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Utah legislators have a message for the world: Utah would love to host the winter Olympics again.

"With minimal investment we could do the Olympics again because we have all the venues" from the 2002 games, Senate President Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, said Wednesday.

"We have shown the world we can do this. We can do it again. We'll do it right, and it will be a great benefit to our state, to our country and to the world," he said.

That came after Sen. Stuart Adams, R-Layton, introduced SCR12, calling for the state to keep up maintenance of its Olympic venues to show the world it is "ready, willing, and able to welcome the world back."

"We still have venues that we not only built, but we have money in an endowment fund that maintains them," Adams said. "We host a lot of the Olympic teams here in Utah," another sign the state is ready to host the games.

Senate leaders told reporters on Wednesday they are dead serious about wanting the Olympics again, and are trying to spread that message.

"It's a timing issue. When an opportunity comes up, we want to be prepared to take advantage," Niederhauser said. "We don't know when that is. Is it 2026? Is it 2030? It could be decades away. But we're just talking about being ready and taking advantage of opportunities that come our way."

Adams added, "I think we are a ways out. These things don't happen overnight. But you hear bipartisan support" to seek the games. "We need to support the synergism that comes from nations coming together."

Adams said one reason he wants a second shot at the Olympics is that 9/11 happened just before the 2002 games — so he says crowds were small and many people from around the world never came to see what Utah offers.

"They just didn't want to come here. They were scared of having an international event where there might be some type of problem." He said. "I think that we really didn't get our fair shot."

Niederhauser said hosting another Olympics should not cost the state money in the long run, and could make money.

"We actually had a surplus from the Olympics that was put into an endowment. So yes, there was some upfront money that was put into it, but that was all paid back to the state. And I don't see any reason why that wouldn't happen again."

Adams said he believes most Utahns would support another Olympic bid. "We love winter games. We love winter sports, and it's part of our fabric here."

Last year, only two cities offered final bids for the 2022 winter games. They were awarded to Beijing, which beat out Almaty, Kazakhstan.