‘Sky’s the limit:’ Winter sports organizations in Utah to prep for Olympics

For Kelly Skinner, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee vice president for high performance, the clock is already ticking on making sure Utah is ready to host a second Winter Games, even though that’s not until 2034.

So much time can be “a blessing and a curse,” Skinner told reporters Thursday during a break in the multi-day conference of the eight winter sports national governing bodies that included meetings at the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns.

He said he’s experienced the downside with America’s next Olympics and Paralympics, the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. Despite also having more than the traditional seven years to prepare to host, L.A. organizers are still settling on venues.

“The learning from that is we took the time for granted,” Skinner said. “What we have, with the time that we have with the Utah Games coming, is lessons learned from how quickly we need to be starting to talk.”

His advice? “Don’t waste the time given. Sometimes you think, nine years, well, let’s put our feet up” because work can wait, Skinner said. “Not true. We have a lot to do between now and then. But the good news is, the ball has already started rolling.”

He called it “incredible” that a sports and venue group formed earlier this year by the Utah Organizing Committee for the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games was able to start its work on Wednesday.

Among the topics of that and other meetings of the national governing body leaders was what’s needed to get Utah’s Olympic venues ready for 2034. Organizers plan to reuse the venues from the 2002 Winter Games, building only a temporary “big air” jump in downtown Salt Lake.

More state money for Utah’s Olympic venues?

While the venues from 2002 have continued to be used by both community and elite athletes, funding will be sought from the Utah Legislature for some improvements, said Colin Hilton, president and CEO of the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation that operates several key venues.

Over the years, state lawmakers have appropriated more than $92 million for venue updates and repairs, including $40 million in 2023. Hilton said the tax dollars have been used to “support winter sport development at these facilities, not specifically for the Games.”

Part of the “everyday need” at facilities like the speedskating oval and the Utah Olympic Park’s ski jumps and bobsled, skeleton and luge track is hosting other international competitions and serving as a training site for athletes from around the world, he said.

“That’s where the state is helping out,” Hilton said, adding that as a member of the organizing committee, “we are not looking for state or local tax dollars to help for the specific cost of running the 2034 Games. And that is a very big distinction.”

He said there’s “no major improvements or any building to do to host these Games,” citing projects such as the replacement of the oval roof that have already been completed. However, there are projects planned, such as redoing the lighting and shading on the sliding track.

Hilton said there’s “one more tranche of ask to the state of Utah that we’re likely to do in the 2026 or 2027 session,” he said, plus some additional one-time requests. He did not have a total amount, but lawmakers have not funded at least $80 million in previous requests.

Locally owned facilities, including the Peaks Ice Arena in Provo, are also likely to seek additional state funding because of increased public use since 2002, Hilton said, describing them as “community recreation centers just as much as they are Olympic venue sites.”

The USOPC’s role in funding the venues is limited. Skinner said the Colorado Springs-based organization has paid for a system of padded bumpers along the speedskating track to help protect the “health, wellness and safety” of Team USA members.

2034 Winter Games just the start

Aron McGuire, the CEO of USA Bobsled and Skeleton, said winter sports “are limited with facilities. So to have these venues, the support teams that are in place, are critical to the success of Team USA.”

McGuire, the vice chair of what’s known as the NGB Council that also represents the summer sports national governing bodies, credited Utah’s sliding track for helping Herriman track star Kaysha Loverecently win the monobob world championship.

“She could not have done that without the facility, without the support that takes place here,” McGuire said, adding that many of the athletes who’ll compete for the U.S. in his sport in 2034 “haven’t even touched a sled yet. So essentially, the sky’s the limit.”

The national governing bodies are responsible for promoting their sports in the United States, he said. For winter sports, that’s a long-term effort, so McGuire said Utah’s next Winter Games are “not the finish line.”

Instead, he sees 2034 as a springboard for “what can take place in the next 20 years, the next 30 years, the next 40 years, in terms of raising awareness, getting more athletes, getting more people involved in winter sport.”