Bach and a delegation of IOC members landed in the Beehive State Friday to not only tour the state’s Olympic facilities, but to build relationships with young athletes and Utahns.
Bach and his delegation toured a portion of the Olympic Village and the Rice-Eccles Stadium at the University of Utah Friday.
The Olympic Village tour started at the George S. Eccles Student Life Center. The group saw the gym’s climbing wall, weight lifting room, pool, track and basketball courts. Bach said the gym is perfect for Olympic athletes to warm up before their events at the 2034 Games.
The group then visited one student dormitory, called Kahlert Village, where athletes will stay during the 2034 Olympics. Bach was especially interested in the dormitory dining hall, which features a handful of dining options.
During the tour, Bach stopped to examine an array of hot sauces and share an anecdote from when he was at a Team USA training center.
“To my surprise, they had 50 different hot sauces. Then I said, ‘I want to have the hottest one,’” Bach said. “It was real stuff.”
Bach said he had to pretend it didn’t affect him too much.
The Olympic delegation then visited the Rice-Eccles Stadium where the opening and closing ceremonies will be. Bach was then able to speak to young athletes during a panel discussion.
Park City native and alpine ski racer Madison Kaiserman was on the panel. She said Park City is the perfect place for aspiring Olympic athletes.
“Growing up in Park City was truly one of the best things that could have happened to my life,” she said. “I tried so many sports through different youth sport programs.”
Saturday Bach, who is an Olympic fencing champion, participated in another athlete panel discussion featuring Olympic speedskating medalist Brittany Bowe and Paralympic discus medalist David Blair.
During the panel, Bach said the Games are first about athletes and sport, but they also go beyond sports.
“In sports, we are, I think, the only community in this world where everybody is equal, where everybody respects the same rules,” he said. “Giving this message to the world, that how our world could look like, how our societies could be, if everybody would respect the same rules and each other.”
Bach made a point to connect with young athletes during his visit. While touring the Utah Olympic Oval and U.S. Speedskating Speed Factory training center, Bach spoke with groups of training figure and speed skaters about their goals.
Bach said he makes an effort to talk to these athletes because they are “the heart of the Games.”
“I love it, but it is also important, because you always get new ideas and see how the younger generation is looking at the Games, and you also always get inspired by the enthusiasm of these young athletes and by their determination,” he said.
Aspiring Olympic speed skater Emma De Bock was one athlete who met Bach. She said the visit made her excited for the 2034 Winter Olympics.
“As soon as I heard that there's going to be a celebration, I’m like, ‘Oh, I have to go. I'm going to meet all these important people.’ And it's just an experience, really. I just, I can't put it into words,” she said. “This is making me so pumped.”
Bach met more young athletes at the last stop on the delegation’s trip at the Utah Olympic Park in Park City. One was 10-year-old Rowen Black who was doing slope style training.
At the end of the Olympic Park tour, Bach was invited to add his signature to a wooden Olympic torch signed by hundreds of locals the day Utah was awarded the 2034 Games.
Bach said the visit was another demonstration of Utahns’ warm hospitality and Olympic spirit.
