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Salt Lake City voted as host of 2034 Olympic Winter Games – with a doping investigation caveat
The Winter Games are coming to the U.S. Leaders of the 142nd International Olympic Committee Session announced on Wednesday that Salt Lake City, Utah, will be the host of the Olympic Winter Games 2034, promising “an exceptional experience for athletes and visitors, in state-of-the-art venues.”
Officials decided on the host in an 83-6 vote, a photo of the tally released by the IOC shows. The committee also voted that the French Alps will host the Winter Games in 2030.
The last time the Winter Games were held in the U.S. was in 2002, bringing nothing but excitement to U.S. athletes. The country’s ski and snowboard team said on X that “there’s nothing quite like home snow.”
“Back on home soil,” Team USA posted on X. “Team USA is honored to welcome the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games to the U.S. in 2034.”
In a report released earlier this month about the validity of having the state host The Games, the IOC said that “Utah has a proven ability to deliver high-level sports competitions.”
“Since 2002, Utah Sports Commission has supported over 1,00 events, including 175 elite events such as world cups and championships. Hosting in 2034 would prolong the lifespan of the outstanding venues from 2002, maintained to high standards by their owners, their operators and the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation,” the report says, adding that having the Winter Olympics there “would help to meet the needs of a city and region that have experienced huge societal changes.”
“Utah is the youngest state in the USA, with a median age of 31, and has one of the fastest-growing economies,” the report continues. “Commitment to sport and to giving back is embedded in the Utahn DNA.”
The decision was not unexpected. According to the Associated Press, Utah’s capital was granted exclusive negotiating rights last year.
The formal announcement, however, came with an important clause in the city’s contract – local officials have to work with federal officials “to alleviate your concerns” about doping investigations. The president of the IOC is upset with the FBI’s investigation into the World Anti-Doping Agency’s decision to accept China’s reason behind nearly two dozen positive drug tests among its swimmers at the Tokyo Olympics, AP reports, and the clause allows the IOC to end its Salt Lake City deal if the World Anti-Doping Agency’s authority is undermined.
China’s Anti-Doping Agency has said the tests were positive because of food contamination, according to The Salt Lake Tribune, and none of the swimmers have faced repercussions so far. Five of the swimmers involved won medals at the Tokyo Olympics. U.S. officials, however, have taken that information with a grain of salt and are investigating the matter based on Congress’ 2019 Rodchenkov Act that allows such investigations of doping at international events if it could be detrimental to U.S. athletes.
“We will work with our members of Congress,” Utah’s Republican Governor Spencer Cox said ahead of the 2034 vote, according to the AP, “we will use all the levers of power opn to us to resolve these concerns.”
According to the website for the 2034 Games, competition venues will be set up in two zones.
The Salt Lake City Zone, located downtown, would host venues for ice hockey, figure skating and short track, curling and speed skating, and big air. It will also be home to the Olympic Village, medals plaza and the opening and closing ceremony stadium.
The second zone, the Wasatch Back (Mountain) Zone located about an hour from the Olympic Village, will be home to the freestyle and snowboard events.
“We’re ready to once again welcome the world to Utah,” Cox posted on X. “Let’s Go!”
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North Carolina governor’s race rocked by CNN report on Mark Robinson’s alleged incendiary comments
Editor’s note: This story contains highly offensive language.
Washington — North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the Republican nominee for governor, posted a slew of incendiary, explicit and racist comments on a pornographic website more than a decade ago, according to a CNN investigation released Thursday that has shaken the state’s gubernatorial race.
The report focused on comments made by an account with the name “minisoldr” on a pornographic website called Nude Africa between 2008 and 2012. The account used the name “mark robinson” in its profile and a number of biographical details posted by the account line up with Robinson’s own history, according to CNN. The network reported that Robinson appeared to use the account name on other platforms over the years, including YouTube and Pinterest, and that the email address associated with the account belonged to Robinson.
On the Nude Africa forum, the user expressed a desire to “bring [slavery] back” and “buy a few” slaves, while identifying himself as a “black NAZI,” according to CNN.
“Slavery is not bad. Some people need to be slaves. I wish they would bring it (slavery) back. I would certainly buy a few,” the account wrote in a discussion about Black Republicans in 2010, according to CNN.
“I like watching tranny on girl porn!” the minisoldr account also posted on Nude Africa, according to CNN. “That’s f****** hot! It takes the man out while leaving the man in! And yeah I’m a ‘perv’ too!”
In March 2012, minisoldr posted a preference for Hitler over former President Barack Obama’s administration: “I’d take Hitler over any of the s*** that’s in Washington right now!”
Minisoldr also used racist language to vilify civil rights hero Martin Luther King Jr.
“I’m not in the KKK. They don’t let blacks join. If I was in the KKK I would have called him Martin Lucifer Koon!” the account posted in October 2011, according to CNN.
Reports emerged earlier Thursday that CNN was planning to publish a damaging story that could lead other Republicans to call on Robinson to drop out of the race. In a video posted to X before the CNN story was published, Robinson flatly denied that he said anything in the CNN report and insisted he won’t drop out. North Carolina will begin mailing ballots to members of the military and voters outside the U.S. on Friday.
“The things that you will see in that story, those are not the words of Mark Robinson,” Robinson said in his video. “You know my words, you know my character and you know that I have been completely transparent in this race and before.”
Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Robinson echoed those comments in an interview with CNN. “This is not us. These are not our words. And this is not anything that is characteristic of me,” Robinson said, adding that he wouldn’t “get into the minutia of how somebody manufactured this, these salacious tabloid lies” when presented with evidence that the account belonged to him.
Robinson, who is 56 and married with two children, has a history of inflammatory remarks that have widely circulated since he won the state’s Republican primary in March. Serving as North Carolina’s lieutenant governor since 2021, he gained prominence in Republican circles after he delivered a pro-gun rights speech that went viral and kickstarted his political career. He’s made inflammatory comments across a number of topics — from Islam to abortion to feminism — but he’s been especially vocal on LGBTQ+ issues.
If elected, Robinson would become the first Black governor of North Carolina. Former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Robinson for governor, has referred to him as “Martin Luther King on steroids.”
The lieutenant governor blamed the CNN report on his Democratic opponent, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein.
“You all have seen the half truths and outright lies of Josh Stein,” Robinson said, claiming that Stein leaked the story to CNN.
The report’s release has spurred concern among Republicans about their nominee’s prospects in the coming election. Sen. Ted Budd, a North Carolina Republican, told reporters ahead of its release on Thursday that “North Carolinian voters are smart, and they know how to pick each and every candidate based on their own merits.”
When asked whether Robinson should step down, Budd said he didn’t have enough information.
“They’ve been assaulting him for years,” Budd said before the article was published. “We’re going to gather our facts through the weekend.”
contributed to this report.
Certain boxes of waffles sold at Costco Wholesale stores in the Midwest are being recalled because they may contain plastic, according to a notice by supplier Kodiak Cakes.
The recall involves Kodiak Power Waffles Buttermilk & Vanilla 40 count with the UPC code 705599019203 and a use-by date of Jan. 10, 2026, and only impacts products with the lot code 24193-WL4 and a time stamp of 12:00-23:00, according to the Park City, Utah-based company.
The recalled products were sold at Costco warehouses in 13 states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
The action was initiated “due to the potential presence of soft plastic film,” according to Kodiak, which noted that no injuries or illnesses had been reported.
Those who purchased the recalled product can return it to their local Costco for a refund.
People with questions can email Kodiak at: flapjacks@kodiakcakes.com or call 801-328-4067. Messages will be returned between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mountain time, Monday through Friday.