A year into the job as CEO of Utah’s 2034 Winter Games, former Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson wasn’t expecting to be inspired by figure skating’s “Quad God” at the Olympics in Milan Cortina, Italy.
But that’s how it went when Wilson bumped into Ilia Malinin in a sponsor’s suite at the Milano Ice Arena, just days after the 21-year-old world champion from Virginia, whose quadruple jumps made him a favorite for gold, fell during the men’s free skate and finished in eighth place.
“He started asking questions about our Games,” Wilson recalled. “I said, ‘Well, we’re hoping you’re still skating during our Games,’ and he said, ‘I hope I am, too. But I will be in Utah in May and I hope that people from Utah will come out and watch us skate.’”
That one of the biggest names in such a popular winter sport was familiar with Utah really struck Wilson, whose only previous experience at an Olympics was as a spectator at the state’s last Winter Games, in 2002.
“He knew already before even meeting me he was going to be in Utah in May, performing,” the organizing committee leader marveled. Malinin is a headliner for the 2026 Stars on Ice Tour, set to make a stop at West Valley City’s Maverik Center on May 14.
Wilson, who’d come to the suite during a pairs figure skating competition to meet with a potential future sponsor for Utah’s Games, described Malinin as “self-deprecating. We joked a little bit about wanting redemption for his performance that didn’t go the way he’d hoped.”
“People would ask us all the time about our Games and tell us they were excited to come, and how much they enjoyed 2002. We’ve got a big legacy to live up to. It was reinforced in many, many, many ways for me while I was there.”
— Brad Wilson, CEO of Utah's 2034 Winter Olympic Games
The chance conversation “was just a great experience, to hear his curiosity about Utah and our Games and enthusiasm for coming into our community,” Wilson said, adding he later had a similar chat with Team USA ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates about the upcoming tour stop.
“Just being part of that, and knowing these athletes from all over the world know about Utah and are excited for our Games and want to be here was inspirational,” he said, because while the recognition isn’t unexpected, it feels different “when you, in the moment, have it happen.”
‘High expectations’ for Utah’s next Olympics
Wilson and others from Utah’s Organizing Committee for the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games made a point of wearing shirts and other gear with the distinctive “Utah 2034″ logo throughout their time in Italy.
“People would ask us all the time about our Games and tell us they were excited to come, and how much they enjoyed 2002,” he said. “We’ve got a big legacy to live up to. It was reinforced in many, many, many ways for me while I was there.”
That included during meetings with the International Olympic Committee members and staff. Utah organizers made their first formal presentation on their progress to the IOC in Milan, since being awarded a second Winter Games in July 2024.
The only advice from the IOC was for the privately funded organizing committee to focus on elevating the experience of the 2034 Games rather than putting together specific plans for hosting this far ahead.
Wilson said he heard a lot in Italy about “their high expectations for our Games.” The same message was also delivered by others with an interest in the Olympics, including international winter sports federations.
They’re all, he said, “aware of our Games and is expecting us to do big things. We’re excited to live up to it.”
Just what the “big things” will be remains to be seen. Much of the work of the organizing committee, including selling sponsorships, has to wait until the other upcoming Olympics in the U.S. is over, the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
It’s clear now that Utah’s next Winter Games will be a significant shift from the sprawl seen in Italy, the first Olympics and Paralympics for athletes with disabilities hosted by two different places that are several hundred miles apart.
Labeled the “widespread” Games, Milan Cortina ended up with six different athlete villages and venues located across northern Italy. The 2030 Winter Games in the French Alps will be similar, with venues stretching from France’s northern mountains to the country’s southern beaches.
“Our footprint is so different,” Wilson said, calling the Milan Cortina Games “spectacular. They just did a terrific job and I enjoyed them a lot. But people told me more than once, they’re excited to come to Utah.”
With every venue within an hour’s drive of a single athletes village at the University of Utah, people will be able to “ski in the morning and go to two or three events in the afternoon and evening. We’re uniquely situated to be able to provide that experience to people,” he said.
Plus, there should be some 3 million tickets for sale in 2034, about twice as many as there were for the Milan Cortina Olympics, Wilson said. That’s because Utah’s venues, largely in place since the 2002 Winter Games, are larger.
What did give him pause was watching Milan’s Opening Ceremony in a nearly century-old soccer stadium, a showcase of Italy’s arts, culture and history and featuring international stars like Mariah Carey and Andrea Bocelli.
“I just think there’s this secret sauce that we’ve got to figure out for our Opening Ceremonies as someone that’s done it already once before,” Wilson said. “The eyes of the world, in a bigger way than since ’02, will be on us during Opening Ceremonies. We’ve got to knock it out of the park.”
While he’s confident that can be done, Wilson said he hadn’t thought much thought about the show seen by billions globally. Now, he’s getting lots of unsolicited advice about who should take the stage to represent Utah in 2034, including The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.
Back for the Paralympics
After spending more than three weeks in Italy for the Olympics, Wilson headed back again for the Paralympics, which begin Friday. The immersion, he said, has been a great way to learn about the Olympic movement.
“I’m super excited to do it for the Paralympics, too. Those athletes work every bit as hard and their events are going to be just terrific,” Wilson said. He’s hoping to see more competitions than he did during the Olympics, when much of his time was spent in meetings.
“I’m super excited to do it for the Paralympics, too. Those athletes work every bit as hard and their events are going to be just terrific.”
— Brad Wilson, CEO of Utah's 2034 Winter Olympic Games, of the 2026 Paralympics, which begin Friday in Italy
“I was there to learn and to work and to meet people. It was a really terrific fusion of getting to know the people and the environment, just how things operate,” he said. “Also, just catching the spirit of the Olympics and the enthusiasm.”
The Olympic events Wilson did see showed him a different side of the Games than he’d been able to watch on TV over the years. Venues seem smaller in person, he said, offering a more intimate connection to the competition.
“You felt like you were really part of it,” Wilson said, recalling being in the stands when the U.S. men’s hockey team defeated their longtime Canadian rivals and won gold for the first time since 1980’s “Miracle on Ice.”
“In the beginning, when we scored our first goal, you couldn’t hear yourself think, it was so loud. And it was as full of Canadians as it was Americans,” he said. “I’ve been to a lot of sporting events in my life and that was definitely one I’ll never forget.”
Of course, as the CEO of a future Games, Wilson said he also took note of some more mundane details, just as he does now routinely since making the move from a career in business and politics.
“My kids have made fun of me when we go to sporting events now because I’m paying attention to signage, I’m paying attention to restrooms. I’m paying attention to security protocols, parking,” he said. “You just pay a lot of attention to what’s working and what’s not.”
That meant looking at details like player locker rooms at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena, built for use as a community center with construction continuing right up to the first Olympic match in early February.
In Livigno, a mountain town near the Swiss border that hosted Olympic snowboard and freestyle skiing competitions, Wilson said he toured venues along with personnel from the Utah ski resorts where competitions will be held in 2034.
Over two days, he also managed to attend four competitions in addition to examining “back-of-the-house” operations. Being “in a new place as a spectator in many ways, watching those events, was really fun. It was inspiring. The crowd was enthusiastic,” Wilson said.
More than that, though, was the sense of being part of something even larger.
“There’s a really strong sense of community that you feel when you’re at these events as a citizen of the world. Borders seem to melt away. People cheer for people from other countries,” he said. “It’s different. ... I think the world needs more of that.”
Despite the new war in Iran launched over the weekend by the U.S. and Israel, the Paralympics are set to get underway Friday with the Opening Ceremony in Verona, Italy, and continue through March 15.
Wilson said he had no qualms about heading back overseas.
“I’m not worried about that,” he said. “I think that we’re there to support the Paralympic movement, support the athletes. It might be just what the world needs right now, to see how sport can bring us together in light of some tough headwinds that are out there.”