The state's Olympic bobsled and luge track is not only fit for a king, a section of it is now named for a prince with the dedication Friday of Albert's Alley.
Prince Albert of Monaco, wearing a sweatsuit and sneakers, accepted the honor during a brief ceremony at the Utah Winter Sports Park Friday before he was scheduled to compete in the America's Cup bobsled race.Salt Lake Organizing Committee officials named the straightaway section of track that passes over the sports park road after the prince to show their gratitude for his support of Salt Lake City's Olympic bids.
Besides being a member of the Monegasque bobsled team in the 1988, 1992 and 1994 Winter Games, Prince Albert also sits on the International Olympic Committee, which selected Salt Lake City to host the 2002 Winter Games.
"Prince Albert has been a good friend of ours," SLOC Chief Executive Officer Frank Joklik said, thanking the prince for his "sage advice, words of encouragement and appropriate proding."
The track segment will be marked with marble plaque that reads, "Albert's Alley" and "Carrugiu Albertu," the same phrase in the prince's native Monegasque.
The hefty engraved plaque is modeled after street signs in the tiny but extremely wealthy Mediterranean nation ruled by the Grimaldi family for some 700 years.
The man whose full title is His Serene Highness Crown Prince Albert of Monaco thanked organizers for the honor and said he was pleased to be competing on the track.
"I've been here on and off about 10 days or so and I still like the track. It's been kind to me so far," he joked, calling the mile-long track both fast and safe.
The section named for him - located before the stomach-dropping curve known as the Wasatch Fault - comes at a point "where you have to be very attentive, where you have to react very quickly," he said.
That's because it's one of the fastest parts of the track. Speed is what the prince and other competitors are looking for on the track as they attempt to qualify to compete in the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano.
The prince hopes to drive one of the two bobsleds that will compete for Monaco in next February's Olympics to a finish in the top 20. "It's going to be a battle," he said.
But don't wish him good luck. When a reporter did just that, the prince threw up his hands in mock horror, suggesting such a comment could have the opposite effect.
So what is the appropriate send-off before a race? Track manager Craig Lehto said the tradition is to pat a competitor on the back and tell him or her to, "Go fast."
But, the reporter wondered allowed, how could that be appropriate for a prince given royal protocol?
"Here there is no royal protocol. It's bobsleigh protocol," Prince Albert said, referring to the European term for bobsleds. And he smiled again when a reporter patted him on the back and told him to, "Go fast."