Salt Lake City, Utah, has been chosen on four occasions by the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) as the United States candidate city to bid for the Winter Olympic Games. It has been chosen by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the host city twice, holding the 2002 Winter Olympics and preparing to host the 2034 Winter Olympics.

Background The possibility of hosting the Winter Olympics was casually discussed by winter sports groups in the Salt Lake City area as early as 1928. Inspired by the occurrence of the second Winter Olympic Games in St. Moritz, Switzerland, that year, the Amateur Athletic Union discussed Salt Lake City's prospects for a potential bid for the 1932 Winter Olympics. However, Salt Lake City was not one of the seven American cities that ultimately submitted bids to the IOC for the 1932 Games, which were awarded to Lake Placid, New York.Hemphill, Lex. "Olympic Visionaries: In the '60s, seven men began push to bring Games to Utah", Salt Lake Tribune, February 2, 2002, front page and page A8.

In 1955, when Squaw Valley (now Olympic Valley), California, was chosen by the USOC to bid for the 1960 Winter Olympics, Salt Lake City residents protested that their area was not fairly considered because they had been unaware of the new bidding process, in which the USOC would choose one city that could bid to the IOC.Associated Press. "Squaw Valley, Calif. Wins Right to Make Bid for '60 Winter Games", via the Salt Lake Tribune, January 9, 1955, page 10 B. Deseret News columnist Hack Miller said that the Alta Ski Area was one of the nation's best venues and complained that "someone here must have been asleep" to not present a bid to the USOC.Miller, Hack. "Here's Squaw Valley Story on How It Hooked the 1960 Winter Games", Deseret News and Telegram, February 11, 1955, page 4B.

A preliminary group advocating for the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City was founded in 1960. In June 1962, Ski Utah Associates approached the USOC with a proposal to host the 1968 Winter Olympics. Specific sites for Olympic events were not selected for the bid."Ski Group Hopes to Lure '68 Winter Olympics to Utah", Salt Lake Tribune, June 14, 1962, page 4B. The only other candidate that applied to the USOC with a bid for 1968 was Lake Placid, New York. On October 16, 1962, in a meeting in Chicago, the USOC picked Lake Placid over Salt Lake City as its bid to the IOC. Ski Utah Associates officials were not disappointed by the decision, believing that there would have been "some rough spots to iron out" if Salt Lake City had been chosen, and saying that the experience would make the city better prepared to bid for the 1972 Winter Olympics."S.L. 'Loses' 1968 Olympic Bid", Deseret News and Telegram, October 16, 1962, page B3.

1972

Utah governor Cal Rampton convened an Olympic Proposal Committee to plan for a potential 1972 bid. Rampton announced the bid at the inaugural All-Utah Travel and Recreation Show on February 5, 1965.Pickett, Wilburn G. "Rampton: We'll Bid For 1972 Olympics", Deseret News, February 5, 1965, page B13. Maxwell Rich, secretary of the Salt Lake City Chamber of Commerce, was appointed as the committee's chairman,"Utah's Winter Olympic Bid Gains; Rich at Helm", Salt Lake Tribune, February 17, 1965, page 15. and he subsequently became president of Olympics for Utah, Inc. (OUI!), which presented the bid."Replies to questions concerning the offer of Salt Lake City to host the XI Winter Olympic Games in 1972", Olympics for Utah, 1966, via Olympics World Library (online access available only through partner institutions)

At first, the Olympic bid effort was intended mostly as a publicity stunt to drive more tourists to Utah's ski resorts, but OUI quickly grew more serious. In April 1965, when a brief controversy over the visa status of the East German team threatened to upend the upcoming 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France, Rich wrote to IOC president Avery Brundage to volunteer as a replacement host.

The Salt Lake City bid faced competition from two other candidates seeking USOC approval to bid for 1972: Lake Placid, which was trying again after losing the 1968 Games to Grenoble, and the state of Colorado. All three sought the influential endorsement of the U.S. Ski Association (USSA) at its annual convention in Spokane, Washington, in June 1965. At the convention, the Colorado Olympic Commission announced that it would not bid for 1972 and was endorsing Salt Lake City, on the condition that Utah officials would endorse Colorado in a potential future bid for the 1976 Winter Olympics. Lake Placid, meanwhile, told the USSA that it would make its presentation later, possibly at the group's 1966 convention. As a result, the USSA endorsed Salt Lake City's bid."U.S. Ski Association Backs Utah's Bid for Olympics", Salt Lake Tribune, June 19, 1965, page 27.

While initially preparing its bid, the Utah committee believed that it would have until 1967 to prepare its final presentations to the USOC and the IOC, as previous Winter Olympics hosts had been chosen four or five years before the Games were to be held. However, late in 1965, it became known that the IOC was planning to award hosting duties for both 1972's Summer and Winter games at its 64th Session in Rome in April 1966. Furthermore, the IOC set a deadline of December 15, 1965, for all candidate cities to submit their applications. This deadline was pushed back to December 31"Banff Olympic Chances To Be Known April 25", Calgary Herald, November 12, 1965, page 33. and later to January 20, 1966,"Eight Cities Seek to Host 1972 Winter Olympic Games" [sic], Associated Press, via the Huntsville Times, January 16, 1966, page E-5. but it forced the USOC to accelerate its process for choosing the U.S. candidate city. The USOC informed interested cities on December 1, 1965, that they would need to prepare their formal bids in time for a committee meeting in Chicago the following month."S.L. Invited To Seek '72 Games", Salt Lake Tribune, December 2, 1965, page B-1.

At the Chicago meeting on January 16, 1966, Governor Rampton delivered Salt Lake City's presentation in person. The USOC voted by a wide margin to select Salt Lake City as the U.S. candidate, with the city receiving 36 of the 42 available votes. Lake Placid received the other six, while a short-lived bid from Anchorage, Alaska had none.Woody, Robert H. "Olympic Bid Goes to S.L.; Cheers Greet Big Utah Ski Victory", Salt Lake Tribune, January 16, 1966, front page and page 19.

On April 25, 1966, the IOC voted to award the 1972 Winter Olympics to Sapporo, Japan, which received a majority of the votes on the first ballot. Salt Lake City was tied with Lahti, Finland, for last place among the four candidate cities, each receiving seven votes.

Venues The Olympics for Utah, Inc., bid book listed the following venues that would be used. Venue Events University of Utah Sports Bowl Opening and closing ceremonies Civic Auditorium Figure skatingIce hockeyCommunications center Gad Valley, Alta Ski Area Alpine skiing Heber City Deer Valley, Keetley Mount Baldy and Treasure Mountain,Park City Mountain Resort Snowbasin Resort Solitude Mountain Resort State Exposition Center StadiumUtah State Fairgrounds Speed skating Nordic Center(Mountain Dell Golf Course, Parleys Canyon) BiathlonBobsledCross-country skiingLugeSki jumping Sugar House Practice rink for figure skating, ice hockey Fort Douglas Olympic Village University of Utah Olympic Center(administrative facilities)

1976 Governor Cal Rampton received the news that Salt Lake City had been rejected by the IOC as 1972 host while attending the Western Governors Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, and immediately vowed that "we will make a definite bid for 1976".Dunn, William A. "Utah Loses Olympics", Deseret News, April 26, 1966, front page and page A-3. The city's bid was made official at a USOC meeting in Chicago on February 26, 1967. Other cities proposing their bids at the same meeting were Denver, Colorado; Lake Placid; Seattle, Washington; Waterbury, Vermont; and the Sugarloaf Mountain ski area in Franklin County, Maine."Salt Lake, Five Cities Eye Olympics", Deseret News, February 28, 1967, page 6B.

Waterbury was removed from contention in September,"Bid Not Being Considered: Waterbury Out of Olympics", Burlington Free Press, September 15, 1967, page 15. while Sugarloaf's bid was withdrawn in November.Associated Press. "Maine Withdraws Olympic Bid", Kennebec Journal, November 29, 1967, page 11. The USOC heard presentations from the remaining four cities in a meeting in New York City on December 17, 1967. In the subsequent voting, Seattle came in last place and was removed after the first ballot, while Salt Lake City was removed after reportedly receiving only nine votes on the second ballot. The final vote was between Denver and Lake Placid, Denver winning with 26 votes to Lake Placid's 17.Mooney, John. "SLC Loses Out at Gotham; Denver Wins in Bidding for Olympics; Utahns Vow: Keep Skiing Ball Rolling", Salt Lake Tribune, December 18, 1967, Section C, page 1.

Some, including an unidentified member of the USOC, attributed Salt Lake City's surprising margin of defeat to a reputation for racial discrimination in Utah. The USOC was said to be particularly mindful of potential racism because of the ongoing threatened boycott of the 1968 Summer Olympics over the inclusion of apartheid South Africa. Utah's restrictive liquor laws were also cited as a factor in the decision. Salt Lake City organizers discussed the possibility of bidding for the 1980 Winter Olympics in the event that Denver was not chosen as the host for 1976.

Denver won its bid to host the 1976 Winter Olympics at the 70th IOC Session in Amsterdam on May 12, 1970. However, on November 7, 1972, a referendum to fund some of the event's costs with taxpayer money was rejected by Denver voters. On November 15, Denver officially withdrew from hosting duties, becoming the first city to do so. Salt Lake City mayor Jake Garn quickly offered to step in as a replacement host, as did representatives from Lake Placid and the Lake Tahoe area.Associated Press. "About Winter Games; Olympics Query S.L.", via the Salt Lake Tribune, November 29, 1972, Section C, page 1. However, a survey published by the Deseret News on November 21 found that 87% of respondents were opposed to hosting the Olympics in Salt Lake City, many of them citing the same cost concerns as Denver voters."Utah Olympic Bid? An Overwhelming No", Deseret News, November 21, 1972, page B 1.

In a meeting on January 4, 1973, in New York City, the USOC unanimously chose Salt Lake City as its replacement nominee over Lake Placid and two bids from the Lake Tahoe area. Lake Placid organizers protested the decision, accusing the USOC of bias toward the West, and decided to appeal directly to the IOC to be considered as a replacement host."U.S. Backs Salt Lake City For '76 Winter Olympics; Lake Placid Isn't— Over Move", Philadelphia Inquirer, January 5, 1973, page 1D. A delegation led by Mayor Garn traveled to Washington to request financial assistance for Salt Lake City's bid from the federal government, but did not receive any guarantees of funding. As a result, Salt Lake City withdrew its bid on January 30, five days before the IOC would choose a new host city.Williams, Clarence D. "S.L. Drops Bid For Olympics; Garn Explains Fund Failure", Salt Lake Tribune, January 31, 1973, Section B, page 1.