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- Utah leaders emphasized youth involvement in the 2034 Winter Olympics at a Summit on Thursday.
- Provo's Peaks Ice Arena and other programs are helping to inspire future Utah Olympians.
- Project 29, named after the state's 29 counties, aims to engage all Utah communities in the Olympics.
OREM — When the 2034 Winter Games come to Utah less than a decade from now, the state's youth need to feel like they're a part of what will add up to a $4 billion event.
"If we host this Olympics and we do not capture the imagination of every child in this state we will have failed," Utah County business executive Carine Clark said during a panel discussion about the Olympics Thursday at the Utah Valley Growth and Prosperity Summit held at Utah Valley University in Orem.
There's a responsibility to ensure all children have the opportunity to "see themselves in a bigger light" by participating with what will be Utah's second Winter Games, including by being able to attend events, Clark told the business, community and political leaders attending the summit. "Everything we do should be to improve the lives of our citizens."
Provo Mayor Michelle Kaufusi said planning is already underway to engage youth, noting that thousands of tickets were distributed to schools during the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. Kaufusi said Provo's Olympic venue, the Peaks Ice Arena that is set to once again hold some ice hockey events, is regularly used by young athletes.
"You walk into Peaks Ice Arena, you know you're in an Olympic arena. It is beautiful. And those kids that are out there every day, they eat, breathe and sleep" their sports, the mayor said. Some of the hockey players on the ice today "will be our Olympians" in 2034, she predicted.
Kaufusi said the sight of so many young skaters on the ice at the Provo arena impressed the International Olympic Committee members and executives who toured Utah's Olympic venues last spring, ahead of the July 24 decision to award the state a second Winter Games.
"They were just in awe over that. But that's not new in Utah," the mayor said. "We do that really well. We're good at big families. We love our kids. We love our communities. And we're pretty good at welcoming people."
Another participant on the panel was already an Olympian, former Brigham Young University track star Clayton Young. Wearing his Team USA blazer from the Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, the Olympic marathoner said he encourages young athletes, including by joining them in group runs and talking about what it means to make a career out of sports.
"As a professional athlete, one of the biggest things we get involved in is giving back to the community," Young said, calling his work with the growing Run Elite program that seeks to develop Olympic-level track talent in Utah "really, really rewarding." He said at the Paris Games, there were many young volunteers who got to see what it takes to be an Olympian.
Young, who finished ninth in this year's Olympic marathon just behind his former BYU teammate, Conner Mantz, said Utah has some "very big shoes to fill" as an upcoming host. "Paris absolutely crushed it. They did phenomenal. It was amazing. It was bigger than you guys can imagine," he said.
State Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, the co-chairman of the Utah Legislature's Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Coordination Committee, said organizers are committed to involving all of Utah's 29 counties in the 2034 Winter Games, through an effort being called Project 29 that's expected to launch sometime next year.
"We really want to see all the communities represented," McKell said. He said a "listening tour" around the state is also planned, after the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games behind the successful bid to host again transitions into an organizing committee.
McKell also pitched an idea he's brought up before — hosting an Olympic event in southern Utah, involving running through red rocks in Snow Canyon or a similarly scenic location. He said that could attract athletes from parts of the world that don't usually compete in a Winter Games, such as Africa.
That's "one of the things I want to see badly," McKell said.
Utah County, he said, is well-positioned to benefit from the 2034 Winter Games. There are some 6,000 hotel rooms at 35 different properties within the county that have already been booked for the next Olympics, McKell said, meaning there will be plenty of customers for local businesses.
Young said as many as 40 friends and family members came to see him compete in Paris. While the needs of Olympic athletes are taken care of, everyone else has to find their own hotels, restaurants and entertainment during a Games.
"That's where local businesses can really take advantage," Young said, adding, "They're going to be spending their dollars here. That's going to be a lot of money."
