Salt Lake Olympic Bid Committee records, 1985-1993

The modern Olympic Games began in 1896, being first held in Athens, Greece. From that year onward, every four years except in times of extreme crisis or war, the Olympic Games have been held in cities around the world. In 1924, a Winter Olympic Games was held in Chamonix, France. In 1966, Salt Lake City made its first bid for the Winter Olympic Games for 1972. The earliest plans called for holding the ceremonies in the University of Utah football stadium. Ice Skating was to be held in the brand new Salt Palace, and the Olympic Village was to be at Fort Douglas (which officials thought would be closed by 1972). However, Salt Lake City lost to Sapporo, Japan for the 1972 Winter Olympics. For the 1976 Olympics, Denver beat out Salt Lake City for the national nomination. Lake Placid and Anchorage were nominated in following years. In 1989, Salt Lake City made its most successful attempt yet to bid for the 1998 winter games. However, the successful bid of Atlanta, Georgia, for the 1996 Olympic Games may have made Olympic officals uneasy about holding two in a row in the United States. Once again, Salt Lake was beaten by a Japanese city, Nagano. In 1995, Salt Lake City once again bid and won the 2002 Winter Olympics, although it was later discovered that bribes were used to secure the vote. After this became public, reforms were made in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to prevent a repetition.