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City Cast Salt Lake

Are you among the 75% of Utahns that are super hyped on the Olympics returning to our state? City Cast Salt Lake host Ali Vallarta is not convinced. She chatted with Catherine Raney-Norman, a four-time Olympian and chair of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games to hear her case for bringing the Olympic dream back to SLC.

Do we actually have the infrastructure and the resources to host the Olympics again?

“Yeah, absolutely. I think we're even better prepared than we were in 2002 and that’s taking into account the growth that we’ve seen. I think the NBA All Star game was a great example of us as a city being able to have the capacity to pull off a major sporting event. Salt Lake City 2002 was the impetus for mass transit in Utah. One of the most beautiful things that came out of it was [UTA’s] TRAX. We're really trying to work closely with key stakeholders across the community (including political and business) to see what's on the horizon for the city and how we can use a games to be a catalyst for that.”

One of the biggest issues facing our city right now is a housing crisis that has led to a homelessness crisis. And during the 2002 Olympics, we saw Salt Lake City residents being evicted from low rent homes and motels so that landlords could make a bigger profit off of visitors. What is the case for how lower income community members benefit from an Olympics?

“When you host a games, you're talking about thousands of jobs that are gonna be created during that time period. When you look at what happened back in ‘02 with those evictions and trying to raise rates so that they could capitalize during the games, we'll work closely with political officials to make sure and advocate for policy against that so that can't happen. ​​We're not a political entity, right? But our goal is to try to improve our community and have a good impact on our community. So I think that we can be helpful in some of those conversations and dialogues.”

We all watched during the Beijing Winter Olympics as they created snow with 49 million gallons of water. Of course, we can't afford to do that in Utah with our dwindling Great Salt Lake. How do we take our future water needs into account with the winter Olympics?

“The changing climate that is happening around the world is dramatically impacting winter sports. So when we look at hosting future games, if we are selected as a host in 2030 or 2034, we are required by the International Olympic Committee to deliver a climate positive games. We'll have to have a carbon management plan that'll be outlined for all games-related activities. We have been working with community partners like Utah Clean Energy and Save Our Canyons to have those conversations ahead of time as to what sustainability looks like.”

Follow the link below for more on Salt Lake’s Olympic bid 👇

Are you convinced?

3 Questions With 4-time Olympian Catherine Raney-Norman

What Salt Lake City celebrities, public figures and key citizens have to say about living here.

3 Questions With Salt Lake Public Figures

3 Questions With

Nayo Campbell has been an in-house reporter for the Jazz since 2020. When she isn’t courtside, Nayo is directing and producing videos highlighting the personal stories of Utah Jazz players.ICYMI, we had her 


“I was a freelance journalist based in Washington, D.C. and then I worked for the Washington Wizards for three seasons. It was during that time I got introduced to the whole content side of things and I was like, wow, there's so many stories. So I made the decision to work specifically for a team. I wanted to be able to actually build genuine relationships and tell those stories.”


How do you find these interesting stories about the Jazz players?

“Yeah, it's insane. Sometimes you have like 10 to 12 minutes with them to shoot something. These guys are so incredibly busy. I do a lot of research. If somebody gets traded on our team, like immediately I do hours and hours of watching their interviews, going through their Instagram, their mama's Instagram, their daddy’s Instagram, so I can kind of just get a feel of what they're interested in and what they like. It does sound a little creepy, but it's not that creepy. I just really want to make sure that when I'm telling their stories that I'm doing them justice.”


What’s one of your favorite stories that you’ve done?

 
“One of them that was Emmy nominated, 

 He had been in the league for 16 years. He's from Baltimore, Maryland. Basketball is a universal language, but they're also so different and so the journeys are unique in how they get there… Being able to tell a little bit of Rudy's story, go to his high school, talk to his mom and dad, talk to his best friend, and tap into who he is as a person.”

P.S. Speaking of Emmys...congratulations to Emmy-winning Salt Laker 

! Her short, the "Gerda that Remains" just won, and it's not to late to meet Kelsie and Gerda 

sports

3 Questions With 4-time Olympian Catherine Raney-Norman

3 Questions With Utah Jazz Producer Nayo Campbell

Latest articles

3 Questions With 4-time Olympian Catherine Raney-Norman

3 Questions With Utah Jazz Producer Nayo Campbell