Salt Lake City Awarded 2034 Winter Olympics But There Appears To Be A Catch

The Winter Olympics are officially headed back to Salt Lake City in 2034, but the International Olympic Committee seemed to stick a bit of a condition on the deal.

It has long been expected that Salt Lake would get its second crack at hosting the Games having done so in 2002, but it was made official Wednesday with an 83-6 vote.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach holds up a sign to announce that the 2034 Winter Olympics will be in Salt Lake City, but only if organizers and Olympic officials push for an end to a US federal investigation into an alleged doping cover-up. (Photo by Natacha Pisarenko / POOL / AFP) (Photo by NATACHA PISARENKO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

However, part of the deal, according to the Associated Press, is that Utah state officials as well as US Olympic officials have to sign an agreement that they will push for an end to a US federal investigation into a group of Chinese swimmers who are alleged to have tested positive for doping but were permitted to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo (which were held in 2021).

WADA was a-oh-kay with Chinese explanations for the test, but US officials smelled a cover-up and are investigating the situation to see if it broke an anti-conspiracy law that came into play following the widespread Russian doping operation that came to light following the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

This is because  IOC President Thomas Bach's preference is for the World Anti-Doping Agency to be the lone enforcer on this front around the globe. It would make sense to have one group handling this sort of thing. However, if there are questions or concerns about how WADA is going about enforcing these rules, is every nation just supposed to sit on their hands and be quiet about it?

That seems to be what the IOC wants and they mean business. There's a clause in Salt Lake City's contract that requires local organizers including Utah governor Spencer Cox to push for an end to the federal investigation.

If they don't, they could end up losing the Games altogether, and that's a big deal because the United States will host the Olympics twice in six years beginning with the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.