Winter Olympic host cities for 2030 and 2034 to be chosen at the same time in July

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International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach speaks on the first day of the executive board meeting of the IOC ahead of the upcoming 141st IOC session in Mumbai, India, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023.(AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

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A pedestrian passes by a poster of Sapporo’s bid for 2030 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, northern Japan on Oct. 6, 2023. Sapporo and Japanese Olympic Committee on Wednesday officially announced a decision to withdraw the northern Japanese city as a candidate to host the 2030 Winter Olympics, its bid soiled by massive corruption and bid-rigging tied to the one-year delayed 2020 Tokyo Games. (Kyodo News via AP)

By GRAHAM DUNBAR

Citing concerns about the effects of climate change, the International Olympic Committee said Friday it wants to pick two Winter Olympic host cities in July — putting Salt Lake City quickly into play for the 2034 edition.

IOC president Thomas Bach said the Olympic body aims to confirm hosts for both the 2030 and 2034 Winter Games at its meeting on the eve of next year’s Paris Olympics.

Sweden, Switzerland and France have been working on possible bids for the 2030 edition and Salt Lake City officials have long targeted 2034. That would avoid the United States hosting back-to-back Olympics after the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games.

Picking Salt Lake City a decade in advance would give the IOC a trusted partner amid changing weather patterns and also could keep together people who have worked toward bringing the Olympics back the city that hosted the 2002 Games.

The double award proposal by the IOC executive board still needs approval by the full membership at the Olympic body’s annual meeting, which opens Sunday in Mumbai, India. That should be a formality.

The IOC has declining options for Winter Games hosts. Bach noted that only 15 countries on three continents currently meet the criteria of having at least 80% of existing venues for snow sports and a “climate-reliable” outlook to host events in future decades.

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“We need to address very quickly this dramatic impact of climate change on winter sport,” Bach said in Mumbai. “By 2040, there remain practically just 10 NOCs who could host these snow events.”

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A likely longer-term project for the IOC is deciding on a rotation policy of a small pool of regular Winter Games hosts.

The next deadline for the 2030 and 2034 Olympics will come Nov. 28-Dec. 1 at a board meeting in Paris. A single preferred candidate for each is expected to be chosen and then would enter into exclusive negotiations with the IOC.

That is the new process for selecting Olympic host cities and regions, avoiding the once-traditional campaigns and votes which were at risk of vote-buying schemes.

The Japanese city of Sapporo, which hosted the 1972 Winter Games, was once favored for the 2030 edition. That bid was officially dropped this week in fallout from criminal investigations and convictions for corruption tied to the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

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Olympic Hightlights

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FILE - South Africa’s Jacques Freitag competes in the men’s high jump of the 2004 Olympic Games, in the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Friday Aug. 20, 2004. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

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FILE - Ilona Maher of USA is tackled by Sharni Williams of Australia in a semifinal of the Rugby World Cup 7’s championship held in Cape Town, South Africa, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. The main task for Maher, the breakout social media star on TikTok at the Tokyo Olympics, is winning a medal in Paris. (AP Photo/Halden Krog, File)

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FILE - Jacques Freitag of South Africa waves his national flag after he won the Men’s high jump event at the World Athletics Championships, at the Stade de France in Saint Denis, north of Paris, Monday, Aug. 25, 2003. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle, File)

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Sammy Sullivan of USA in action during HSBC rugby sevens series in Singapore, on May 4, 2024. The anthem played as Army officer Sammy Sullivan stood to attention and saluted beside her U.S. rugby teammates before a gold-medal game in Hong Kong against Olympic champion New Zealand. No prizes for guessing where her mind may have drifted to: Paris in July. (AP Photo/Suhaimi Abdullah)

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USA Water Polo Women’s Senior National Team attacker Ryann Neushul, left, trains at Long Beach City College Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Long Beach, Calif. Following in the footsteps of two older sisters who won gold with the U.S. women’s water polo team, Ryann Neushul is making her Olympic debut in Paris this summer. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

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Iranian wrestler Iman Mahdavi, 28, practices at the Lotta Club Seggiano gym, in Pioltello , northern Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

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FILE - Steven van de Velde of the Netherlands competes during the CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup Vienna 2022 men’s semifinal game against Austria at the Red Bull Beach Arena in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. Van de Velde, convicted and imprisoned eight years ago for raping an underage girl in England has qualified for the Paris Olympics. (AP Photo/Florian Schroetter, File)