Utah's 2034 Winter Games, explained
Utah won its second Winter Olympics in 2024 with its venues already standing, so the run-up to 2034 is about money, transit, legacy programs and who is in charge.
Continuing story: The 2034 Winter Games
The International Olympic Committee awarded the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games to Salt Lake City-Utah on July 24, 2024, after a final presentation in Paris by Gov. Spencer Cox, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and others. Utah last hosted the Winter Games Feb. 8-24, 2002, with more than 2,400 athletes from 78 nations. [1]
This time the state, not Salt Lake City, is the host, and the Games are branded Utah 2034. Organizers plan a $4 billion budget paid for privately, but the state is the financial guarantor under the host contract signed by the governor, so taxpayers would cover any shortfall. The Games will include 17 days of Olympic competition and 10 days of Paralympic competition. [2]
All 13 competition venues are already built and in use, according to the organizing committee. [3]
How it got here
Nov. 29, 2023: The IOC named Salt Lake City-Utah the preferred host for 2034. [1]
Feb. 29, 2024: Bid leaders submitted a 5,000-page bid. The IOC's Future Host Commission visited in April. [1]
July 24, 2024: The IOC awarded the Games. [1]
Since the award: The organizing committee is led by President and Executive Chair Fraser Bullock and CEO Brad Wilson, a former Utah House speaker. The Podium34 fundraising effort has raised more than $200 million. [2][3]
June 2026: A reorganization led to the departure of Catherine Raney Norman, who was part of the Paris bid presentation. Abby Osborne started in August as vice president of impact, engagement and enterprise operations. [1][2]
Sept. 23, 2026: IOC President Kirsty Coventry made her first visit to Utah in that role, stopping at Washington Elementary, part of the Champion Schools 34 program, and with the Utah Lady Grizzlies hockey program. [3]
Where it stands
The focus now is transportation. Cox, Senate President Stuart Adams and House Speaker Mike Schultz met Oct. 2 about Olympic-related projects. Work is underway on double-tracking the FrontRunner commuter rail line and expanding I-15 in Davis County. [2]
The FrontRunner project is in line for nearly $1.3 billion in federal money for 26.1 miles of double track. "We need another billion," Adams said. Interchanges near Snowbasin and Utah Olympic Park are still to come. [2]
"I don't want to be France," Schultz said, referring to preparations for the 2030 Winter Games. [2]
Organizers have launched an education program and a youth sports giving day. Details of a volunteer program have not been set. [2]
What to watch
State funding decisions for FrontRunner and highway projects, including Adams' call for another $1 billion. [2]
The design of the Games-time volunteer program. [2]
How the state, as financial guarantor, oversees the $4 billion budget. [2]
Sources
- Salt Lake City Mayor's Office · Olympics and Paralympics in Salt Lake City
- Deseret News · Utah gets ready to build ahead of the 2034 Winter Games (Oct. 14, 2026)
- Utah 2034 · IOC President Kirsty Coventry finds Utah's 2034 legacy work already underway (Sept. 24, 2026)
Background explainer by The Utah Ledger. AI-assisted reporting, checked against the sources above.