Spc. Jasper Good, of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, is one of two Utah National Guard soldiers selected to participate in the Nordic Combined event at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing China. Photo credit: Dustin Satloff
SALT LAKE CITY — Let the Games begin — and soon! Nearly 80% of Utahns want the Olympics to return to Utah, according to a poll conducted last month.
Fraser Bullock, who led the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, talks with Dave & Dujanovic about bringing the Olympics back to Utah for the 2030 or 2034 Winter Games.
According to the poll, 16% either strongly or somewhat disapprove of hosting the Olympics again in Utah.
The poll was conducted for the Deseret News and the University of Utah’s Hinckley Institute of Politics by Dan Jones and Associations July 13-18 of 801 registered voters in Utah. The statewide survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.46 percentage points.
“What do you say to that 16% of people that say, ‘Not here’?” Dave asked.
“Well, there’s actually a misperception. I’ve gone through and researched past polls in terms of the comments,” Bullock said. “Most of the people who are against the Games incorrectly believe that there is state tax money involved, state and local tax money involved. There isn’t. We are self-financed. We do it through tickets, through broadcast revenues, through sponsors.”
“Hosting an Olympics already is a long shot. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. How often does it happen that you get a chance to host it a second time?” Dave asked.
Sapporo, Japan (1972), and Vancouver, Canada (2010), have both hosted the Winter Olympics before and are competing against Salt Lake City for the 2030 Games.
Bullock said few cities have the scale and weather to host the Winter Olympics.
“Fortunately, we’re one of the strongest, if not the strongest, candidate out there,” he said.
Bullock said Salt Lake City has a greater challenge than its competitors for the Games because Los Angeles will host the 2028 Summer Games.
“Back to back Games in one country is challenging,” he said. “So even though we are have our hat in the ring for 2030, we’re also more than willing to do 2034.”
In November, about 10 members of the International Olympic Committee will review the competing cities and make a recommendation to the executive board of the IOC, which meets in early December.
Bullock, who is president and CEO of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, pointed out that since the 2002 Games, there are 40% more Olympic events.
“But we can still accommodate all of those events within our existing budget,” he said.
Since hosting the 2002 Games, Utah has staged more than 175 international winter sports events including more than 60 World Cup events, as well as seven world championships, according to Salt Lake City 2002: from adversity to success.
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