(KCPW News) Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker says he’s not disappointed the U.S. Olympic Committee won’t submit a bid for the 2022 Winter Games, even though Utah was considering one. He says it gives the state’s exploratory committee time to get its work done well for a potential 2026 bid, adding it’s a good thing the U.S.O.C. announced its decision now.
“If we made a decision in September and we were working feverishly to try to get things done, assuming they’d be making a decision sometime early next year, that would be difficult. But for them to be able to tell us now, I think is actually helpful, and I’m glad they’re making some decisions and deciding how to go forward. We can easily fit into it,” he says.
Utah’s exploratory committee was hoping to make a recommendation on whether to bid for the games by the end of summer.
With this new information, Mayor Becker says it should continue on with its work, but he adds:
“If we decide we want to, for whatever reason, to do some more analysis, we need some more analysis to complete our work, there won’t be any time pressure that says we need to fit into somebody else’s schedule that could be imminent,” says Becker.
Becker is co-chair of the state’s exploratory committee, along with Lt. Governor Greg Bell and J. Steven Price of Price Realty Group. Salt Lake City hosted the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.
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