Thousands in Washington Square as Utah and Salt Lake get the Games

The roar in Salt Lake City’s Washington Square as the International Olympic Committee awarded it the 2034 Olympics could have rivaled standing next to a jet engine or the highest-decibel rock concert. A crowd of at least a couple thousand people screamed “SLC! SLC!” as it became official that the Winter Games are coming back.

It was a strange night, starting slow and quiet and building as the announcement neared. As the live feed from Paris kicked off, a crowd appeared. Hundreds and hundreds of people crowded near the big screens set up in Washington Square to chant “USA! USA!” and “Utah! Utah!” When the Paris presentation began, it was a bit of joyful bedlam.

They came dressed in clothes that looked like American flags, stars and stripes plentiful. They waved small Olympic ring flags, cheered boisterously when a familiar face appeared on the screen — think Gov. Spencer Cox or Salt Lake Mayor Erin Mendenhall — and clapped whenever they heard the word “Olympics.”

At 2:35 a.m. Wednesday morning, the promised Celebrate 2034 party had revved into full swing. But it would be nearly two hours before the vote in Paris was finally concluded, with the Salt Lake crowd witnessing the celebratory hugs of Utah’s delegation in Paris.

The Celebrate 2034 party at Washington Square, on the east side of the Salt Lake City government building, had a slowish start Tuesday, though the parade route on 200 East was largely packed by 9 p.m. That’s about the time that a long line of vintage cars cruised past, to the enjoyment of folks camping out to catch the parade and the Olympic announcement. Around 10 p.m., a large group of bicyclists wheeled past the Olympic rings replica, skirting the food trucks parked near the big screens set up by KSL TV to livestream the bid presentation and announcement from Paris. Around midnight, foot traffic picked up considerably as families began to arrive to join those who’d saved them spots near the big screens streaming Olympic-themed movies and video clips from some of the Games.

But there was nothing slow about the revelry when the Paris part of the festivities began. People crowded around the big screens, so many people that it was hard to hear. A few people listened on their phones as they followed the action on the big screens.

Olivia Blackham of Salt Lake City was decked out in red, white and blue, with shiny matching pompoms throughout her hair. Her pal Garrett Hunt of Holladay still managed to top that. He had a stars-and-stripe shirt, but what made him stand out was the tall flagpole he carried, with the Olympic and Utah flag. How excited are you for the Olympics, he’s asked. “Incredibly! We were 19 the last time,” he said, nudging her. “This time, we get what it means. When you’re older, you appreciate the sense of pride and community it brings.”

Rose Rees was not quite 50 when she joined the corps of volunteers who made the Winter Games possible in 2002. She was one of the crew that chopped the snow near the aerial freestyle events so that when someone landed, they wouldn’t land hard. More like hitting a snow cone instead of an ice sheet.

Tuesday, the Salt Lake woman brought her grandson Gavin Earley, 16, of Kaysville with her to set up three lawn chairs — her husband Nick is coming, too — and wait for the announcement to see if Salt Lake gets the 2034 Winter Games as expected.

She hopes Gavin, who loves skiing with his grandma, will be part of the expected Olympics from the announcement to the volunteering stage. She plans to volunteer again in some capacity and would be thrilled to see Gavin on that same Deer Valley hill where she was, chopping snow and ice. She’s unlikely to be chopping alongside him, but she wants to be part of the new Games, too.

He’s “heard her talk about her Olympic experience forever,” she said, from the several years of prep the volunteers put in to the actual events. Her group also learned to help build jumps and prep venues.

It’s a “cool experience” he’d also like to have, Earley said. A tall, quiet kid, he was still visibly pleased to pose for a picture in front of the rings, wearing Bill Schuffenhauer’s 2002 silver medal, earned on a breathtaking bobsled run. The three-time Olympian posed over and over with fans who simply couldn’t believe how heavy that medal was.

The Salt Lake City presentation began streaming live around 2:30 a.m. from Paris, to be followed by a question-and-answer session and then announcement Utah is the 2034 Olympics host.

One of the busiest spots on the well-groomed lawn was a craft table set up by Salt Lake Mayor Erin Mendenhall’s office. It did a consistently brisk business all evening letting people make friendship bracelets or decorate cowbells and medals, staffer Libby Snethen said. Jordan Anderson of Payson decorated a white cowbell with sparkly dots to form an American flag, while her daughters Eliana, 15, and Maya, 13, did their own designs. “I want them to be able to experience the excitement at their age that I felt in 2002,” Anderson said of why they wanted to join the party. She and her dad were volunteers who helped arrange transportation for dignitaries during Salt Lake’s 2002 Games.

Misse Betts has eight — count ‘em, eight — homemade Olympic-loving signs with slogans like “Get in, Olympics, we’re going to Utah” and “2034 Olympics: This is the place!” She also made signs for the marathon route to cheer on runners Wednesday morning who aren’t going to win and could use a little pep talk. One of them says, “You’re the fastest pioneer I’ve ever seen.”

She started to pack her vehicle with signs and other stay-over paraphernalia Monday night and showed up at Washington Square with her daughter Bea, 15, at 7 a.m. Tuesday. She’s serious about wanting the Winter Games in 2034 and asked her pal Ronalee Taylor, of Kearns, to join them, “knowing that she’s always game for any shenanigans.”

Betts admits she’s a bit nostalgic about the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, which she thought was a blast.

Many of those on the parade route told Deseret News they plan to cross over to Washington Square for the big middle-of-the-night announcement. But for some of them, the parade is always going to be the big event because a good share of them said they camp out for the parade — sometimes in the same spot — every year.

Spring Malone is one of the parade lovers. When she was 2, four decades ago, her grandpa started taking her to camp out on the parade route. She’s been doing it ever since, only now her companions are her husband Kevin and their son Kevin Jr. They’re splitting their attention between playing cards and reading books they got from the library across the street. He brought stuffed animals, too, so he’s good, she says.

The Olympic bid is a very nice bonus — a delightful add-on to a cherished family tradition.

Aubree Bravata was taking her bunny Cali for a walk when she noticed the hoopla: banners and canopies, a pair of empty bobsleds that beckon make-believe riders to hop inside, food trucks, a large replica of the Olympic rings, music, big screens Games-related clips that KSL-TV put together and kids playing touch football on the grass. A group of grade-school-age children were chanting “USA, USA” under an awning that features both stars and stripes. This is Bravata’s first Pioneer Day and she wasn’t sure what to expect, but was excited that she happened upon an event centered on the Winter Games.

Jess Christiansen was involved with the Olympics in 2002 as a job, working for the organizing committee and later for the IOC in Switzerland. Born and raised in Salt Lake City, she thinks a replay would be really exciting. Salt Lake City, she said, is “a true winter city with a true winter culture.” And the 2002 Games were a great success on many levels, she adds.

Perhaps the best part, to Christiansen, was watching how the perception of Utah changed after the Olympics in 2002. It became “an Olympic city,” and skiers and hikers who had never been to Utah before came in. “Half of them now have homes in Park City,” she said.

Her cousin, Brad Winn, has been keeping office hours with the backdrop of the Olympic rings off to the side behind him all day, but later wandered off to take a nap, unrolling his sleeping bag in his shiny silver and red tent. The former Republican state legislator and current Utah State University professor is a dedicated Winter Games enthusiast, so he showed up at Washington Square at noon, well ahead of the crowd that’s filtering in. And he doesn’t want to be sleepy when the big announcement comes.

Now 61, the Mountain Green man was about 40 the first time the Olympics came to town, and he loved being able to involve his then-young kids in the festivities. He’s looking forward to volunteering when the Games return. He’ll be about 70 and thinks that would be fun.

He spent part of the afternoon in a lawn chair grading papers and said he wanted a break. But as promised, he was sparkly again and energetic when his siblings from Idaho and Ogden arrived along with other kin.

Across the way, Manu Tupouniua, 29, of Salt Lake City, has set up her own campsite on 200 East near the parade route, complete with chairs and a table under an awning. She’s here with her nieces and nephews, Teaza, 17, Diane, 14 and Martin, 2, to hold a chunk of ground for what they expect will be a group of 20 relatives.

They’ve been camping out for the parade seemingly forever, Manu said, but they were surprised to hear the Olympics announcement was today.

Not Olympian Schuffenhauer. He’s all in, and said the return of the Olympics to his hometown makes him want to cry. He’s joyful. “It’s pretty surreal,” he said, noting the impact of working so hard and “having a goal and dream of making the Olympics,” then going on to medal. He promised himself that if the Games ever returned to Salt Lake City, he’d be a part of it and he’s making good on the promise.

Schuffenhauer is executive committee president for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Alumni. And he showed up at Washington Square bright and early to get a behind-the-scenes view. “I want to see the volunteers and the media and what’s involved in putting this together. I didn’t get to see the Olympics from this side.”

His wife, Kirsten, joined him when she got of work, patiently taking pictures with other people’s cameras as they posed with her husband.

He’s not the only Olympian spotted on Washington Square. Ski racer River Radamus hails from Colorado, but spends so much time training in Park City that this feels like a hometown bid to him, too, he told Deseret News. He competed in Beijing.

As twilight approached, more tents were going up, more blankets going down. People were chatting like old friends, telling stories and saving places. The live feed from Paris will be followed by remarks from Utah elected officials and bid leaders who are in Paris, then the lighting of the cauldron at Rice-Eccles Stadium around 4 a.m. Folks at Washington Square have been told it will be visible to the east. A drone show is planned for 5 a.m.

But the chant, “USA, USA,” which had featured high, excited children’s voices, has faded. The children are napping, so they’ll be fresh when the real party begins.