Utah's Living Olympic and Paralympic Legacy
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The World's Games

Utah's Living Olympic and Paralympic Legacy, also, The World's Games. . , Utah's Living Olympic and Paralympic Legacy, Utah Eagerly awaits another opportunity to welcome the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The fire within sparked in 2002 is now a flame that burns throughout generations of athletes and citizens. Youth who witnessed the 2002 Games in their own backyard now compete all over the world. , "Without the incredible venues created to host the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Utah, I never would have realized my potential and achieved my Olympic Dream...." Noelle Pikus Pace USA Skeleton Race 2014 Olympic Silver Medalist , Utah's Legacy venues used during the Winter Games are thriving and remain central to promoting healthy lifestyles throughout Utah communities. Today's youth learn winter sport skills directly from Salt Lake 2002. Olympians and Paralympians. With over 200 international winter sport events hosted. since 2002, Utah's Olympic venues continue to stage world-class events and welcome more than 1,100 international athletes from over 30 countries to train or compete each year. The Olympic and Paralympic spirit is imbued in all corners of life in Utah-a state with a proud sporting tradition and an even brighter future. , The World's Games , "People of America, Utah and Salt Lake City, You have Given the World Superb Games." Jacques Rogge International Olympic Committee President 2001-2013 , Croatian alpine skier Janica Kostelic skied flawlessly to three gold medals in the women's slalom, giant slalom and combined events while adding a silver medal in the super-G. , A juggernaut in the biathlon competition, Norway's Ole Einar Bjorndalen swept all four men's events with a "grand slam” of gold medals in the sprint, pursuit, individual and relay events. , Kelly Clark made history as the first-ever American to win Olympic gold in snowboarding with a victory in the halfpipe event. , Norway's Ragnhild Myklebust won gold in all four of her cross-country races, plus a gold medal in biathlon during a legendary Paralympic career. , Finland's Samppa Lajunen dominated the Nordic combined events in capturing all three gold medals in the men's 15 km individual, 7.5 km sprint and 4 x 5 km team relay events. , Utah resident Trustan Gale made history as the first-ever gold medal winner in women's skeleton-an event introduced at the 2002 games. , Derek Parra became the first Mexican-American athlete to win a medal at a Winter Games-capturing a gold medal in the 1500-meter event and a silver medal in the 5,000-meter race in long track speed skating.