Salt Lake City also won the bid for 2034 as the preferred and only candidate, making the US city next to the Rocky Mountains a repeat host after holding the 2002 Winter Games; though also dependant on the USA’s future alignment with the World Anti-Doping Agency’s policies. The next edition of the Winter Games is scheduled for 2026 in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.

The unstable political landscape in France at the moment precludes the IOC from stamping a definite approval to the European bid, which also includes the Southern coastal city of Nice. Now, French president Emmanuel Macron needs to manoeuvre after calling for snap elections in early July that left his conservative party in third place in the National Assembly and reach cross-party consensus that facilitates funding for the hosting another grandiose sporting event.

Despite his recent political defeat, Macron assured IOC members that he would ask France's next prime minister to give a financial "guarantee" for the Games’ celebration. "I want to confirm my full commitment and the full commitment of the French nation,” he said on Wednesday. "I assure you I will ask the next prime minister to include not only this guarantee but also an Olympic law in the priorities of the new government."

The next PM will therefore need to sign a document that fully guarantees financing for the project by 1 October and the country’s Assemblé Nationale would need to ratify such promises by 1 March, according to the IOC’s deadline. The IOC vote, even with said conditions attached, was an overwhelming 84-4 in favour with seven members abstaining. “We would like to thank you for your confidence and trust,” Macron said in a brief acceptance speech. “We will be there and we will respect our commitments.”  The president stated that France wanted to show "the rest of the world that the Winter Games are not just history -- and we are proud to be part of it -- but part of our future."

The IOC clearly valued the fact that the French Alps had previous experience hosting world championships and world cups, while Salt Lake City-Utah 2034 would extend the transformative benefits of the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2002 to a new generation.

It also expressed back in June that the 2030 project had received “strong public and political support” and cited the vision to unite the northern and southern Alpine regions of France under one global “French Alps” banner as an opportunity to achieve long-lasting social, economic and environmental benefits for such a wide geographical region. Its renowned ski resorts, the IOC argued, would tend to promote sustainable year-round tourism and address future challenges, including climate change.

Back in Salt Lake, celebrations were well underway even before the formal announcement of the Winter 2034 bid was made in Paris, as local officials hope the return of the Games will definitely confirm the state of Utah as North America’s winter sports capital.

The strained relationship between WADA and the US sporting, anti-doping authorities and even government did not prevent the IOC vote from going to Utah by a count of 83 in favour and six against, as the capital city benefited from being the only candidate and having been granted exclusive negotiating rights last year in the bidding process.

It has been all but smooth sailing between the WADA, China, the IOC and the US after The New York Times reported back in April that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for doping before the Tokyo 2020 Olympics yet were still allowed to compete in said Games, as well as expected to swim in Paris 2024. The harsh backlash from the American side, which included hearings before Congress, independent investigations and calls for reform even merited comment from IOC members on Wednesday during the 142nd Session regarding “the politization of sport” but the Salt Lake City candidacy prevailed regardless.

However, in a forcefull twist of the arm, the IOC warned the expected organisers that they could be stripped of the Games if US authorities fail to respect WADA’s "supreme authority" on the global fight against doping; a succession of officials from the Salt Lake City bid stated that they would align with WADA before securing the candidacy.

John Coates, the chairman of the IOC's legal commission, said it was "a must, and I stress the word must" for the US authorities to respect WADA. "The IOC has reinforced the current language of the Olympic host contract in order to protect the integrity of the international anti-doping system and to allow the IOC to terminate -- to terminate - the Olympic host contract in cases where the supreme authority of the World Anti-Doping Agency.... is not fully respected or if the application of the World Anti-Doping code is hindered or undermined," he underlined.

“We want to thank you for your kindness, generosity and trust. We take it as serious obligation to host the Olympics again. Now it’s our turn to give something back,” Utah governor Spencer Cox said in his acceptance speech. “We will work extremely hard in the next ten years to solve, not only the concerns with WADA, but also unify the United States and the entire world around sports again. We need sports more than ever.”