International Olympic Committee -IOC- President Kirsty Coventry found part of the 2034 legacy already in action during her first official visit to Utah. “What struck me today is that Utah’s Olympic legacy isn’t sitting behind glass — it’s out here on the ice and in buzzing venues throughout their communities,” she said after joining young hockey players in Salt Lake City. Coventry began the day at Washington Elementary School, where she took part in an educational activity, and finished it at Steiner Ice Arena with athletes aged 14 to 16. The two visits illustrated the organising committee’s strategy to bring the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games closer to a generation that had not yet been born when Salt Lake City hosted them in 2002.
Utah 2034 already has all 13 venues included in its competition plan and does not expect to build an entirely new sports venue. Ten were used during the 2002 Games, while the others already exist and remain in regular operation. This allows part of the early preparation period to be devoted to educational programmes, youth sport support and community participation, but it does not remove the need for investment. Venues will require upgrades to lighting, surfaces, accessibility, technology, spectator areas and broadcast facilities, as well as temporary structures. An estimate presented to the state legislature in June placed the improvements still required at publicly owned venues at more than $50 million. Utah had allocated approximately $53 million in grants and already spent $46 million on work at Utah Olympic Park, Soldier Hollow and other facilities. Transport, security and public services will require additional resources, even if the overall cost is lower than building a network of venues from the ground up.
The Games enter 72 schools
At Washington Elementary, Coventry visited Champion Schools 34, which begins this academic year as a pilot programme involving 72 schools across seven Utah districts. The initiative uses Olympic and Paralympic values to promote literacy, school engagement and long-term academic participation. Its digital platform includes lesson plans for teachers, book recommendations, motivational videos featuring athletes and a system for recording reading minutes and earning recognition. Each month will focus on a different value, while schools will be able to achieve Champion School status through their students’ commitment. The content adapts resources from the Olympic Values Education Programme to Utah’s education system. According to the IOC, the programme has been implemented in 138 countries and reached more than 60 million young people.
Students entered the gym carrying banners made by their classes, while Amy Garff, chair of the Utah 2034 Education Committee, carried the torch she had held during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games. Olympic speed skater Julie Letai read from one of her favourite childhood books and every student received a book to take home when they returned to their classrooms. Coventry connected learning with the experiences that come before any sporting result: “Being a champion starts long before anyone stands on a podium. It starts in moments like these — being curious, learning something new, working through something that is difficult and having the courage to try again.” Champion Schools 34 is the first stage of a strategy led by a 16-member committee drawn from education, sport, business and social organisations. The pilot will enable the organisers to assess participation and reading time before deciding whether to expand it to more schools across the state.
The first investment in youth sport
The second part of Coventry’s visit took her to Steiner Ice Arena, a rink connected to preparations for the 2002 Games that is still used by athletes and community programmes. She joined a training session with the Utah Lady Grizzlies, the state’s only all-girls hockey organisation, which serves players from Utah and the wider Mountain West region. Its teams have reached the USA Hockey Girls National Championships in five consecutive seasons, with both the under-14 and under-16 sides qualifying in 2026. Coventry watched the session, spoke to the players and presented the organisation with a $5,000 contribution from Utah 2034. It was the organising committee’s first direct investment in youth sport through its community impact programme.
The contribution formed part of Utah Youth Sports Giving Day, a campaign running from 12 to 26 September to fund clubs and organisations that improve children’s and teenagers’ access to sport. The initiative set a target of raising $3 million and secured more than $1.5 million in matching funds, including a dollar-for-dollar match for the first $1 million donated. Its purpose extends beyond identifying future Olympic athletes. It seeks to reduce the cost of membership fees, equipment, travel and facility access so that more young people can find an activity and remain involved. “Not everyone will become an elite athlete, but sport allows them to find a community, build relationships and learn about themselves,” Coventry explained. Some of the players who shared the ice with her may be old enough to aim for a place at the 2034 Games; for the others, the intended benefit is a more accessible sporting structure throughout the years leading up to them.
An active legacy that still requires renewal
The continued use of the 2002 facilities supports this model. Utah Olympic Park, Utah Olympic Oval and Soldier Hollow Nordic Center, managed by the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation, collectively record more than 1.4 million uses each year across training, competitions, education programmes and recreational activities. This activity has prevented the abandonment of specialist venues that are particularly expensive to maintain. It also creates a need to update them. Utah Olympic Park is preparing new roofing, shade systems and broadcast-standard lighting for its sliding track to provide more consistent ice conditions, reduce energy consumption and improve the spectator experience. Investments already completed also include work at Soldier Hollow, Peaks Ice Arena, Weber County Sports Complex and Maverik Center. Utah’s advantage therefore lies in renewing an established and proven network, not in avoiding construction work altogether.
The organising committee intends to finance operational preparations through commercial revenue and is using Podium34 as a philanthropic platform to raise $300 million for both the Games and community projects involving youth sport, mental health, volunteering, culture and sustainability. Retaining the existing venues reduces the role that construction usually plays during the early stages of hosting preparations and allows these programmes to begin sooner. Their legacy, however, will depend on how many students, athletes and organisations can continue to benefit after the initial activities. “These players weren’t even born when the Games were here in 2002, yet they are training in a rink where Olympians trained during those Games and imagining what 2034 might mean for them,” Coventry said. “That is what legacy should do: keep opening doors for the next generation.”
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