Salt Lake City set to bid on 2030 Games
A day before the opening ceremony for the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, officials in Salt Lake City announced plans to bid for the Winter Games in 2030.
In the byzantine world of the Olympic movement, Los Angeles figures into that decision. In a big way.
Salt Lake City had previously expressed interest in 2026, but then L.A. was selected to host the Summer Games in 2028.
The LA 2028 organizing committee, in partnership with the U.S. Olympic Committee, now holds domestic rights to the Games through then and doesn’t necessarily want to compete with another American city for sponsorship money.
“Look, ’26 is complicated,” L.A. committee leader Casey Wasserman said recently. “Certainly before they formally bid, it will require a lot of conversation and a deep understanding of how that would affect us.”
USOC officials, who ultimately decide which of its cities get to submit a bid, have said no one can try for 2026 unless L.A. gives its OK.
So Salt Lake City will submit a 140-page, $1.35-billion plan for 2030 to the USOC and the International Olympic Committee, according to news reports. But it’s not so simple. Because the IOC recently set a precedent by simultaneously naming Paris for 2024 and L.A. for four years later, there is speculation that the 2026 and 2030 winter hosts will be chosen in the same way.
That means Salt Lake City, which previously hosted in 2002, might have to bid during the 2026 cycle.
But the USOC would need to give its blessing by March 31 and, so far, has not established any process to do that.
In the meantime, a Salt Lake City exploratory committee has reportedly said it can stage the massive sporting event on a balanced budget that aligns with the IOC’s “Agenda 2020,” a set of reforms designed to attract bidders by making the Games more affordable.
Other cities that have expressed interest in hosting include Denver, Calgary and Sion, Switzerland. U.S. f lag carrier
Four-time Olympian Erin Hamlin will carry the U.S. f lag during the opening ceremony at Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium, the U.S. Olympic Committee announced Thursday.
Hamlin, who won a bronze medal in the luge at the Sochi Games in 2014, was selected by a vote of U.S. Olympians.
“Being named to an Olympic team is an amazing accomplishment and making four teams and the bronze medal is so much more than I could have imagined I would accomplish,” Hamlin said in a statement. “Now being voted flag bearer is a whole new level.”
The women’s luge competition starts Monday. U.S. curling win
An American brothersister team defeated a Russian husband and wife in mixed doubles curling, which is making its Olympic debut. Matt and Becca Hamilton beat Anastasia Bryzgalova and Aleksandr Krushelnitckii 9-3.
In another mixed-doubles match, Kaitlyn Lawes and John Morris of Canada were stunned 9-6 by Norway’s Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten.
The more familiar singlegender version of curling will begin later in the games.
Norovirus cases up
At least 86 staff and volunteers at the Pyeongchang Olympics have contracted norovirus, the organizing committee said Thursday.
That’s more than double the number of confirmed cases announced earlier this week.
Of the 86 cases, 58 are security staff, 12 are police officers, seven work for the organizing committee, four are press support staff and five fill other roles.
With more than 1,000 security personnel quarantined, 900 military personnel have been deployed to fill their positions. The source of the outbreak hasn’t been determined. Chen’s debut
Two-time U.S. men’s champion Nathan Chen will perform his short program in the first phase of the Olympic team figure skating event, to be held on Friday at Gangneung Ice Arena. The husband-and wife duo of Alexa Scimeca-Knierim and Chris Knierim will represent the U.S. in the pairs short program on Friday.
Since the Knierims are the only U.S. pairs entry, they will also be the U.S representatives in the pairs free skate portion of the team event, on Monday.
Chen, a master of the quadruple jump, won his second straight U.S. men’s title last month at San Jose. He’s expected to contend for a medal in the men’s singles competition, which will be held on Feb. 16-17.
The U.S. won a bronze medal behind Russia and Canada in the inaugural Olympic figure skating team competition, at Sochi in 2014. Russian hearings
Forty-five Russian athletes are still waiting to hear if they will be allowed to compete at the Pyeongchang Olympics after their appeal hearing ended Thursday without a decision.
The first competitions of the games — including a U.S.-Russia curling match — had already started when the Court of Arbitration for Sport heard the cases at a luxury resort in the mountains near Pyeongchang.
“[A ruling is expected] within the next 24 hours,” said Philippe Baertsch, a lawyer for the Russians. “We are hopeful that the panel will follow our argumentation and respect the rights of the athletes.”
The total number of appeals hit 60 on Thursday, the day before the opening ceremony. The cases heard Thursday concern 45 Russian athletes and two coaches, but CAS said it will also hear new Russian cases involving six athletes and seven support staff.
In attendance for the hearing were Elena Nikitina, the 2014 bronze medalist in women's skeleton, and Tatiana Ivanova, a luger who won silver in the team event in 2014.
Hockey sisters
Of the two daughters Greg and Robin Brandt raised in the suburbs of St. Paul, Minn., it was Hannah who was more fascinated with the culture and customs of South Korea than Marissa, whom the couple had adopted from that country as a 4-month-old.
The girls went to Korean culture camp together and Hannah was an eager camper, entranced by the hanbok — a traditional Korean dress and outfit — and the language and food, while Marissa wanted to assimilate and be like every other American kid.
In Minnesota, that meant skating. Marissa, older by 11 months, was a figure skater. Hannah played hockey, and eventually Marissa joined her. They played in high school together but went to different colleges. Hannah continued playing in a women’s pro league but Marissa thought her hockey career ended when she finished college.
Instead, they find themselves sharing lunch and strolls through the Pyeongchang Olympic Village. Hannah got here as a forward on the U.S women’s hockey team. Marissa will play defense for the united North/South Korea team under her birth name of Park Yoon-Jung. “I could not have imagined this, ever,” Hannah said Wednesday.
The U.S., seeded No. 1 in the women’s Olympic hockey tournament, and the Korean team, seeded last among the eight teams, are in different groups and won’t face each other unless they both advance out of the preliminary round. But they met up at the Olympic Village this week for the first time since Christmas.
They’ve played against each other only once, when the Korean women’s team played an exhibition tour in the U.S., and it’s unlikely they will play each other here. But for each of them, getting this far is a victory no matter what happens when the women’s tournament begins on Saturday. “I think it’s a positive story for women’s hockey,” Hannah said. “It brings attention to our sport and I think it’s obviously a feel-good story for the Olympics.”