The 2034 Winter Olympic organizing committee anticipates a delegation will attend February’s Winter Olympics in Italy to learn how the Games in Milan are staged, something that has seemed almost inevitable as Utah continues early preparations for the event in just more than eight years.
The organizing committee’s leadership hierarchy held meetings on Monday to discuss the opportunities Milan presents to the Utah group. One of the slides shown stated that the organizing committee anticipates presenting to the International Olympic Committee just before the start of the Games. There are also expected to be meetings with the International Olympic Committee, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee and other organizing committees. The organizing committee anticipates fully participating in an observer program during the Games.
Fraser Bullock, the executive chair and president of the organizing committee, said the contingent will observe the “back of house” of the Games, including operations and technology.
“You never want to get behind,” Bullock said, explaining that it could be challenging to catch up if that were to occur.
The organizing committee said upward of 80 people will travel to the Games. The delegation will include staffers, advisors, leadership of competition venues, leaders from various communities and officials from the state.
The Games in Milan will be one of only two Winter Olympics prior to 2034, while there will also be just two Summer Olympics in that time. Olympic organizers typically travel to other Games as part of standard preparations. There was a Utah delegation in Paris in 2024 for the Summer Olympics, which opened just after Salt Lake City was awarded the 2034 event.
Park City is expected to send a delegation to the Games in Italy as well.
Leaders are not known to have held a detailed public discussion about the makeup of a Marsac Building delegation or an itinerary. Still, at least one member of the Park City Council, Bill Ciraco, has said he intends to attend for fact-finding purposes. It seems likely that at least one other elected official, perhaps incoming mayor Ryan Dickey, will attend. It is not clear whether any municipal staffers will travel to the Games.
Dickey, during the campaign, indicated the “Milano-Cortina Games will be a unique chance to learn. Park City leaders will participate in IOC observer workshops and work closely with our European partners.”
City Hall sent delegations to the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics during the 2002 Winter Olympic era as a key part of overall preparations. The travelers learned about the operational aspects of the Games, including transportation, security, celebrations, and business trends, as the Games were held in Atlanta, Sydney, and Nagano, Japan, between 1996 and 2000.
Dickey and retiring Mayor Nann Worel attended the online meeting on Monday. Worel has been the municipal government’s point person for the Winter Olympic talks and holds a seat within the organizing committee’s hierarchy.
The meeting on Monday, meanwhile, addressed the recent launch of the Utah 2034 wordmark that organizers will feature until 2029, when a Games logo will be put into use. There have been widespread opinions about the wordmark, with many questioning its readability. Brad Wilson, the CEO and vice chair of the organizing committee, said host communities will have the opportunity to use their name in the wordmark.
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