Salt Lake City wins 2034 Winter Olympics – at the cost of a major FBI investigation

The FBI is investigating 23 Chinese swimmers who competed in the 2021 Tokyo Games after failing doping tests

The International Olympics Committee awarded the 2034 Winter Olympics to Salt Lake City, Utah on Wednesday – on the condition that state officials work to end an FBI investigation into doping.

The IOC required Utah lawmakers and US Olympic leaders to sign an agreement promising to lobby the federal government to end an investigation into Chinese swimmers accused of doping, the Associated Press reports. Salt Lake City was awarded the 2034 games in an 83-6 vote.

“We will work with our members of Congress, we will use all the levers of power open to us to resolve these concerns,” Utah’s governor Spencer Cox told the World Anti-Doping Agency president and IOC voters ahead of their selection.

The case centers around 23 competitors who failed drug tests in 2021 and still competed in the Tokyo Olympics – with three of them winning gold medals. Now, 11 of those swimmers will compete in the Paris Olympics, set to begin on Friday, the AP reports.

Utah’s governor Spencer Cox speaks in Paris, France, about Salt Lake City’s bid to host the 2034 Winter Olympics (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The US investigation comes after WADA did not challenge Chinese officials’ explanation that food contamination caused the test results.

The case is now with law enforcement after a US House committee asked the Department of Justice to pursue it.

American law enforcement agencies could take action against the swimmers under the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act, which allows the US to bring criminal charges against people suspected of doping in international competitions.

Gene Sykes, chair of the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, said the law has sparked concerns that athletes could be arrested when they travel to the US for the games, the Associated Press reports.

“[Some officials] have been very anxious about what it would mean to the sports figures who came to the United States, somehow they were subject to uncertainty in terms of their freedom of travel,” Sykes said. “And that is always concerning to people who don’t understand the United States.”

WADA is taking the US Anti-Doping Agency to the Independent Compliance Review Committee next month, challenging America’s role in the investigation, The Guardian reports.

If the committee sides with WADA, the US could be removed from competing in and hosting the games – which jeopardizes the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics and 2034 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.

Travis Tygart, president of the US Anti-Doping Agency, condemned the agreement between the IOC and Utah officials.

Tygart told the AP it is “shocking to see the IOC itself stooping to threats in an apparent effort to silence those seeking answers to what are now known as facts.”

Meanwhile, WADA leader Witold Banka said the US is undermining global rules with their approach, The Guardian reports.