The social, environmental and economic impacts of hosting the Winter Olympics and Paralympics are set to be explored by a new research centre at the University of Utah in the United States.
Utah is set to host the 2034 Winter Games, prompting the establishment of the Olympic Research Center for Societal Impact, to take an academic view of what planning for the Olympics, and other large-scale sporting events, means on a societal level.
The initiative is being developed through the university’s Colleges of Liberal Arts and Sciences and will be led by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute and the Wilkes Center for Climate Science & Policy.
Research hub
“We want to be a research hub that would measure and communicate social, environmental and economic impacts of hosting Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and other large-scale sporting events,” commented Natalie Gochnour, director of the Gardner Policy Institute, who will co-direct the centre with John Lin, a professor of atmospheric sciences and scientific director at the Wilkes Center.
“This is work that we’ve been doing for years in this state and we’re trying to ramp it up as we progress towards 2034. Both the Wilkes Center and the Gardner Institute are already doing a lot of this work. What we would do now is expand that work, lean into that work. And as we build up to the 2034 Games, provide more opportunities for people on campus to be a part of this research center.”
The University of Utah previously hosted events at the 2002 Winter Olympics, where opening and closing ceremonies were staged at the University’s Rice-Eccles Stadium and athletes were housed in dormitories on campus. It plans to accommodate as many as 3,000 athletes during the 2034 Games.
Read more: Impact of climate change on Winter Olympics explored in new report
Key questions
The new centre will explore how host locations for the Games manage infrastructure, economic outcomes and community engagement, as well as addressing broader questions around financial outcomes, long-term use of venues and participation in sport.
“How do you put on a Games that turns a surplus? How do you put on a Games that has infrastructure that endures?” added Gochnour. “How do you inspire youth in sport, which we’ve been able to do at these venues?”
The initiative is also seeking recognition from the International Olympic Committee as part of its network of Olympic Studies and Research Centres, or OSRCs. There are currently 85 such centres across 28 countries. Read more here.
