SALT LAKE CITY — The party celebrating Utah’s Olympic legacy is continuing in downtown Salt Lake City. This time, it's for the Paralympics.
A special watch party at Library Square on Saturday brought athletes and fans together to welcome home local Olympians, celebrate advancements in adaptive sports and look ahead to the 2034 Winter Games in Utah.
“When 2034 comes around, just be there,” one speaker told the crowd from the stage. “Because the athletes feel that support. They feel the people who are there.”
Among those returning home was short track speed skater Kristen Santos-Griswold, who said representing Utah on the Olympic stage has been a special experience.
“It’s so fun and surreal,” Santos-Griswold said.
She says competing in the Olympics and doing it for a state with such a strong connection to the Games made the experience even more meaningful.
“We’re going through this journey with everyone that supports us along the way,” she said. “So to be able to give back to our communities in that way is really fun.”
Athletes were welcomed on stage and even spent time signing autographs and talking with fans.
Some people attending had traveled to Utah for other events, like Adrienne Meyer and her family from Michigan.
“We are here for the U.S. Synchronized National Figure Skating Championships, which are being held right now at the Maverik Center,” Meyer said.
While looking for something to do before the competition, they discovered the watch party.
“We saw that Hillary and Brittany are going to be here and we thought, 'Wow, we’ll come down and cheer them on,'” Meyer said.
Olympians Hilary Knight, Team USA’s hockey captain, and speed skater Brittany Bowe were there with Mayor Erin Mendenhall on the stage. The two recently got engaged in Italy after meeting through the Olympics.
It was a draw for some, while others simply stumbled across the event while spending time downtown, like at the nearby farmers market.
“We wandered in here and saw a nice place to sit and have our breakfast burrito,” said John, a Salt Lake City resident. “It’s really nice. I wish I would have known earlier. We would have probably come down earlier and watched more.”
Some groups attended with a specific mission, including the University of Utah’s Craig H. Nielsen Rehabilitation Hospital Trails Program, which is working to expand adaptive sports opportunities.
Kim Hart says they’re working toward introducing a new adaptive event called Tetraski, a downhill skiing course through gates using a specialized cart-like device designed for athletes with complex disabilities or spinal cord injuries.
“You can carve left, carve right. You can do pizza, French fries, stuff like that,” Hart said. “This allows them some independence and to compete like their other peers.”
The non-profit program is also working with the University of Utah engineering department to develop new technology that could help push the sport forward.
“We’re really pushing the limits on what people can do with complex disabilities,” Hart said.
As excitement builds toward Utah hosting the Winter Games again in 2034, visitors like Meyer say the setting is perfect for Olympic competition.
“It’s beautiful,” Meyer said. “I think it’s a beautiful environment for the Olympic Games, so yeah, maybe we’ll come back.”
