Around 1,000 people decked out in USA gear and colors lined Park City’s Main Street for the Youth Sports Alliance (YSA) Olympic and Paralympic parade Friday.
The crowd cheered as around 90 Olympians and Paralympians who competed in the Summer and Winter Games over several decades waved.
Almost 60 Park City-based athletes — known locally as Park City Nation — competed in the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. Most were in the parade, including two-time Olympic speed skater Casey Dawson.
He walked in the first YSA Olympic and Paralympic parade held in 2014, but not as an Olympian.
“I was actually 14 years old. I was dressed up as a speed skater with the Park City Speed Skating Club, walking alongside the Olympians,” Dawson said. “It's kind of a full circle moment now, being one of the Olympians and one of the Olympic medalists.”
The parade is now a tradition, always following the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. The parade always features young athletes in YSA programs or in local winter sports clubs.
Dawson is one of five of Park City’s 2026 Olympians who first tried his sport through YSA programs.
“I grew up in Park City. I'm one of the only born and raised athletes on the speed skating team, and it's pretty amazing to represent this community,” he said.
YSA programs were created after Utah hosted the 2002 Olympics. The nonprofit runs affordable afterschool programs for over 3,500 kids each year. Dawson said the legacy is strong and he hopes to inspire the next generation.
Walking alongside so many decorated athletes, Park City snowboarder Kennedy Galinski was inspired. The 10-year-old is hoping to compete at the 2034 Olympic Games.
“I want to make it because it'll be here and I will be old enough to make it,” Galinski said.
She walked in the parade with Woodward Park City and has already stood on some podiums. Galinski won gold in slopestyle and silver in halfpipe at the U.S.A. Snowboard and Freeski Association National Championship this season.
Chris “Hatch” Haslock also walked in the parade. He competed in freestyle aerials at the 1988 Olympics in Calgary, Canada. Now a coach, he said it’s especially exciting when he gets to walk in the parade with his trainees.
“I got to march with Colby Stevenson, who started skiing with me when he was seven. And, you know, here was Colby, now an Olympic silver medalist,” Haslock said. “I just couldn't be more proud of, you know, what he did with himself and what he's become.”
Haslock is excited the 2034 Games are coming to Utah. He still remembers the energy from 2002.
“Everybody was so amped, and so part of it, like, we didn't want it to end,” he said. “This time around, going towards 2034, we're 20 steps ahead of where we were before, and the community is already so much more involved.”
Chris Waddell is also looking forward to 2034. He’s a seven-time Paralympian who competed in summer and winter Games. He wants the Paralympics to garner as much energy and support as the Olympics.
He said the parade is a great way to celebrate together.
"One of the coolest things of the Games is that you kind of bring, like, all your friends and family into the start house with you,” he said. “This is a celebration where you get to see all of those people, people who might not have been there, and you get a chance to actually celebrate and know how much support [there is.]”
The energy Waddell is seeking was on full display on Main Street Friday. The crowd showed their support by ringing cowbells, cheering and waving commemorative parade flags.
Olympians and Paralympians returned that appreciation by mingling with the next generation, taking pictures and signing autographs.
