The plan for Utah’s 2034 Winter Games was due for an update. After all, the original roadmap to hosting the state’s next Olympics and Paralympics was put together nearly 2½ years ago, as part of the bidding process.
“It’s about time we had a fresh look at our plans,” said Darren Hughes, an Organizing Committee for the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Committee vice president. His title shifted to Games delivery from operations and planning in the reorganization announced last week.
The 86-page “Games Plan” document released Tuesday, celebrated worldwide as Olympic Day, offers a starting place for Utahns to start talking about what they want to see from a second Winter Games, Hughes said.
“We’re obviously not at the detailed planning yet. But we want to do is set a big, broad roadmap to Games, and then lay out some of our key ambitions,” he said. Those include the “vision,” previously described as an intent to elevate the experience for athletes, fans and locals.
Now, another Games is being seen as bringing big changes to the state over the coming years, “a catalyst for transformative initiatives across Utah, delivering a lasting legacy that extends well beyond the Closing Ceremonies.”
There’s also the stated hope that the 2034 Games can “unify Utah, the United States, and the global community around shared Olympic and Paralympic values, while inspiring people worldwide to engage with inclusive, welcoming Winter Games.”
A youth sport and education program, expected to be piloted in several Utah schools this fall, is on the new list of ways organizers hope to elevate the Games. Other items include accelerating existing local and state-led sustainability initiatives to help deal with climate change.
Risks of hosting the Games
Risks associated with hosting the 2034 Games are acknowledged in the plan, such as climate change affecting snow conditions, and reduced revenues or increased spending straining the organizing committee’s privately funded $4 billion budget.
Organizers are leaning on advancing snow management and “operational resilience” at outdoor Games venues to deal with the prospect of less snowfall and pledging to reinforce “financial discipline early” to boost confidence the budget won’t end up in the red.
As the plan points out, it’s Utah taxpayers who are responsible for covering any budget shortfalls since Gov. Spencer Cox signed the host contract with the International Olympic Committee, just as they were for the 2002 Winter Games that left a substantial surplus.
Organizers anticipate doing the same in 2034, putting delivering a Games “with a budget surplus to permanently endow winter sport in Utah” at their top ambition for impact and legacy in the plan, a list that concludes with ensuring benefits extend across the state.
Public criticism over the price tag for hosting as well as the relevance and impact of the Olympics is also considered a risk, but one that can be counted by building trust and confidence in organizers “through transparency and consistent public communication.”
Disruptions at Games time are also on the risk list. This year, a security working group, led by Utah Public Safety Commissioner Beau Mason, will start putting together the Utah Games Public Safety Command to coordinate federal, state and local law enforcement.
Feedback from Utahns sought for 2034 plan
Much of what’s in the plan submitted to the IOC is well-known in Utah, including a brief cultural history that cites the contributions of Native Americans as well as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints pioneers.
Also noted is that the state “holds an important place in the history of gender equality: in 1870, women in Utah became the first in the nation to vote,” and that it’s “complex and storied history has resulted in a melting pot of diverse and vibrant cultures.”
The work ahead is divided into a pair of “strategic horizons.” The first is from now until 2030, when the French Alps will host the next Winter Games. That’s when Utah organizers expect to really begin gearing up for 2034.
Hughes said the division should make it clearer when the public can expect to hear operational details about 2034, such as when sign ups start to volunteer. Volunteerism is listed as a way the “Games will be positioned as a shared statewide effort rather than a centralized event.”
Utahns can read and submit responses to the plan via the organizing committee’s website, utah2034.org, Hughes said. Starting in the fall, what had been a “listening tour” with leaders venue cities will expand to members of the public, he said.
“The IOC does ask us to do this. But what they’re really happy about is how we’re positioning it as an invitation for feedback,” Hughes said. “Our audience is actually our stakeholders and our public. We’re writing it for us.”