Fans of the Winter Games will once again hear the rumble of bobsled competition at the Utah Olympic Park near Park City as the Olympics return to Utah. The Organizing Committees has been named and preparations are underway for the 2034 Games.
FRASER BULLOCK AGAIN AT THE TOP
Brice Wallace
Business Journal
The team that will guide Utah toward the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games has some familiar names at the top.
Fraser Bullock will serve as executive chair and president of the 25-person Organizing Committee board, which includes business, sports and the community leaders. Bullock served as chief operating officer and chief financial officer for the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City and led Utah’s 2034 bid effort as president and CEO of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games.
The board membership recently was announced by Gov. Spencer Cox and U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland. The board is a result of an effort among Utah Olympic and Paralympic leaders, the state of Utah, and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, with review from the International Olympic Committee.
“He has a proven track record and achievements as a sports administrator and leader,” IOC President Thomas Bach said of Bullock. “His vast experience and keen involvement in the project bode well for the new Organizing Committee.”
Serving as vice chairs of the board will be Brad Wilson, a businessman and former speaker of the Utah House of Representatives, and Steve Starks, CEO of the Larry H. Miller Co. and former president of the Utah Jazz. Wilson was named as chief executive officer and will manage the day-to-day operations of the organizing committee. Starks will help oversee the work of the board and support and advise Wilson. As the executive chair, Bullock will drive strategy and relationship-building.
Wilson served in the Utah House from 2011 to 2023, including as speaker from 2019 to 2023. Starks’ experience also includes serving as liaison to Cox on the Olympic and Paralympic bid committee.
“Strong leadership is vital for a successful 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and an enduring legacy for Utah,” Cox said during the committee news conference. “Fraser Bullock brings a great depth of Olympic experience as our executive chair and president. Brad Wilson has proven over many years to be a talented and prudent leader, and we look to his guidance as CEO. I’m grateful for Steve Starks, who has been my Olympic advisor, for his deep experience in business and sports and entertainment.”
Hirshland said the committee will bring expertise, experience and passion to the 2034 Games. “We are embarking on a remarkable decade of sport in the United States, and we have a great opportunity to showcase Olympic and Paralympic sport across America with Los Angeles 2028 and Salt Lake City-Utah in 2034,” she said.
“Our 2002 Games left a rich legacy in our state and set an example across the world on how the Olympic and Paralympic Games can enrich communities for years to come,” Bullock said. “We are fortunate to have Brad Wilson join our team, bringing great connectivity to our state and helping us maximize the benefits of the Games across Utah.”
Wilson said the 2002 Games “left a big impression on me, from supporting my wife Jeni in the Olympic torch run through our community to seeing the 9-11 flag come into Rice-Eccles Stadium and being there for Apolo Ohno’s first gold medal. We have a wealth of experience on our organizing team. It’s an honor for me to lead them as we look to engage communities across our entire state over the next nine years leading up to the Games.”
Starks said the next decade “will define the trajectory of this state, and the Olympics serve as a tremendous catalyst for the future. I’m honored and excited to work with Fraser and Brad and our esteemed board in helping prepare for and lead the Games.”
In addition to Bullock, Hirshland and Starks, the executive committee includes USOPC President Gene Sykes, as well as Olympic champion and Utah resident Lindsey Vonn and Team USA bobsledder Chris Kinney, a member of the Team USA Athletes’ Commission.
Vonn noted that she competed at her first Olympics in 2002. “Now, as an athlete representative, I’m excited to contribute to initiatives like the Family Village and ensure an exceptional experience for all athletes in 2034,” she said.
Serving as honorary chairs are Cox and Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall. Honorary vice chairs are Utah Senate President J. Stuart Adams and Utah Speaker of the House Mike Schultz.
“As the capital city of Utah, Salt Lake City will showcase the heart of the Games in our downtown sports and entertainment district,” Mendenhall said. “Salt Lake City takes pride in being the gateway to the Games with our new international airport, and the home for athletes and families in the Olympic Village at the University of Utah.”
“Utah is the ‘State of Sport,’” Adams said. “We are proud to show off our state’s natural beauty, but most of all, we are excited to showcase our welcoming people and the values they represent. I look forward to collaborating with the Organizing Committee as we prepare to welcome the world to Utah once again in 2034.”
Schultz said the Olympics will play a key role in the state’s past, present and future. “We cannot wait to show the world once again what we’re all about,” he said. “Fraser Bullock, Brad Wilson, and Steve Starks are the perfect people to lead this effort and organize games that celebrate and honor Utah’s Olympic legacy and look to the future — 2034 and beyond.”
In addition to Bullock, Hirshland, Starks, Wilson, Sykes, Kinney and Vonn, the Organizing Committee board includes Mindy Benson of Cedar City; Spencer P. Eccles, Brett Hopkins, Crystal Maggelet, Abby Osborne and Steve Price, all of Salt Lake City; Ryan Smith of Provo; National Governing Body Council member Sophie Goldschmidt of Park City; IOC members and Olympians Anita DeFrantz of Santa Monica, California, and Allyson Felix of Los Angeles and IOC member David Haggerty of London; USOPC members Jack Hollis of Dallas and Dexter Paine of New York City; International Paralympic Committee Governing Board member and Paralympian Muffy Davis of Sun Valley, Idaho; Olympian Sarah Hughes of New York City; Paralympians Manny Guerra Jr. of Plymouth, Minnesota, and Oksana Masters of Louisville, Kentucky; and Kathleen Holding of Sheridan, Wyoming.
Catherine Raney Norman, a four-time Olympic speedskater who served as bid committee chair, will lead the Organizing Committee’s Athletes’ Commission. Eight Olympic and Paralympic athletes will serve on the board, including several past medalists.
Additional committees are expected to be named, including a steering committee to provide advisory support.
Competition venues have been identified and are in place, leaving leaders to use the nine-year lead-up period as a time to focus on communities. “In the lead-up to 2002, we were constructing venues,” Bullock said. “As we move towards 2034, our focus will be on communities. We want to ensure that the values of sport will impact all 29 counties in Utah.”
In addition to being a spotlight for sports and entertainment worldwide, the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games are estimated to result in cumulative total economic impacts between 2024 and 2035 of $6.6 billion in output, almost $3.9 billion in state gross domestic product, over 42,000 job-years of employment, and $2.5 billion in personal income. Those figures are from an analysis released last year by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah.