Salt Lake City, Utah to Host 2034 Winter Olympics After French Alps Hosts in 2030

For the first time since 2002, the Winter Olympics are set to return to the United States.

Members of the International Olympic Committee voted on Wednesday for the 2034 Winter Games to be held in Salt Lake City, Utah, the same city that hosted the Games in 2002. This will be the fifth time a U.S. city has hosted the Winter Games, which will come after the French Alps hosts in 2030.

"We are ready. Everything is in place," Fraser Bullock, the leader of Salt Lake City's bid committee, said in a presentation at the IOC session Wednesday, per Tom Schad of USA Today. "But beyond our physical assets, you can count on our people. As great as our venues are, our people are even better."

The campus at the University of Utah will act as the Olympic Village for the Winter Games, and it was announced that Salt Lake City has proposed to be the first city to offer an Athlete Family Village to host the relatives of the competitors. Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn explained the initiative at Wednesday's IOC session:

Schad noted that Wednesday's vote was more of a formality after Salt Lake City was already determined as the "best option" for 2034. However, a bit of controversy arose when some IOC members criticized the United States "for its recent political actions around the World Anti-Doping Agency and the controversial doping case involving 23 Chinese swimmers." Still, the vote passed by an overwhelming margin of 83-6.

"I'm sorry for you, and for us, that this issue arose now," IOC president Thomas Bach told Salt Lake's bid committee.

The venues for some of the marquee events at the Winter Games will include figure skating being held at the Delta Center, the home of the Utah Jazz. Skiing events will take place at Snowbasin Resort, and snowboarding events will be held in Park City, Utah.