOC vote. French bidders leaned on an appearance by France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, to secure the Games.
Macron’s pledge to the IOC was citied by Pannekoucke when asked about the current situation, calling it “a very strong commitment” that France “will be ready and willing to ensure that the Games are delivered on time in 2030. Also, they have the advantage of having two regions that are hosting.”
That makes him optimistic, Pannekoucke said. “It’s a great strength.”
Plus, he said, the French Alps Games will utilize 95% of the existing infrastructure from the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville.
“Of course I’m optimistic,” Pannekoucke said, even though typically hosts have seven years to prepare for a Games. “The timeline is very short but there’s also not a lot to do in terms of the construction and that’s why I’m confident that we will deliver great Games on time.”