A delegation of elected officials, athletes and bid organizers are heading to Paris next week where the International Olympic Committee will vote on whether the Games should return to Salt Lake City in 2034.
The bid team is bringing along several Parkites, including Youth Sports Alliance Executive Director Emily Fisher.
“Catherine Raney Norman, who’s the chair of the bid committee, reached out and said, ‘We really love what’s happening at the Youth Sports Alliance. We’d really love to have some of your athletes and have you accompany us for the bid to sort of share this message about what an Olympic Games can do for a community, not just for those 17 days of the Games, but for a legacy going forward,’” Fisher said.
The nonprofit Youth Sports Alliance, which runs a variety of after school recreation programs for youth in the Wasatch Back, was born out of the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
Fisher will be joined in France by several YSA athletes, including luge athlete Orson Colby.
“[Colby is] 18, he’s part of the Wasatch Luge Club,” Fisher said. “He discovered luge while he was working on a Boy Scout merit badge, but he’s part of that legacy of the 2002 Games. He trains with the Wasatch Luge Club that we support through JANS Winter Welcome and we have supported him with scholarships from the Stein Eriksen endowment. He competed just this last year at the Youth Olympic Games and the Junior World Championships.”
Figure skater Kate Pressgrove will also be a part of the delegation.
“[Pressgrove is] 16, she’s a member of the Figure Skating Club of Park City,” Fisher said. “She is a really special young athlete here in the community. She works incredibly hard, and she has also been a recipient of the Stein Eriksen endowment scholarships from the Youth Sports Alliance for years. So exciting to have those athletes coming with us.”
Tom Kelly, who is spokesman for Utah’s 2034 bid, said they’re also bringing private donors to Paris.
“We’re entirely privately funded, and we will fund the Games in 2034 entirely from private sources," Kelly said. "So we are taking a very large donor group over as well, and these are the people who have helped to support the bid. The bid cost was $4 million which is actually, as far as bids go, is probably one of the lowest ever.”
The pivotal moment will come on July 24 at 3:30 a.m. local time, when IOC members are expected to officially vote in Paris to award the 2034 Winter Olympics to Salt Lake City.
Kelly said there will be a live watch party that night at the Salt Lake City and County Building in Washington Square.
Park City is planning a separate celebration at Utah Olympic Park at 4 p.m. on July 24, which is also Pioneer Day.
