Two days after the decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to continue a targeted dialogue with Salt Lake City (Utah, United States) with a view to awarding the 2034 Winter Games, a ceremony to relight the cauldron of The 2002 Olympic Games are being held this Friday, December 1st.
View of the renovated cauldron from the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Games (Credits – University of Utah)
The Host City of the 2002 Winter Games will have the opportunity to double the stakes in 2034.
While Salt Lake City has been working on putting together a candidacy file for more than ten years, with an official selection approved by the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) in December 2018, the quality of the project based largely on the legacy of the 2002 Olympic Games, the experience gained over the years in organizing events, and the exceptional level of popular and institutional support led the IOC to invite Utah in the targeted dialogue phase.
Barring an unlikely twist, Salt Lake City will therefore once again be an Olympic City in 2034, the final project now having to be formalized for the first quarter of 2024 before an on-site visit by the Future Host Commission next April, the publication of the report of the said Commission in June, then the designation by the IOC Session in July 2024.
Also, to celebrate the prospect of the return of the Winter Games, the actors of the candidacy invite the inhabitants to a festive moment on the Cauldron Plazaclose to Rice-Eccles Stadiumthis Friday December 1, 2023 from 6:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. local time, or Saturday December 2, 2023 from 2:00 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. French time.
For the occasion, the monumental cauldron of the 2002 Olympic Games will be relit.
(Credits – SLC 2034)
Initially placed in the middle of the stands of the Rice-Eccles Stadiumthe structure – 22 meters high and made up of 738 glass panels – was moved outside the stadium after the Games.
Subsequently, an overall renovation allowed the installation of a new support with a cascading water feature, the replacement of the piping and the installation of an energy-efficient lighting system.
After the inauguration of the new location, on October 29, 2021, a ceremony to commemorate the 2002 Winter Games was orchestrated below the cauldron, on February 8, 2022, and had already given rise to an exceptional re-ignition.
