Salt Lake City Olympics bid scandal
The Salt Lake City Olympics bid scandal refers to a major controversy surrounding the city's successful bid to host the 2002 Winter Olympics. After years of preparation, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded Salt Lake City the Games in 1995. However, it was later revealed that the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) had spent over one million dollars on gifts, travel, and other forms of gratuity for IOC officials, prompting allegations of bribery. In response to the scandal, Mitt Romney was appointed to lead the SLOC in 1999 to help restore the organization’s integrity and ensure the Games' success.
The fallout from the scandal led to significant legal repercussions for former SLOC leaders, including indictments on multiple charges. Although initial charges were dismissed, they were later reinstated, only for the defendants to ultimately be acquitted in 2003. The scandal had far-reaching consequences, resulting in the expulsion and sanctioning of several IOC members—marking the first instance of such disciplinary action in the committee's history. It also prompted the IOC to implement stricter guidelines for future Olympic bids, including limits on accepted gifts and the introduction of new membership regulations.
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Salt Lake City Olympics bid scandal
Identification A bribery scandal to obtain the 2002 Olympic Winter Games for Salt Lake City, Utah
Recognized as the biggest corruption scandal in the history of the Olympics, the Salt Lake City Olympics bid scandal led to reform and new guidelines in site selection for the Olympic Games.
Prior to the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, Salt Lake City had made several attempts to secure the Olympics but never received the honor. After an extensive amount of prebid groundwork by the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) during the early 1990’s, it was almost certain that the 2002 Winter Games would be granted to the city. On June 16, 1995, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that Salt Lake City had indeed won the bid.
In 1998, more than three years later, it was discovered that the city’s bidders had spent more than one million dollars in gifts, travel, scholarships, medical bills, cash, and gratuities for thirteen IOC officials and their relatives. On December 13, 1998, the SLOC apologized for the alleged rule violations. Massachusetts businessman Mitt Romney was appointed to head the SLOC on February 11, 1999, in order to revamp the image of Salt Lake City and provide the necessary leadership for a successful 2002 Winter Olympics.
After extensive investigations, former SLOC president Thomas K. Welch and vice president David R. Johnson were indicted on fifteen charges by a federal grand jury. Both were charged with one count of conspiracy, four violations of the Travel Act, five counts of mail fraud, and five counts of wire fraud. As a result of insufficient evidence, however, U.S. District Judge David Sam had dismissed all of the charges by November 15, 2001. After the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit reversed Judge Sam’s decision and reinstated the charges against Welch and Johnson, the defense filed for a motion of acquittal, which is rarely granted. On December 5, 2003, Judge Sam acquitted Welch and Johnson, officially ending the five-year-old bribery scandal of the 2002 Winter Olympics.
Impact
After a thorough investigation of the Salt Lake City Olympics bid scandal, ten IOC members were expelled and another ten were sanctioned. It was the first expulsion or sanction for corruption in the history of the IOC. Further investigation revealed that bribery scandals were employed in securing the 1998 Winter Olympics for Nagano, Japan, and the 2000 Summer Olympics for Sydney, Australia. As a result of the scandals, stricter guidelines and rules were adopted by the IOC for future Olympic Games bids. Limits were placed on how much IOC members could accept from bid cities. Fifteen former Olympic athletes were added to the IOC, and new term and age limits were instituted for IOC membership.
Bibliography
Gerdy, John R. Sports: The All-American Addiction. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2002.
Romney, Mitt. Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership, and the Olympic Games. Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 2004.
Thompson, Hunter S. Hey Rube: Blood Sport, the Bush Doctrine, and the Downward Spiral of Dumbness: Modern History from the Sports Desk. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004.