The Washington Post recently published an analysis of where Winter Olympic sports are most accessible across the U.S., including an interactive tool that shows which events are within an hour’s drive of any city and how many Olympians come from each state.
Colorado leads the way with 30 athletes currently participating in the Milano Cortina Olympics.
Despite being home to the Rocky Mountains and a top U.S. winter sports destination, Colorado has never hosted the Winter Olympics.
The state came close in 1976, but voters rejected using public funds for the Games. In 2019, Denver voters reinforced that stance by passing an initiative requiring a public vote before the city can spend money on any future Olympic bids.
Could New England host?
Vermont, the nation’s second-smallest state by population, has produced 51 U.S. Winter Olympians — the most per capita in the country — with four on the 2026 roster.
With roughly 640,000 residents, Vermont averages 79.1 Winter Olympians per 1 million people, compared with Utah’s 15 per 1 million.
New England states such as New Hampshire and Massachusetts have also produced a high number of Winter Olympians per capita.
The northeastern United States has hosted the Winter Olympics before, with Lake Placid serving as host in 1932 and 1980.
While Lake Placid offers 13 of 15 winter sports within an hour’s drive, a city like Boston has just seven, according to a Washington Post analysis.
New England may also be too small to host, despite producing a high number of Olympic athletes. With athletes, officials, spectators and media on site, cities could be quickly overwhelmed.
Utahns in the Olympics
In Utah, The Washington Post tool identifies 53 U.S. Olympians, including 14 on the 2026 roster. In Salt Lake City, all Winter Olympic sports are accessible within an hour’s drive — a level of access few cities can match.
That accessibility contrasts with the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games, which AP News has called the most geographically spread-out Olympics in history.
Team USA includes about 232 athletes, 81 with ties to Utah.
Utah resident Ben Loomis recently finished 17th in the men’s Nordic combined at the 2026 Milano Cortina Games, leading the U.S. field and finishing 3 minutes, 39 seconds behind the gold medalist.
“These athletes represent the best of what Utah offers the world of Olympic and Paralympic sport,” said Jeff Robbins, president and CEO of the Utah Sports Commission. “Whether training, studying, or growing up here, their journeys reflect the state’s Olympic heritage.”
That heritage is rooted in venues built for the 2002 Winter Games, which will be used again when Utah hosts the Olympics and Paralympics in 2034.
Facilities built for athletes and communities
Those facilities were designed with long-term community use in mind.
One example is the soon-to-open Utah Mammoth Ice Center in Sandy.
In addition to serving as the Utah Mammoth’s practice facility, the center will be open to public skating every weekend from Friday through Sunday.
It will also include concessions, rentable flex spaces for events, and an adjoining practice area for the Utah Jazz, according to the Deseret News’ Brogan Houston.
Looking ahead
Other Utah training sites include Olympic Park in Park City, the Olympic Oval in Kearns and Soldier Hollow Nordic Center near Midway.
In April 2024, it was reported that Olympic curling competitions would be moved to the Salt Palace Convention Center and a temporary big air ski and snowboard jump would be built on Block 85.
Additionally, all alpine skiing events will be held at Snowbasin in Ogden Valley, instead of some also being held at Deer Valley and Park City.
At a more recent meeting, Utah Olympic leaders were told not to focus too heavily on logistics.
“We have all the conditions for these Games to be outstanding,” said Christophe Dubi, the IOC’s executive director of the Olympic Games, adding that Utah already has the necessary venues and should focus on the athlete and Olympic family experience instead.
“It is not what’s behind the curtain, the systems. It’s all about the experience we can bring,” he continued.
‘A strategic priority’
Utah’s investment has drawn praise from national Olympic leaders.
“We see Utah as a critical state for the future of Team USA,” Rocky Harris, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s chief of sport and athlete services, told reporters, thanking the state for its long-standing support.
Harris called Utah “a strategic priority for us, for Team USA, for decades,” pointing to the numerous winter sport national governing bodies based in the state and the hundreds of elite athletes who train there each year.
He said Utah’s commitment extends beyond its borders.
“It’s a place we believe really has the intention of growing winter sport, not only in their state, not only in our country, but across the world,” Harris said.
A long-term financial investment
In 2023, Lisa Riley Roche, Deseret News Olympics reporter, reported that up to $140 million in additional taxpayer money could be spent on Olympic facilities.
Fraser Bullock, president and CEO of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, said the expenditures are necessary regardless of whether Utah hosts another Games, serving community members and young people.
“First and foremost, they’re community facilities,” he said.
Collin Hilton, president and CEO of the Olympic Legacy Foundation, also said the investments are meant to support everyday training, events and community use.
He also added that “these are costs that we would do regardless of whether a Games is awarded or not.”
The Olympics were officially awarded to Utah for 2034 in July 2024.
But perhaps this is what explains Utah’s consistent Olympic presence: accessibility to an abundance of resources and a commitment to fostering community.
As Natalie Gouchnour, director of the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, said, the state’s investment in winter sport was never “solely focused on the Olympics, but about an important attribute of our economy and our way of life.”