SALT LAKE CITY — There's a lot of excitement surrounding the 2034 Olympic Games, which will be held in Utah.
When the Winter Games came to town in 2002, they made their mark. One man who volunteered with the German contingent then says it changed his life forever.
"It was actually a highlight of my life," Scott Mecham said, looking back on the Games that he said changed Salt Lake and how it was seen around the world.
"I was an assistant to the German national committee and took a two-week sabbatical from work," he said. "[I] had the opportunity to drive German athletes and officials to and from their competition venues."
Mecham and other volunteers like him helped make the games a success, all while creating lifelong connections.
"We continue to remain friends and get together every December," he said.
He even recently met up with some of them in Frankfurt, Germany.
"The Germans are very happy that the Olympic Games are coming back to Salt Lake City," he said.
Mecham is fluent in German after he served an LDS mission there in the 1980s. He kept up his language skills, and then when he learned about his home state hosting the 2002 Games, he tried out to see if he could help.
"We had to compete for those slots because there are so many who are fluent in languages, and we went to a year of training every couple weeks at the U," he recalled. "All of the volunteers went to the training to be what they called an NOC or National Olympic Committee Assistant."
Mecham added, "Excellent training. Excellent execution of that, and that’s part of the reason the Germans and every other NOC appreciated being in Salt Lake City. Because the volunteers were not only fluent in their respective language, but very well trained."
He said what separates Salt Lake City from other host cities is its army of volunteers.
"Here, there were working professionals that were so excited to be a part of the Olympics that we took time off work and were happy to do what was to them menial labor but for us was a thrill — an experience of a lifetime."
Mecham took a leave from his job as an administrator or finance director with the Utah Attorney General's Office at the time and worked alongside dentists and doctors and other professionals who were eager to be a part of the Games.
He said that in the Olympic Village, he got the opportunity to meet numerous athletes, celebrities, and even the president of Germany at the time.
"It’s been dramatic, the impact that it’s had," Mecham said of how Utah changed as a result of hosting the Games.
He said he plans on letting someone else have the opportunity to volunteer the next time, but he hopes to reunite with old friends and at least attend some of the events.
