Olympic Venues Overview
Ten sport venues were used for the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Winter Games. All are still in use as of 2020.
Six venues existed and four were new (the Peaks arena ice-hockey venue, the Utah Olympic Park’s sliding and ski jumping centre, the Soldier Hollow biathlon and cross-country skiing centre, and the Utah Olympic Oval.
All Olympic venues continue to cater to the sports they hosted during the Games, as well as a large range of other winter and summer sports.
They offer physical exercise and healthy lifestyle activities to the community, recreational events and camps for locals and visitors, and high-performance youth and adult development programmes for US and international athletes.
These venues provide opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to experience, train and watch sport in world-class facilitie – as well as playing host to corporate and leisure events (including congresses, concerts and corporate outings) and generating revenue for the respective communities.
Salt Lake City 2002 required initial state funding of USD 59 million for the construction of venues prior to the candidature for the Games. The Salt Lake Organising Committee financial surplus was used to repay the state in full.
The Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation (UOLF), a non-profit organisation, was created after the Games and allocated a total budget of USD 76 million to subsidise the maintenance and operations of the Utah Olympic Park, the Utah Olympic Oval and the Soldier Hollow Nordic Centre (since 2016).
In addition to operating the venues, the Foundation has been working since 2002 with the Utah Sports Commission to market the Salt Lake area as a year-round, leading North American sports community. The focus of the Foundation is on more than just elite winter sports. It provides opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to watch, learn and perform winter sports, as well as organising activities and events to leverage the facilities for summer sports.
Situated in the historic Fort Douglas site, the Olympic Village is today known as the University of Utah’s Heritage Commons and consists of 21 buildings. Twenty are residential and one is used for dining and support services for students at the University of Utah.