Fifteen-year-old Kate Pressgrove from Heber will join the around 100-person delegation going to Paris for the Utah Olympic Bid Committee’s final 2034 Winter Olympics bid presentation. She and two other young athletes are joining the delegation to amplify Utah’s focus on Olympic legacy and youth sports programs.
Pressgrove started skating at the ripe old age of 2.
“My aunt took me outdoor skating at our local ice rink, and afterward, she decided that she didn't want to hold me up anymore, so she gave me lessons for my birthday,” she said.
Pressgrove fell in love with the sport and stuck with it, taking advantage of local Park City Figure Skating Club programs and scholarships from the Youth Sports Alliance. A legacy of the 2002 Games, the Alliance aims to increase the number of kids participating in winter sports in Summit and Wasatch counties.
Programs promoting sports in youth is something the International Olympic Committee’s Future Host Commission liked when they visited the state in April. At the time, the commission said they want to see similar programs globally.
Pressgrove’s training with Olympic legacy programs has allowed her to participate in competitions nationwide and once, internationally. She also won the 2022 Mabel Fairbanks Skatingly Yours Developmental Award from U.S. Figure Skating. The $5,000 award goes to promising figure skaters of color.
Her goal is to compete in the 2034 Games at home.
“I'm really excited to see if we can get the games back into my home state, there's something unique about having the game so close to here.”
Pressgrove is currently recovering from a surgery that treated a bone deformity in her heels. She had to stay off her feet for two months, but is now back on skates and working on getting her jumps back, especially her Double Axel which took her about a year to achieve.
