The candidates interested in hosting a Winter Olympics are dwindling. Even as seemingly ideal cities, like Calgary and Lake Tahoe-Reno, drift away, it underscores that Salt Lake and the Wasatch Front are in a prime position to welcome the world again in eight or 12 years.

The U.S. Olympic Committee recently toured Salt Lake City as part of its process to pick a U.S. bid city for the 2030 Winter Olympics. The other current option is Denver, after Reno-Tahoe dropped out earlier this month due to the potential financial burden of hosting a Games.

While the U.S. group is preparing for a 2030 bid, the International Olympic Committee is looking at just two potential hosts for the 2026 Games — Stockholm, Sweden and the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina D’Ampezzo. Even those options face funding concerns, as their respective federal governments have balked at providing financial assistance.

The sparse options only bolsters the resume for Utah, which overcame a scandal over the bidding process to shine in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks. Nearly all involved, from civic leaders to athletes and volunteers to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, put their best foot forward then and we’re pretty certain that they would welcome an opportunity to step forward again.

Given the few options for 2026, there is chatter about whether Salt Lake may be considered for that Olympics rather than 2030. While it’s an exciting possibility, Los Angeles is hosting the 2028 Summer Olympics and has locked up a tremendous amount of sponsorship money in the years leading up to their Games. It may be financially prudent to wait until 2030.

A second Salt Lake Games won’t be as transformative as the 2002 edition. Because most of the venues are already built for Salt Lake, it’s unlikely that there will be a boon of new buildings for the Games.

That’s actually an advantage because reusing existing venues, even with ongoing maintenance, will lower any construction costs — although there will still be a hefty price tag for operating the events.

It’s important for all concerned to be realistic about the potential benefits and detriments of hosting a Games. Many cities and countries approach hosting an Olympics with the idea of raking in big bucks from boosted tourism and related business. Unfortunately, many of the dreams go unrealized as host cities often face tremendous cost overruns and watch as venues that glimmered like jewels for two weeks become tarnished from disuse.

Still, most of the stories that point at crumbling venues from past host cities like Athens, Greece and Rio de Janerio almost never reference Salt Lake City — perhaps because it’s inconvenient to mention Utah’s continued use of public and private venues from 2002.

As we are on the cusp of winter, we would encourage you to check out the former Olympic venues, like Peaks Ice Arena in Provo or Utah Olympic Park outside of Park City. If you’ve never had a chance, it can be exciting to visit these sites and do things like strap on speed skates at the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns or step into cross country skis at Soldier Hollow. Even if you don’t have the skill of an Olympian, it’s wonderful to have the opportunity to try the bobsled track or to throw a curling stone.

Thanks to careful planning, the 2002 Games have become a living legacy for Utahns and visitors. As long as we plan prudently, the region would be an ideal host to welcome the world once more in 2030.