SALT LAKE CITY — Two weeks after Salt Lake City was awarded the 2034 Winter Olympics, the man who guided the winning bid is back in Utah, a little jet-lagged, but still walking on air.
"I still can visualize that moment when we’re on the edge of our seats waiting for the award, and when President Bach puts up the sign — Salt Lake City, Utah — we’ve got the games," recalled Fraser Bullock.
While the announcement was memorable, it didn’t come without controversy.
Ahead of the vote, it came to light that the International Olympic Committee had added a clause in the contract which applied pressure to local bid officials into that Utah could lose the Games if the efforts of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) were not respected.
The IOC move appeared to be a response to U.S. law enforcement agencies opening an investigation into WADA, the group that allowed Chinese swimmers suspected of doping to compete in the Tokyo Olympics four years ago.
Despite the provision, Bullock wasn't and isn’t phased.
"I am so confident we’re going to put on the Games, I am not worried about that at all — we just have to make sure the anti-doping system functions as it should, so that we have clean fields of play for all the athletes to compete fairly," he said."
Bullock says the experience of hosting the 2002 Winter Olympics tells him that in 2034, the state may see a good number of athletes go for gold who are no strangers to the Beehive State.
"I think one of the big advantages of having the games on home soil, it inspires kids to get involved in sports and maybe work towards being an Olympian or a Paralympian, that’s one of the big advantages of having the games right here in Utah," Bullock explained.
