The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints pledged a “significant financial donation” and use of Church property and volunteers to support the 2034 Utah Olympics and Paralympic Games, a leader announced Tuesday morning in Milan.
Bishop Sean Douglas, second counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, made the announcement at the Foreign Press Association offices in Milan, days shy of the opening ceremonies for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics.
In addition to a financial donation to support the Games, the Church will allow access to Church-owned real estate for use as an Olympic venue and medals plaza, the use of additional land for parking adjacent to proposed Olympic sites and abundant volunteer support from the Church’s multilingual membership, said Bishop Douglas.
“While this contribution of cash and real estate are important, what is beyond price are the hearts and the extraordinary commitment of the member volunteers who make this contribution complete and truly unique,” Bishop Douglas added. “A great portion of our members in Utah who volunteer have served and lived in nearly every part of the world. They have immersed themselves in the world’s diverse cultures from where the Olympians, spectators and their families will come from. They love the people from all corners of the earth, and they speak their languages. We will be excited to welcome everyone to the 2034 Games.”
Fraser Bullock, executive chairman and president of the Olympic Winter Games Utah 2034, said the Church’s support is vital to the success of the Utah Games.
“When we host the world for the Games, we need great partners,” he said. “We can’t do it alone. It’s so big, so complicated, that we need all the help we can get.”
Latter-day Saint volunteers are an important part of that success, said Bullock.
The 2002 Games had an unprecedented number of volunteers. BYU suspended classes for two weeks so students could work as volunteers at the events, and Church leaders sent a letter to congregations encouraging members to volunteer. And, historically, while the dropout rate for Olympic volunteers was 15% to 20%, the attrition rate for Salt Lake volunteers was less than 1%, according to the Deseret News.
Douglas said the 2034 Games will be unifying
“We’re a family. We’re united. ... I think that in a world of so much commotion and so much division from time to time, this is a chance to pull together.”
Bullock said the Church’s financial donation got the Olympic committee “up and running.”
Utah Olympic organizers don’t have commercial rights to court sponsors or sell merchandise until 2029, limiting their ability to raise money. So the Olympic committee appealed to donors, “and the Church stepped up right at the beginning and said, ‘We want to make this donation.’”
Another significant donation is the downtown city block, known as Block 85, located between 200 West and 300 West and North Temple and South Temple streets.
Bullock said the Church’s gift of the use of this important property “makes our Games complete.”
As was the case during the 2002 Winter Games hosted by Salt Lake City, the property will be used as a medals plaza — where “the heart of our Games will play out every night,” said Bullock.
The property will also be used as the big air freestyle skiing venue. “We are bringing sport to the people,” said Bullock of a venue held in the heart of the host city.
The Olympic Games unify the world, Bullock said. “That is a great theme of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — to bring unity to a divided world, to be supportive, to build bridges of understanding,” he said.
During his remarks, Bishop Douglas quoted a statement issued by the First Presidency in July 2024, after the International Olympic Committee voted in Paris, France, to award the 2034 Winter Games to Utah.
“We stand ready to support the 2034 Olympic Games in welcoming athletes, volunteers and visitors from around the world,” wrote the late President Russell M. Nelson and his counselors, President Dallin H. Oaks and President Henry B. Eyring.
Recalling the feelings of “unity, peace and friendship” that characterized the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games, Church leaders said they are “committed to efforts that make Salt Lake a host city that embodies values of service, cooperation and mutual respect.
“As the home of the international headquarters of the Church, we will work with organizers at both local and international levels to welcome the world as 2034 draws near.”
In addition, the late President Jeffrey R. Holland, who died on Dec. 27, 2025, and President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, hosted Thomas Bach, then president of the International Olympic Committee, for a special visit to Temple Square in Salt Lake City on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024.
“No one will be more supportive of these Olympics than we will,” President Holland said. “We are thrilled to contribute in any way we can. We want you to feel that there is no more hospitable place in the United States — or on this planet — than you have here.”
Church leaders emphasized how valuable Utah’s spirit of voluntarism will be for the 2034 Games.
“Thank you for highlighting the volunteers,” Bach said during the visit. “This is one of the values we share with your Church. It’s about unity. It’s about voluntarism. It’s about one global world. It’s about peace. Therefore, for me it’s no surprise we get along with each other.”
Quoting Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Bishop Douglas said the next years will be “days never to be forgotten.”
In 2027 the Church will share the Salt Lake Temple during a public open house and in 2030 the Church is going to celebrate the bicentennial of the organization. “Then in 2034 we get to have the world in our front yard, and what a great opportunity to just be able to celebrate these games and the goodness of people,” said Bishop Douglas.
