The Peaks Ice Arena held a free public skate and fireworks show on Wednesday, July 24, to celebrate the International Olympic Committee selecting Salt Lake City as the host of the 2034 Winter Olympics.
The IOC voted for Salt Lake City to be the 2034 Olympic host then made the official announcement in Paris, France, on July 24. This announcement came to Utahns in the early morning due to the 8-hour time difference between Utah and France.
The 2034 Olympics will take place 32 years after Salt Lake City first hosted the Winter Olympics in 2002.
The official Olympics website said the Peaks Ice Arena, located in Provo, Utah, is one of the proposed venues for the 2034 Winter Olympics and would be used as an ice hockey arena. The arena was used as an official venue for practices and ice hockey games during the 2002 Winter Olympics, according to the Provo City website.
Tim Horn, the facility systems specialist at the Peaks Ice Arena, said the 2002 Winter Olympics put Salt Lake City on the world map.
“Our ski resorts started booming post-Olympics,” Horn said. “One thing that we’re really proud of in Utah, with the Salt Lake City Olympics, is that all of our facilities that were built for the Olympics are all fully operational and busier than ever.
Horn said he remembered watching the 2002 Winter Olympics on TV when he was young. He began playing hockey after the Olympics and said there was a rush of children interested in winter sports at the time.
“A lot of [Utahns] view the Olympics as a source of inspiration,” he said. “Now, as an adult and with the opportunity to work the Olympics and oversee a facility, maintenance of a facility, it’s just a whole different beast.”
Horn said some of the Peaks Ice Arena will be remodeled for the 2034 Winter Olympics. Since the typical Olympic ice hockey rink size has shrunk since 2002, the north rink of the Peaks Ice Arena will shrink from 200 feet by 100 feet to a typical National Hockey League rink size. The south rink will not shrink, however, to accommodate the large number of people who attend the ice arena’s public skating.
Alissa Eng, the president of the Peaks Figure Skating Club, also expressed her excitement that the Olympics were coming to Utah because she was unable to attend events during the 2002 Olympics.
“It is an amazing opportunity to be able to host the Olympics,” Eng said. “Everybody just kind of buzzes with excitement.”
Olivia Flitton, an intern for Provo City Events, said she was only just born when the 2002 Olympics took place, but she grew up hearing about how her family helped at the Olympics. She hopes to follow in her family’s footsteps and help at the 2034 Olympics.
“I think [Provo Parks and Recreation] and Provo will be able to expand as we prepare for the Olympics,” Flitton said. “I feel like we’ll become a lot more unified the closer we get.”
Horn said there used to be many hockey teams from clubs and schools throughout Utah County, but these have since condensed into just two hockey teams. However, because the Olympics will be here in Utah, he believed there will be another rush of children interested in learning to play hockey and figure skate.
Eng also believed this announcement could spark a child’s interest.
“That could be a kid who’s six years old right now,” she said. “That could be somebody who’s here, you know, who gets interested in figure skating and starts training.”
Salt Lake City will be joining a list of ten other cities to have hosted the Olympics more than once, according to Britannica.
