The 2030 Winter Olympic Games

Recently, Sapporo in Japan, seemed to be ready to stage the 2030 Games before the COVID-19 pandemic pushed Tokyo 2020 back to this year, while Pyrenees-Barcelona in Spain is the other potential candidate talking with the IOC to host these Winter Olympics. Québec City might also join the fray and enter discussions with the IOC's Future Winter Host Commission. 

This still leaves some room for including a potential bid for Salt Lake City to host the 2030 Winter Olympic, in spite of the fact that there hasn’t been any substantive as well as active discussions over a bid between our capital city of Utah and the gang in Lausanne. 

Salt Lake City is used to bid unsuccessfully though; it already bid to host the Games in 1932, 1972, 1976 and 1998 before being awarded the 2002 edition. Let's hope that practice makes perfect, and now it would be ready for an encore in 2030 or 2034, using Lindsey Vonn and Ted Ligety as spokespersons for a renewed candidacy. 

What’s remarkable is that the IOC has already given the 2032 Summer Games to Brisbane, but there is a clear lack of interest and motivation to organize the Winter Games for 2030. Do we really need or want these games? 

The politicians do of course, but the regular folks in Park City and Salt Lake City are more divided on the issue. We have already too many visitors jamming Park City streets and nearby mountains, and sure don’t need more traffic and people. 

There’s however a special consideration that might tip the scale towards having them again, if the Federal Government would be willing to fund some state-of-the-art and super-efficient mass transit between Salt Lake and its nearby mountain communities like Park City. 

That would be a great deal if the Games could return, as long as the cost of updating and improving our traffic infrastructure was paid by the rest of the US taxpayer. 

I know, it’s pretty unfair, not very fiscally responsible, but so materially self-serving!