Park City celebrates the return of the Olympics at Utah Olympic Park

People share memories of the 2002 games on this Olympic torch at the Utah Olympic Park party to celebrate the return of the Games in 2034. Photo: TownLift // Randi Sidman-Moore

PARK CITY, Utah — It was a community party for the ages Wednesday afternoon at the Utah Olympic Park, where people from all over the state came to celebrate the announcement made hours earlier in Paris by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that Salt Lake City will be the Host City for the 2034 Winter Olympic Games. Thousands of excited fans, adorned in festive red, white and blue, met Olympians, traded Olympic pins, listened to live music and exchanged Olympic stories.

The event kicked off what will be a decade of anticipation for the Games’ return to Utah and the beginning of a new Olympic chapter that will define Park City’s future.

One of the athletes in attendance was two-time Olympic medalist Shannon Bahrke. Since retiring in 2010, Bahrke, a Tahoe native, has made her home in Park City. She won her first Olympic medal – silver in women’s moguls – here at the 2002 Olympics at Deer Valley.

“I can’t tell you how excited I am to have the Games back in Park City. I never knew how much the Olympic Spirit could impact a community and I had the privilege of witnessing it first hand in 2002,” Bahrke said, taking a break from signing autographs with fellow Olympians in attendance. “It was absolutely magical, and now another generation of Utahns will get to be inspired by the world’s greatest athletes.”

The Park City community has been working on the idea of bringing the Olympic and Paralympic games back to this community for a long time. The first formal evaluation was done well over 10 years ago, and the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation team has been working on this vision for years.

According to Callum Clark, ULOF’s chief operating officer, the 2034 bid has been tremendous because of the sense of partnership and collaboration within the community.

“Yesterday’s celebration at Utah Olympic Park epitomized the best of what this community does when it comes together. The teamwork between the city, the county resort partners, and winter sport groups to bring together the plan on short notice was awesome and matched the excitement and happiness of everyone in attendance,” Clark told TownLift.

It was standing room only as members of the U.S. Freestyle Ski & Snowboard Team performed one of their world-famous Flying Ace Allstars summer ski shows, flipping and twisting and landing in the Spence Eccles Pool.  announced by Olympian “Fuzz” Federsen.

People dusted off their 2002 clothes as well as shirts and hats from other Olympic Games around the world. 

Some of the VIP speakers who came to the microphone to help hype the crowd included Summit County Councilor Canice Harte, Park City Councilor Tana Toly, UOLF representative Lisa Bennion Rasmussen and Park City Mountain executive Deirdra Walsh.

Big screens showed the Utah bid committee’s video and footage from the successful Paris announcement from earlier in the day while Olympic and Paralympic athletes made appearances before live music played from the band Freedog, and all the sports fans danced the night away.

Michele Roepke contributed to this story.