Winter Olympics are returning to Salt Lake City. Will Idaho reap the benefits again?

The International Olympic Committee announced Wednesday that Salt Lake City will host the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

It was the second successful bid for the Beehive State, which also hosted the Winter Olympics in 2002, and it was much easier this time around: Utah’s capital city was the only contender being considered.

It also was big news for neighboring Idaho.

Leading up to the 2002 Games in Utah, Idaho became a prime practice spot for many Olympians. Sun Valley was inundated with close to 200 athletes, including Nordic and alpine skiers, snowboarders, ice skaters and biathletes representing Ukraine, Norway, Sweden, Italy, Liechtenstein, Canada, Spain, Austria and the United States.

The U.S. women’s hockey team played an exhibition game in Boise against China on Jan. 6, 2002, that drew a standing-room-only crowd of 5,521 at Idaho Central Arena. Slovakia and Switzerland squared off in Boise in men’s hockey.

Nearly 1 in 10 of the athletes who competed in the 2002 Olympics trained or competed in Idaho, according to a report from the Idaho Department of Commerce and Tourism. The department also estimated that more than 200,000 Idahoans were directly exposed to the Olympic movement through events and exhibitions.

More than 100 Idaho Army and Air National Guard members assisted with security in 2002. They were part of a military task force that helped the Utah Olympic Public Safety Command with communications, explosive ordnance disposal, aviation, physical security and temporary facilities.

The Boise Police Department sent 10 officers to work security for three weeks at the Olympic Square in Salt Lake City, and there was even an Idaho Visitors Center in the heart of downtown Salt Lake during the Games.

And if that wasn’t enough, Boise-based A Company Portable Restrooms landed a $3 million contract to provide 2,600 portable toilets at the 2002 Olympics. Other Idaho companies that benefited included Washington Groups (highway construction), Fleetwood Homes (trailers), Idaho Sowing for Sports Inc. (protective padding), Jytte Mau (specialty knit hats) and Cascade Raft Company (drivers and vans).

The Olympic Torch passed through nine communities in Idaho on its way to Utah. The Salt Lake Olympic Committee later awarded Boise the Olympic cauldron that carried the Olympic flame across the country in recognition of the “enthusiasm, spirit, and participation” the city exhibited during the national torch relay.

The Idaho Department of Commerce and Tourism said the Gem State received an economic impact of more than $100 million in the two years leading up to the 2002 Games and the year following.

The Salt Lake Tribune estimated that the 2034 Games could have $6.6 billion in total economic impact.

“Salt Lake City and Utah are longtime friends of the Olympic Movement, and we are confident that they will organize exceptional Olympic and Paralympic Games, just as they did years ago,” IOC President Thomas Bach said in a news release.

“The legacy of 2002 is tangibly and passionately alive in Utah. The legacy of 2034 starts today.”