Utahns at Washington Square betting they’ll live their Olympic dreams

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 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, home of the Salt Lake City government building, 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 first Winter Games in Salt Lake City in 2002, which she thought was a blast.

They’re part of a relatively small but growing group of mostly Utahns — there are students here from Nepal and people from other states — who are lining the route for Wednesday’s Days of ‘47 parade, something a good share said they do every year. The group of folks showing up for the expected Olympics announcement is getting larger, too, though the first real event — the official presentation in Paris to the International Olympic Committee, which is being live-streamed, is still hours away.

The Salt Lake City presentation will be streamed live around 2:30 a.m. from Paris, followed by a question-and-answer session and then — everyone here is hoping — the IOC will announce Utah as the 2034 Olympics host.

When Spring Malone 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 says he’ll be sparkly again and energetic when his siblings from Idaho and Ogden arrive. But he spent part of the afternoon grading papers and he wanted a break.

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 Bill Schuffenhauer. He’s all in. The silver medalist — he was on the podium for bobsled in 2002 — 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, a three-time Olympian, is executive committee president for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Alumni. And was 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, was at work, but he staked out a spot for her to join him.

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 approaches, more tents are going up, more blankets going down. People are 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.

And the chant, “USA, USA,” the childish voices high and excited, with little gasps of laughter, goes on.