Another key piece of Utah’s 2034 Winter Games organization is now in place, a steering committee that includes athletes as well as community, sport and business leaders and several elected officials.
The new group, announced in a virtual news conference, will serve in an advisory capacity to the Organizing Committee of the 2034 Olympic And Paralympic Winter Games that was unveiled on Feb. 14.
The organizing committee board, which is responsible for overseeing Utah’s next Winter Games that carry a price tag expected to add up to $4 billion, all from from private sources, and the new steering committee are set to meet for the first time on Thursday.
“The steering committee will play a vital role in the years leading up to 2034,” Fraser Bullock, the organizing committee’s executive chair and president, said. “It allows us to bring in a broad range of expertise and perspectives across many topics that will be paramount to our success.”
Bullock said he will chair the steering committee, which is expected to eventually expand to 32 members. The group will meet only with the organizing committee board quarterly. Those meetings will be open to the public, but organizing committee board meetings will be closed.
Much of the steering committee’s work will be done through various committees that will bring in even more participants, Bullock said, although some of those committees won’t be formed for another year or so.
“We’ve got this long runway and we want to judicious about it. So they they will be formed over time,” he said. “But they’ll be meeting and providing their input and direction through their chairs and vice chairs to the steering committee.”
The CEO of the 2034 Winter Games, Brad Wilson, who is also vice chair of the organizing committee board said work is underway to put together “a small, lean, talented core staff” that will be up and running as of March 1.
“We’ve got a long time between now and 2034,” Wilson said.
The steering committee boosts eight athletes with Utah ties, including two-time Olympic champion skier Ted Ligety, 2022 figure skating gold medalist Nathan Chen, 13-time Paralympic medalist Chris Waddell and 2002 Paralympic cross country skiing champion Tanja Kari.
All of the members named Wednesday to the new committee are:
Dani Aravich, Boise (Paralympian)
Scott Beck, Park City
Maura Carabello, Salt Lake City
Nathan Chen, Salt Lake City (Olympian)
Carine Clark, Orem
State Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City
Miles Hansen, Salt Lake City
Rep. Jon Hawkins, R-Pleasant Grove
Colin Hilton, Park City
Christena Huntsman, Salt Lake City
Tanja Kari, Salt Lake City (Paralympian)
Ted Ligety, Park City (Olympian)
David Lockwood, Park City
Kaysha Love, Herriman (Olympian)
State Senate Majority Assistant Whip Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall
Derek Miller, Salt Lake City
Brad Mortensen, Ogden
Catherine Raney Norman, Salt Lake City (Olympian)
Brad Parry, Salt Lake City
Matthew Prince, Park City
Nathan Rafferty, Park City
Brad Rencher, Alpine
Lacy Richards, West Haven
Hanna Skandera, Denver
Jordan Stolz, Kewaskum, Wisconsin (Olympian)
Chris Waddell, Park City (Paralympian)
Raney Norman, a speedskater who competed in four Olympics including the 2002 Winter Games and served as the chair of the bid committee, will also head up a new Athletes Commission, created to help ensure a good experience for 2034 Olympians and Paralympians.
Mendenhall is the chair of a new Host Communities Committee with Worel as vice chair. Hilton, the CEO of the nonprofit Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation that owns the Utah Olympic Park an operates other Olympic venues, will lead a new Sport and Venues Committee.
Prince, the co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare, will lead a new Technology and Innovation Committee.
The day-to-day operations of the organizing committee are being run by Wilson, a former Utah House speaker. Steve Starks, CEO of The Larry H. Miller Company and Gov. Spencer Cox’s Olympic advisor, is also a vice chair of the organizing committee board.