The International Olympic Committee on Wednesday named Salt Lake City, Utah, as its preferred host for the 2034 Winter Olympics, extinguishing Sapporo's hopes of hosting the games.
The Hokkaido capital had explored the possibility of hosting in 2034 after dropping its bid for the 2030 Winter Games in the wake of bid-rigging and bribery scandals linked to the Tokyo Olympics held in the summer of 2021.
At its meeting in Paris on Wednesday, the IOC executive board picked the French Alps and Salt Lake City in the western United States as preferred hosts for the 2030 and 2034 Games, respectively.