June 16, 1995

BUDAPEST, Hungary -- The history of Salt Lake City and Utah received an exclamation point here today.

Alongside Butch Cassidy hideouts; the storied Mormon pioneers; its ancient Anasazi Indians; the driving of the Golden Spike; the world's first artificial heart transplant; trapper Jim Bridger; guns inventor John Browning; dinosaur digs; the nation's first traffic signal; Philo T. Farnsworth, the father of television; and powder snow skiing, you can add the 2002 Olympic Winter Games to Utah's bullet points of history.

The world's premier winter sports event was awarded Salt Lake City here Friday during the 104th conference of the International Olympic Committee, the world body that oversees the Olympic movement. IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch made it official when he read "Salt Lake City" to an anxious throng of Olympic enthusiasts from throughout the world.

The announcement puts a white frosting on Salt Lake City's 30-year Olympic bidding odyssey that started as a publicity stunt and includes a stunning loss to Nagano, Japan, for the race for the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in a decision handed down by the IOC in 1991 in Birmingham, England.

With 55 votes in a first-time, first-ballot victory, Salt Lake City beat out Sion, Switzerland (14 votes); Ostersund, Sweden (14 votes); and Quebec, Canada (7 votes) in the sweepstakes for the first Olympiad of the 21st Century.

Salt Lake City's commitment to being a winter sports center for North America was its major selling point. As it stressed to the IOC during its 55-minute promotion here Friday morning, the city has eight of the nine necessary venues in place, needing only an ice skating arena to construct. Never before has a city been so prepared so far in advance of its hosting the games, stressed its boosters during the two-year campaign that was privately funded. And with a metropolitan area population of one million, Salt Lake will be the largest city to host the Winter Games.

A visibly yet unabashedly emotional and beaming Thomas K. Welch, president of the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Bid Committee, was gratified by the selection of his city. He has voluntarily devoted his life to the campaign since March 1985 when he was asked to "assist the city in a 30-day proposal-writing project" for the 1998 Winter Games."It's a great day for Salt Lake -- all of Utah -- the entire USA," he beamed.

As he told the IOC delegation and repeated again later, Welch said of the decision, "In Salt Lake City, the Olympic Winter Games will come to a young population whose roots can be traced to the four corners of the earth -- only one or two generations removed from their motherland.

"Our goal is to light in the hearts of this young generation the knowledge that winter sport can be enjoyed by everyone. Our goal for the first Games of the 21st Century is to have truly global Olympics."

He said, "The Olympic Flame burns bright in the hearts of all our citizens. Let us share that glow of that flame."

Welch also expressed a heartfelt appreciation for the hundreds of volunteers and financial sponsors who spearheaded the city's latest, most serious attempt to stage the winter games. He said, "You can't say enough about the commitment of time and money that so many people contributed to the bid effort -- and for no better reason than the knowledge that they were assisting a great cause . . . the Olympic movement."

The fact that Salt Lake City was named host of the 2002 Games means Salt Lake City will solidify its claim to being a world-class winter sports training center. The claim is anchored in the fact elite competitors in virtually every Olympic winter sports event can train in the Salt Lake area. Its international-caliber facilities include the Utah Winter Sports Park, site of the scheduled Olympic luge, bobsled and ski jumping competition, and figure skating, curling, freestyle skiing, downhill racing, giant slalom, super G, slalom, speed skating, biathlon and cross-country.

Frank Joklik, chairman of the Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games Bid Committee, was equally pleased with the IOC announcement. "The people of Utah now have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to distinguish themselves, through the Olympics, in a manner that can win them the admiration of the world," he said.

Utah's Governor Michael O. Leavitt also was exuberant. "It's a marquee day for Utah," he exclaimed. "Virtually every elected official in federal, state and local governments, including the League of Cities and Towns, representing some 242 communities in our state, has endorsed the quest for the Olympic Winter Games. It's really a marquee day."

Salt Lake City Mayor Deedee Corradini said, "The Olympic ideal has become our city's ideal, creating an ideal setting for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games." Joining Welch, Joklik, Gov. Leavitt and Mayor Corradini in the 55-minute presentation here Friday afternoon were IOC members Anita DeFrantz, Los Angeles, and James Easton, Southern California; Dr. LeRoy Walker, president of the U.S. Olympic Committee; Dave Johnson, vice president of the Salt Lake bid committee; Picabo Street, Sun Valley, Idaho, reigning World Cup downhill champion and downhill silver medalist in the 1994 Winter Games; and 10-year-old Salt Lake City ice skating sensation Cynthia Ruiz, representing the hopes and dreams of thousands of Utah youngsters ready to welcome the world.

President Bill Clinton touted Salt Lake City as an ideal Olympic site via a 3-minute video presentation, saying, "Truly, Salt Lake City offers the Olympic family and the people of the world an ideal place to enjoy this peaceful gathering of the world's champions."

Salt Lake City's first walk down the IOC aisle came in 1966 when it sought to host the 1976 games. But bid officials have since acknowledged that effort was primarily aimed at generating publicity for the area's storied powder snow, which falls at an annual average rate of 400 inches at seven ski resorts a half-hour's drive from city center and by four others less than an hour away.

The Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games are scheduled for February 9-24, 2002. Athletes will be housed at the University of Utah, which will alter its school year to accommodate the games. Opening and Closing Ceremonies will be at the university's football stadium. The city's plans include a $798 million games budget which would be realized by contributions by major corporate sponsors (43%), the sale of television rights (39%), and by ticket sales, merchandising and coin/stamp programs (18%).

The Salt Lake City bid received high marks from an IOC evaluation commission report announced last January which called the Utah bid's budget "conservative" and its financial plan as "excellent." No other bidding city received such accolades in the evaluation reports and that thrust Salt Lake City into the role as "favorite" in the eyes of knowledgeable observers during the last six months of the campaign when 55 IOC members visited the capital. The favorite's roll was one that bid officials did not take for granted as they campaigned aggressively, albeit in a low-key fashion, right up through voting day.

Utah, which observes its 100th anniversary of statehood in 1996 and will observe in 1997 the 150th anniversary of the arrival of Mormon pioneers to the once barren valley adjacent to the Great Salt Lake, is now justified in adding another date to its chronology of historic events -- 2002!

# # #

For further information, contact Mike Korologos, Public Information Director, Salt Lake City Organizing Committee, 801/322-2002.

Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics Produced and hosted by ThoughtPort Authority of Salt Lake City, LLC., in association with InteleNet Email: Olympics@slc2002.org and info@thoughtport.com

© 1995-ThoughtPort Authority.