The joint Italian bid of Milan and Cortina being selected to host the '26 Games now allows the USOPC and the Salt Lake City bid to "focus on the next Olympic Winter Games to be awarded," according to Christopher Kamrani of the SALT LAKE TRIBUNE. Salt Lake City was chosen by the USOPC in December as its future bid city for the Winter Games, and Salt Lake Olympic Exploratory Committee co-Chair Jeff Robbins said, "Obviously people here probably would’ve liked it sooner than later, but at the same we know there’s two windows: There’s 2030 and 2034. The ready, willing and able model we set in place has worked. We’ve kept the venues in place, we’ve generated huge economic impact in the state of Utah and then we’ve kept our community engaged.” Utah Gov. Gary Herbert on Sunday once again "expressed his keen desire for an Olympic return in Utah one day, reiterating that the bid to the IOC would not need to feature any taxpayer money." Sapporo, Japan, has also reportedly "expressed interest in potentially bidding for the Games" in '30 (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 6/25). In Utah, Lisa Riley Roche notes local Olympic support, which had been in question for both Milan-Cortina and the Stockholm-Are bid that lost the '26 vote, has "not been an issue" for Salt Lake City. A poll commissioned by the SLOEC in '17 found that nearly 89% of Utahns "backed another bid." SLOEC co-Chair Fraser Bullock said that the city "anticipates picking up its bid effort later this year with the IOC." He said, "The IOC is interested in letting the dust settle a little bit from 2026, because it's been a very intensive effort" (DESERET NEWS, 6/25).
WHO WANTED IT MORE: The IOC noted that the Milan-Cortina bid was "bolstered by 'unified backing' from local and national government." In L.A., David Wharton noted a previous evaluation report "had seemed to give Italy the advantage, in part, because of financial guarantees for construction." Swedish government officials had "not promised significant support" and municipal officials in Stockholm had "stated they would not sign the IOC’s host city contract." IOC polling also "showed Italy in the lead with public support estimated at around 80%, compared with less than 60% in Sweden" (LATIMES.com, 6/24). The AP's Graham Dunbar noted the Italian bid was "favored even before an IOC panel published its assessment last month." The Swedes "trailed badly in public support for the project, while Stockholm’s city government coalition left Are to sign a key Olympic hosting agreement." Swedish IOC member Gunilla Lindberg: "It was quite obvious in the evaluation report that they thought we were lacking some guarantees" (AP, 6/24).
NOT GOING AS PLANNED? In N.Y., Jeré Longman notes the IOC has "failed in its effort" to draw "more candidates to host the Winter Games with more inviting bid rules." Now it is "urgently counting on northern Italy to help reverse that lack of interest" (N.Y. TIMES, 6/25). POSTMEDIA NEWS" Dan Barnes wrote the IOC "no longer enjoys the luxury of selling its hot property to the highest bidder." The global appetite for its "brand of largesse has waned steadily since the scandalized" '02 Salt Lake City Games. Even at "such a drastically reduced cost, more and more these are the Games that almost nobody wants" (POSTMEDIA NEWS 6/24).
