Utah’s bid for 2034 Winter Olympics praised by IOC for innovation – Deseret News

Amid the celebration that opened the 2002 Winter Games at the University of Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium, a senior International Olympic Committee official told an audience of Utah community leaders Thursday that there was a moment that helped the tone was set for what was to come.

“It’s pretty impressive, you know,” IOC Olympic Games executive Christophe Duby said of the opening ceremonies, watched by nearly 2 billion people worldwide. “In general, the speeches are very worthy. And here comes Mitt Romney and he says, “Is this a party or what?” I said, “Wow, this is the United States. This is different.”

Dubey, part of an IOC delegation in Utah until Saturday to visit the sites proposed for the 2034 Winter Games, said a lot has changed in the decades since he witnessed U.S. Sen. Romney’s exuberance as Games leader in Utah.

Speaking at an invitation-only forum held in the lobby of the Eccles Theater, which overlooks Main Street, Dubi said Salt Lake City had experienced an “Olympic heyday.” This city has really transformed, probably thanks to many things, but the Games is one of them. There is no doubt about that.”

Thanks to more people living downtown, downtown streets are no longer “lonely” as Duby said they were on Sunday. And, he said, “everything we’ve heard from everybody” suggests there’s even more confidence among Utahns that they can show the world a good time during the Olympics.

Austrian IOC member Karl Stoss, chairman of the Switzerland-based organization’s future hosts committee assessing Utah’s readiness to host again, said he was “very impressed” with the new venues that will be located in the center. These include a giant temporary ski and snowboard jump for big air events, recently added to the Winter Games.

“I saw your innovation,” Stoss said. “You can’t bring the mountains to the city.”

Four-time Olympian Kathryn Rainey Norman, chairwoman of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, which is behind the bid, said planning is underway for what she called “Project 29,” a way to provide opportunities for Olympic sports of children in all 29 counties of the state.

“We have 10 years to make an impact on these kids,” she said, noting that some may end up as a result of another Utah Olympics.

Salt Lake City is the IOC’s preferred host for the 2034 Winter Games, but a final decision is still months away. IOC leaders are due to review the findings of the Future Host Commission in June and then decide whether there should be a formal vote by full members on July 24, Utah Pioneer Day.

The delegation, which includes IOC members and others serving on the commission, as well as executives and staff, spent its second full day at the state review sites. The sliding track at Utah’s Olympic Park near Park City was told after recent upgrades that the only remaining project was the installation of a new shading and lighting system.

Brittney Arndt, who retired last year at age 25 from the U.S. luge team, told IOC officials that being introduced to the sport through an after-school program at the park changed her life.

“I feel so lucky to have been in a place where the Olympics took place,” Arndt said.

At the Solider Hollow Nordic Center near Midway, Emily Campbell, 17, called a “rising star of American biathlon” by the IOC, talks about competing at this year’s Winter Youth Olympics in Gangwon, South Korea, in the sport that combines cross country riding on skiing and rifle shooting.

Campbell, a senior at Park City High School, stepped away from the shooting range to give an IOC member from Slovakia a chance to try the sport. Danka Bartekova, a skeet shooter who won a bronze medal at the 2012 London Summer Games, was quick to hit the targets despite good-natured taunts about “no pressure” from the delegation.

Bartekova thanked the center’s assistant coach, Curtis Lupo, for the help. “It’s my pleasure,” she said, before asking for a photo with Campbell and the other young athletes there to train.

Other stops for the delegation Thursday included Park City Mountain Resort, where resort vice president and CEO Deidra Walsh said she first heard about Park City while watching the 2002 Winter Games on television. “I have to pinch myself,” she said, standing in a room overlooking the snowboard halfpipe used for the 2002 competition.

“We are thrilled to welcome back the Olympic spirit,” said Walsh.

On Friday, both the Snowbasin Ski Resort in Huntsville and the Utah Olympic Speed ​​Skating Track in Kearns are on the public agenda of the IOC delegation. Their trip should end on Saturday with a press conference.