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SALT LAKE CITY — Plenty of prominent Utahns will be in Paris when the International Olympic Committee votes Wednesday on whether the state will host the 2034 Winter Games.
Among the nearly 100-member delegation representing the state in the City of Light? Gov. Spencer Cox, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenahall, state Senate President Stuart Adams and state House Speaker Mike Schultz plus other elected officials from the Beehive State will be there.
So will Olympians with Utah ties, including gold medal skier Lindsey Vonn and former Brigham Young University star Jimmer Fredette, who'll also compete for Team USA in the Olympic debut of 3x3 basketball at the 2024 Summer Games that kick off Friday with Opening Ceremonies on the Seine River.
But what about Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, the leader of the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City?
Senate business will keep him in Washington, D.C., until the end of the week, when he'll join two of his five sons at the Opening Ceremonies and other Olympic events.
"There are votes I have to be here for," Romney told the Deseret News, adding, "In some respects, that's not a bad thing."
The reason Romney feels that way is that he believes the day belongs to his longtime colleague and friend, Fraser Bullock. The two have known each other since their days at the Boston-based consulting firm, Bain & Company. In 2002, Romney was the public face of the Olympics and Bullock, his handpicked No. 2, was "Mr. Inside," as the chief operating officer.
While Romney went on after the 2002 Games to successfully run for governor of Massachusetts, later making two runs for the White House, Bullock committed to bringing the Olympics back to Utah and became the president and CEO of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games that's behind the bid.
"This is Fraser's achievement," Romney said of a 2034 Games in Utah. "It's time to look forward and not look back. I don't want to be there, looking like I'm the guy that brought the Games back to Utah because I'm not. Fraser did. He's the one who should be on the podium."
