Fraser Bullock, center, president and CEO of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games and Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall right, celebrate at City Hall, Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023, following the announcement by the International Olympic Committee of Salt Lake City as a “preferred host” of the 2034 Olympic Games following an IOC live broadcast from Paris. (Francisco Kjolseth//The Salt Lake Tribune via AP) Salt Lake City being preferred as a shoo-in to host the 2034 Winter Olympics was expected. The surprise was the IOC favoring the French Alps bid for the 2030 edition on Wednesday. Aiming to finalize back-to-back Winter Games hosts next year, the International Olympic Committee executive board has decided to enter exclusive talks with Olympic officials in France and the United States for Salt Lake City. Salt Lake was alone in the 2034 race to bring the games back to Utah, which hosted the 2002 Winter Games, and the American bid’s support from all levels of government up to President Joe Biden was praised Wednesday. “He would guarantee all the expenses,” said IOC member Karl Stoss, who chaired the Olympics panel assessing potential candidates, adding “and they stand really in a strong, strong status