Salt Lake City had a last-minute hurdle before it was awarded the 2034 Olympic games
Jul 25, 2024, 7:00 PM | Updated: Sep 4, 2024, 6:37 pm
PARIS, FRANCE - JULY 21: A general view of the Eiffel Tower with the Olympic Rings from the Arc de Triomphe ahead of the Opening Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 21, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
(Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
PARIS — Before Salt Lake City could secure the 2034 Olympic Games, they had to make a last-minute agreement. The Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games had to agree to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s, WADA, authority over doping probes.
Salt Lake City’s bid was approved on the condition that Congress would drop its investigations into doping at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
But, what happened at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics games that caused this drama?
The background for this agreement
Dave & Dujanovic explain what happened in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics games and WADA.
In 2021, during the Tokyo Olympics Games, 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
According to the Medical and Anti-Doping Rules for the Games, using any type of drugs for the games could lead to sanctions.
But WADA said the positive test came because the swimmers’ food had been tampered with TMZ, a heart medication.
The U.S. government did not believe it so they launched their investigation and subpoenaed a WADA official when they came to the U.S.
As a result, the IOC’s condition for Utah to get the Olympics was that the United States would recognize the “supreme authority” of WADA when it came to doping investigations at the Olympics.
What is next?
Although this request was a total surprise, the Utah Committee agreed with it before the announcement.
“Totally unexpected, we were just cruising towards the final award and then this came up and we had to address it and we’ve been working. I’ve been working around the clock to make this work. And here we are” President and CEO of the SLC-Utah Committee Fraser Bullock said.
With 10 years still to go until the Salt Lake City Olympic Games, Gov. Spencer Cox said they have plenty of time to get everything worked out.
“Our commitment is that now [that] the journey begins again for us, we will work incredibly hard over the next 10 years to solve the concerns with WADA,” Cox said.
