PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — In his first visit to Utah since Salt Lake City won the 2034 Winter Games, the president of the International Olympic Committee sought to allay concerns that the city could lose its second Olympics if organizers do not respect an agreement. play the role of peacemaker between anti-doping authorities.

Thomas Bach downplayed on Saturday the seriousness of a termination clause inserted in July by the IOC in the Salt Lake City organizing contract, which threatens to cancel the 2034 Games if the American government does not respect “the authority supreme” of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Olympic officials also got assurances from Utah politicians and U.S. Olympic leaders that they would urge the federal government to drop an investigation into suspected doping.

The leaders of the Utah bid, already present in Paris for the signing ceremony, hastily accepted the IOC’s conditions to avoid delaying the long-awaited announcement.

Bach called the contract text Saturday a demonstration of the IOC’s confidence that the U.S. anti-doping agency will align with WADA. He suggested that WADA, not the Olympic committee, would be responsible in the unlikely event that Salt Lake City lost the Winter Games.

“This clause is advice to our friends in Salt Lake that a third party could make a decision that could impact our partnership,” Bach said.

Tensions have increased between WADA and its American counterpart as the US government has given itself more power to crack down on doping programs at international events involving American athletes.

U.S. officials used that power to investigate WADA itself after the global regulator refused to penalize nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

With its contract, the IOC attempted to use its little influence to ensure that WADA would be the primary authority on doping cases in Olympic sports when the United States hosts the Games in 2028 and 2034.

Salt Lake City’s eagerness to become a regular host – and part of a possible permanent rotation of Winter Olympic cities – is a lifeline for the IOC as climate change and high operational costs have reduced the number of cities willing and able to host the Winter Games. Utah’s capital was the only candidate for 2034 after Olympic officials granted it exclusive negotiating rights last year.

Utah bid leaders should have the upper hand, so why did they agree to the IOC’s demands?

Gene Sykes, president of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, said he did not view the late change to the host contract as a strong-arm tactic, but rather a “reasonable accommodation” that secured the bid for Utah and the brought to the host country. play the role of mediator between agencies.

He hopes the end result will be a stronger anti-doping system for everyone.

“It would have been incredibly disruptive if the Games had not been awarded at that time,” Sykes told the Associated Press. “There were 150 people in the Utah delegation who had gone to Paris for the sole purpose of being there when the Games were awarded. So that allowed this to happen in a way that we’re still confident doesn’t put Utah at any real risk of losing the Games.

“The IOC absolutely does not want to lose Utah in 2034,” he added.

Sykes is participating in efforts to reduce tensions between WADA and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, while ensuring that the United States remains steadfast in its commitment to the global anti-doping system administered by WADA.

The White House’s own director of national drug control policy, Rahul Gupta, sits on the WADA executive committee, but the global agency attempted this month to ban Gupta from meetings on the case of Chinese swimmers.

Fraser Bullock, president and CEO of the Salt Lake City bid committee, said there was no friction between regulators and government officials at the local level. His decades-long friendship with Bach and other visiting Olympic leaders was on full display Saturday as he showed them around Utah Olympic Park in Park City.

“There is no tension, just excitement for the future of the Games, the wonderful venues and the people of Utah,” Bullock told the AP. “We are 100%. »