2024 Summer Olympics Ignite Fire for 2034 Utah Winter Games

What color are the Olympic rings? What’s the age limit for Olympic athletes? Which country has hosted the most Olympics?* Maybe you can’t swim 100 meters in a minute or do a flip on a balance beam, but if you can answer these questions, you win the gold medal in Olympic trivia. And that’s just about the same. Either way, it’s time to put the finishing touches on your routine: The 2024 Summer Olympics are just around the corner.

2024 Olympic Games

Where are the 2024 Olympics? Here’s a hint: You shouldn’t be surprised if your neighbors start sporting berets and carrying baguettes around in their fashionable fabric totes. Yes, Francophiles, Paris is hosting the games from July 26 to August 11. Keep track with the official countdown on the Summer Games site.

Can’t wait that long? Catch some of the Olympic trials 2024 on YouTube, including 3x3 basketball, an event that debuted at the Tokyo Games held in 2021. That’s not the only new or nearly new event. There will also be:

• Breaking (aka break dancing)
• Kayaking
• Men’s artistic swimming
• Marathon race walk mixed relay
• Surfing (to be held in Tahiti), debuted in Tokyo
• Skateboarding, debuted in Tokyo
• Sport climbing, debuted in Tokyo
• Track repechage round: Athletes have a second chance to qualify for semifinals in a “lucky losers” format.

In 2028, cricket will make a triumphant return — it was last included in 1900 — along with flag football and squash. Keyboarding and TV remote flipping have yet to be added, but we’ll keep flexing our fingers, just in case.

Utah Olympic Venues

We know a bit about Olympic events here in Utah. We hosted a pretty epic 2002 Winter Games ourselves, and we still have the venues — and the Salt Lake City Olympic Park cauldron — to prove it. In fact, we’ll be using them again in 2034 (skis and fingers crossed!).

Ski Jumping

It’s practically an Olympic village in Park City, where you can experience a bit of what it was like at the 2002 Games. Head over to Utah Olympic Park, on Olympic Parkway in Park City, Utah, where several events were held for both the Winter Olympics and Paralympics. 

It’s now an official training site for elite athletes, but it’s also open to the rest of us. You’re welcome to watch the future competitors practice their flips and twists on the six Nordic ski jumps, landing in a pool of water instead of snow.

Bobsledding

In fact, who needs snow? There’s both a summer and winter bobsled experience at the Olympic sliding track. Other year-round, thrill-seeker activities include airbag jumps, extreme sledding, an alpine slide, a zipline and a ropes course. Or, you can just get a bird’s-eye view from the chair lifts.

Entrance to the Park City Olympic Park and museum is free, and you can walk around the grounds and facilities. There is a charge for the activities.

Ice Skating

In Salt Lake Valley, visit the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns. There you can work on your speed skating skills or figure skating routine. If it’s good enough for Nathan Chen, it’s good enough for you. You can even take a curling lesson. Hey, if you start working on your sweeping now, maybe you can qualify for 2034.

Where Are the Next Olympics?

If your emotional batteries need regular charging, you might want to plan your vacations around the Olympics. Every two years, alternating between the Winter and Summer Games, you can get your fill of rousing music, stirring stories and inspiring athleticism. Future Olympic sites include some repeat hosts and some new ones.

• 2026 Winter Olympics: Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy (also hosted in ’56)
• 2028 Summer Olympics: Los Angeles (both ‘32 and ‘84)
• 2030 Winter Olympics: French Alps, France (preferred host, to be announced in July)
• 2032 Summer Olympics: Brisbane, Australia
• 2034 Winter Olympics: Salt Lake City, Utah (preferred host)

Utah’s Bid

In November 2023, Salt Lake City was named the preferred host of the 2034 Winter Olympics; the International Olympics Committee is expected to formally choose Utah in July. While hosting is often a once-in-a-lifetime experience, it could become a more permanent event here. Gov. Spencer Cox said the IOC is considering forming a core group of host sites, with each hosting every 16-20 years. He said Utah is well-positioned to be one of those.

2034 Winter Olympics

Utah was selected as the preferred site for 2034 thanks to the extensive planning of local organizers. The Games committee said it will use existing venues such as the Utah Olympic Oval for long track speed skating; Park City resorts, Snowbasin and Soldier Hollow Nordic Center for skiing events; and the Utah Olympic Park for skiing and snowboarding.

There are also plans to bring some of the show to downtown Salt Lake City. New events, including ski and snowboarding big air, may be contested at Block 85 — the site of 2002’s medal plaza. Just to the southwest, at the Delta Center, you may watch figure skating and short-track speed skating. And at the Salt Palace Convention Center, there’s curling. The Maverik Center, in West Valley, may be home for the hockey games.

The University of Utah will again play a major role, hosting the opening and closing ceremonies at Rice-Eccles Stadium, as well as housing all the athletes in a centralized village.

Gearing Up

Although it will be a few years before international athletes and attendees converge on Utah for the Games, you don’t need to wait to fuel your fire. Run with a torch (British for flashlight) around Rice-Eccles, followed by a tour of a venue or two. Better yet, go for a ski run (or a bike ride in summer) at one of Utah’s ski resorts. End your day with some pictures at the medal plaza, ‘cause that’s what all the best athletes do.

*In case you’re not a trivia medalist, the answers are: blue, black, red, yellow, green; no age limit; United States.