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SALT LAKE CITY — Derek Parra has seen the Salt Lake City Olympic cauldron re-lit since it was positioned back outside Rice-Eccles Stadium two years ago.
Those times allowed him to reflect on the gold and silver speedskating medals he won during the 2002 Winter Olympics, memories he'll always cherish. But a new feeling emerged as he and the crowd around him — a group of former and current Olympians, as well as up-and-comers in winter sports — counted down to see the flame burn once more on a cold Friday night. This time around he couldn't stop thinking about what's on the horizon.
Salt Lake City is now formally in "targeted dialogue" with the International Olympic Committee over the 2034 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. Members of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games governing board signed the paperwork late Friday afternoon to initiate those conversations after the IOC named Salt Lake City as the preferred host of the future Games on Wednesday.
They then hosted a big party out by the Olympic and Paralympic Cauldron Plaza, capped by the cauldron lighting ceremony.
"When we watched the flame ignite, I got emotional because I remember what it was like when I first learned the Games would be here in Salt Lake City. ... My heart's with the kids right now. I'm looking forward to what they're going to experience in the next 11 years," Parra said. "Hopefully, we'll see some of them — if not competing — at least experiencing the Games here in Salt Lake City."
Fraser Bullock, Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games committee's president and CEO, said the group is moving "full speed ahead" with its contract discussions with the IOC.
The committee has through Feb. 28 to submit its preferred host questionnaire, a document containing guarantees to support its project. The committee is about "98% done" with this paperwork, Bullock said. From there, it has an extra month to include other contract guarantees. Most of these are also complete.
"We've just got to dot some i's and cross some t's and then it will truly be official," said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox.
The IOC will likely then send officials to visit Salt Lake City in April 2024 to meet with the committee and view all the sites. The IOC's Future Host Commission will file a report to the governing board in June before the organization could make a final decision on either July 23 or 24.
"We're trying to nudge them a little bit toward the 24th," he joked, acknowledging that the decision could come down on Pioneer Day. "That would be nice."
'A huge day for Utah': IOC names Salt Lake City preferred host of 2034 Winter Olympics
The International Olympic Committee named Salt Lake City as preferred host of the 2034 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, a major step forward in its bid to host the event.The governing board conducted a few other agenda items during a meeting on Friday, such as selecting a new brand moving forward. It also added three-time Olympic gold medalist Shaun White to the group's strategic board and a trio of others to its governing board.
However, all the attention on Friday fell on 2034. Utah and Salt Lake City leaders, as well as former Olympians like Parra, are thrilled at what all of this means for the city and state. They say it will put the region and its community on a global stage, showcasing all it has to offer.
"This is an opportunity for us to use this to help our state, help our community and help our athletes thrive," said Catherine Raney Norman, a four-time Olympic speedskater and Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games chairwoman.
Salt Lake City's bid means much more beyond Utah, too. It's possibly the second Olympic event set to be held in the United States in the near future. Los Angeles has already been tabbed to host the 2028 Summer Olympics, which will be the first Games that the country will host since Salt Lake City in 2002.
Sarah Hirshland, president and CEO of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, started to tear up when she thought about what the next decade will mean for the country — a decade that could be capped by the 2034 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
"It will kick off a decade of sport in this country that has never been seen before," she said. "Ten years in which this country will be at the center of the sporting world, and it gives us and opportunity to lead in a way we've never led before."
