It’s the little things that stick with Utah Olympic organizers as the Milan Cortina Games fade into the rearview. During a panel discussion at the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute on March 25, organizers for the 2034 Games said their highlights included chance encounters on public transit, episodes of good sportsmanship, and a moment of international unity when Chinese snowboarder Eileen Gu secured a come-from-behind win.
After crashing on her first attempted, she recovered, and “does her third run. It is amazing, remarkable. She ends up winning the gold,” said Brad Wilson, CEO of Utah 2034. “And you saw Americans and Italians and French and Chinese spectators all cheering for this 20-year-old Chinese athlete. Our world needs more of us cheering for each other, and that was a really powerful moment for me.”
Despite the memorable details, organizers are thinking of the big picture ahead of 2034.
CEO of the Park City Chamber of Commerce Jennifer Wesselhoff says host communities in the Wasatch Back are in rehearsal mode.
“One of the key lessons for me, especially being in a mountain town in Park City, is the importance of execution and practice to be able to anticipate these large-scale events,” she said.
In Italy, Wesselhoff said she saw firsthand the opportunity for small mountain communities to create exceptional experiences which will resonate across the world.
“Moving into the mountain communities reports from Livigno and also Bormio, the sense of pride that overflowed into the communities and onto the streets was much more palpable than it was in Milan, for example, and so that’s what I’m most interested in,” she said.
With 2034 still seven years out, organizers are already looking at transportation, snowmaking infrastructure, designs for the athlete’s village and other areas of concern.
Organizers anticipate $4.1 billion in direct spending as a result of the Games, creating a $6.6 billion economic impact for the state.
The impact will go beyond the event itself, said Wilson:
“We are not planning an event for 17 days. We are planning for decades when we think about this.”
