M E R I D I A N     M A G A Z I N E

"The Greatest Snow on Earth": The Winter Olympics in Downtown Salt Lake City
by Dallas Petersen

Friends to All Nations
Before and after winning the Olympic bid,controversy swelled over whether or not hosting the Olympics in Utah was a good thing. Pundits worried such potential ills as increased traffic, the spoiling of Utah's environment, and more. It remains to be seen what if anything will become of these worries, so I won't comment on them. There is risk in anything that is worth doing.

For now, I'm enjoying the attention that the fine state of Utah is garnering. There is much of beauty in the environment, the culture, and the people. It remains to be seen what the press and others will say, but I'm willing to predict the Salt Lake Winter Olympics will be an unqualified success.

I love watching sports, particularly the Olympics. I see the Salt Lake Olympics as the chance of a lifetime; Imagine! I'm in the midst of the world's most prestigious athletic competition in the world. I won't be attending any events in person, but being able to soak in the excitement from native Utahns and visitors walking around Temple Square is touching.

The Olympics represent much of what is truly great in humans—discipline, honor, honest competition, cooperation, unity, integrity... the list of virtues could continue. I find the struggle of the Olympic athlete inspiring—the bravado of the ski jumper hurtling through the air, the subtle power and grace of the figure skater doing a triple lutz, the precision and strategy of the curler, the mastery of fear of the skeleton sledder, the strength of the downhill skier... Enjoy these next few weeks—I will.

Banners like this one express the Church's theme for the Olympics—"Friends to All Nations."

During the mid to late 1800's this railway station was the gateway to Utah. Trains have long since ceased to travel to this station, but they've found an interesting distant cousin in "Trax," Utah's popular light rail system. Rather than arriving in Utah via train as in times of old, visitors to the Olympics will travel throughout Salt Lake County on Trax. The Union Pacific Station serves as the end of the line for northwest bound Trax.

Visitors driving east on N. Temple are greeted by this sign.

The Conference Center awaits visitors from around the world. A variety of concerts will be available to the public during the three weeks of Olympic festivities.

(All photographs Copyright 2002 Dallas Petersen)

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