CO
Culture @ the Olympics
issues, trends and perspectives
Hosting major events
Lessons from Salt Lake 2002
Beatriz García and Andy Miah
With the memories of the
Sydney 2000 Olympic
Games still fresh in
peoples’ minds, there is an
expectation that a mega-
event is a city’s golden
ticket to global stardom and
economic development.
Yet, the benefits of such
investments are often far
more difficult to realise.
Despite Sydney’s successes,
facilities are now losing money
and there is little indication that
Australia’s indigenous
communities are receiving any
greater sympathies within the
national and local government.
Now with the 2002 Olympic
Winter Games in Salt Lake City
complete, potential event host
cities have a different example to
learn how they can develop their
staging strategy.
With an organising committee
dedicated to interacting with the
local communities, Salt Lake City
has met the challenge of reaching
a sensitive balance between
locality and nationalism. Also, a
realistic approach to the long
Culture @ the Olympics, 2002: vol. 4, issue 1, pp. 1-3
www.culturalolympics.org.uk
term interests of the place has
resulted in a careful investment
in infrastructures.
Overcoming bad press
Although the Salt Lake Games
have been accompanied by
controversies since their very
inception, the local support for
hosting the world Olympics
within the state of Utah has been
remarkable.
In 1998, Salt Lake had to face
international criticism due to the
irregularity of the bid process
that led to their receiving the
rights to host the 2002 Winter
Games. This resulted in the
major crisis that the International
Olympic Committee (IOC) has
faced in subsequent years. More
recently, the challenge of “nine,
eleven,” US speak for September
11th, has raised significant fears
in the national and international
community for flying to, or
within, the States during any
high-profile event.
Yet, the Games organisers have
been able to sustain the support
and enthusiasm of the local
community and project a feeling
of integrity and safety for its
 www.culturalolympics.org.uk

Olympic visitors. Despite the

recent headlines of ‘FBI red alerts’ Locality vs. Nationalism?
and ‘4 military personnel to each
athletes’, walking around the Another of the major challenges
streets of Salt Lake during for SLOC was to try and
Olympic fortnight was a quite negotiate a desire to express
comfortable experience. national values while realising
that September 11 has made it
Community Involvement problematic to propagate
nationalism.
A factor for the success in Salt
Lake City was the community
involvement, which was evident
on most streets and in the
Olympic venues. In particular,
the Salt Lake Organizing
Committee (SLOC) worked
towards ensuring a wide range of
free activities.

Beyond the traditional Olympic

‘Plazas’ and street entertainment,
a major innovation was to alter
the medal’s ceremony. In this
edition of the Games, Olympic
champions received their medals
in a special ‘Medals Plaza’ in a
central arena, rather than at the
given sporting venue. For this,
tickets were given to locals for
free, to ensure that everybody
within the region could
experience the Games.
As well, SLOC ensured an
extensive network with local
authorities, such as incorporating
County representatives within its
Board of Directors. Beyond this,
a focal point was the co-
ordination and encouragement of
the volunteers, recognised by
many as the critical factor in
hosting a successful mega-event.
The controversies surrounding
the use of the World Trade
Center flag within the opening
ceremony might suggest that
nationalism triumphed.
Yet, a more balanced
interpretation of the opening
ceremony - recognised as one of
the central vehicles of expressing
the host city identity – reveals
that the emphasis was on
portraying the American West
rather than the US per se. The
focus was on the role of Native
Americans, the Utah State
pioneers, and the environment.

García and Miah, 2002: Lessons from Salt Lake City 2


Bidding for sporting events
In this respect, many lessons can
be learnt for future sporting event
bids. The Salt Lake Games have
offered an example of an event
that is comparable in size to a
wide range of non-Olympic
sporting events and that can
indicate some ways of achieving
the expression of local values.
Currently, it would seem that the
reference point for hosting a
major event rests firmly with the
Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
Yet, an increasing number of
critics are recognising that the
example of Sydney cannot be
followed.
One of the more influential
figures in this discussion is
International Olympic Committee
President, Jacques Rogge, who
has been quoted on numerous
occasions for saying that the
Olympic Games need to be scaled
down. ‘Smaller, not bigger’ is the
message being sent out to the
Olympic bidders.
With this comes a greater
challenge – to provide an event
García and Miah, 2002: Lessons from Salt Lake City
www.culturalolympics.org.uk
that is also distinctive and
unique. This realisation must
transpire in its bid, rather than
trying to emphasise that it will
provide the biggest sports event
ever. However, this requires a
demonstrable commitment to
local people and accepting that it
is them that will make the event
an international success.
It is becoming clear that hosting a
major event is only part of the
challenge to ensure a long-term
legacy of success. After the two-
weeks of sports and festival, the
city of Salt Lake will be left with a
major challenge to translate that
big party into not only a re-
vitalised tourist destination but
also a great place for the locals to
live and work in.
Great facilities and a spectacular
fireworks display may have been
a popular way to generate local
excitement and positive media
coverage, but the long term
legacy of the experience is more
likely to be an effect of the care
placed into establishing more
meaningful and, for the most
part, smaller scale programmes of
community-oriented activity.
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