Gov. Spencer Cox met Friday in Milan with Italian and French leaders from regions also hosting Winter Games, telling them they’re setting an example for the world by working together as Utah prepares the 2034 Winter Games.
Cox, who is in Milan for the 2026 Winter Games that begin Friday evening, sat down with representatives of Italy’s Lombardy region and France’s Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions, home to the 2030 Winter Games.
“The world may look very different than it does today. But we get to decide what that world looks like eight years from now, and that’s one of the reasons that we’re here together,” the governor said, noting that none of them are leading their countries.
“Whatever is happening there, if we can unify at this level, it will help up there as well. We want to set that example as representatives of the United States, as representatives of the state of Utah. You are our allies and you are our friends and have been for many, many years,” he said.
Cox’s comments come amid increased tensions between the United States and Europe over U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies, including his attempts to take over Greenland and tariff threats.
Fraser Bullock, executive chair and president of Olympic Winter Games Utah 2034, and French Alps 2030 President Edgar Grospiron sign a cooperative agreement in Milan, Italy, on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
“The Olympic Games are a way for us to come together,” the governor said.
Damien Combredet-Blassel, the Ambassador for Sport in the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, said “we have a lot to learn” from Utah’s Olympic experience, which includes hosting the 2002 Winter Games.
Expressing support for the cooperation between the regions, Combredet-Blassel said it’s “a great example, as you underlined, governor, of how the Games bring us together. This is a formidable example of that and also of sport diplomacy.”
After the meeting, held at the Lombardy regional government’s headquarters in a conference room with a sweeping view of the Alps that straddle multiple European countries, including Italy and France, the governor spoke with reporters.
“It’s the first time in history that three regions of the world have worked together on Olympic Games. We think that’s very important. We think it’s good for relationships between Europe and the United States,” Cox said.
Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox makes a comment during a meeting with members of French Alps 2030 prior to signing a cooperative agreement in Milan, Italy, on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
The governor said Vice President JD Vance delivered a similar message when he arrived in Italy Thursday as the leader of the U.S. delegation to the 2026 Games. Vance described the Olympics as “one of the few things that unites the entire country.”
Cox said he “wants that to continue to be the model, that no matter what’s happening at the top level, down here we’re working together.” He said Utah still has plenty to learn, too, from Italian and French organizers.
“Let’s work and see what we have in common and how we can learn from each other. And that’s the best part, that intellectual humility,” the governor said. “We had the greatest Olympics in the world in 2002 and we can still learn from people. We can make ours better.”
The cooperative agreement, Cox said, has the three Olympic regions working together “not just on the Games and the way the Games will be played, but on the legacy and what will be left behind.”
Fraser Bullock, executive chair and president of Olympic Winter Games Utah 2034, talks about meshing together as he and French Alps 2030 President Edgar Grospiron sit down to sign a cooperative agreement in Milan, Italy, on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
That includes efforts underway at the University of Utah and the Université Côte d’Azur in Nice, France, to study air quality and how a Winter Games can improve the environment, the governor said.
Earlier Friday, leaders of the 2030 Winter Games in the French Alps and Utah’s 2034 Winter Games signed their own cooperative agreement in a brief ceremony.
“We’re going to make each other stronger,” said Fraser Bullock, president and executive chair of the Organizing Committee for the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. He said Utah will be looking at how the French Games handle areas like technology, hospitality and ticketing.
Bullock also thanked French Alps 2030 President Edgar Grospiron for stepping forward with a late bid to host in 2030 so that Utah could host four years later and avoid competing for sponsors with the 2028 Summer Games in another U.S. city, Los Angeles.
“You were bold and you were needed,” Bullock said. “We are so grateful.”
