Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson sat across from a wide-eyed group of international athletes and sport leaders last week in the opening session of a four-day tour of Utah’s Olympic and Paralympic venues. There hadn’t been enough time yet for deep friendships to form. But already the international guests were hanging on her every word.

She reminisced about her experience in 2002. “Like everybody else in the state and throughout the world, I was really excited about the Games,” she said. And while she didn’t go to any events, she held a party for friends and kids to watch the opening ceremony.

She spoke of the emotions she felt as a young mom with four children under the age of 7. In particular, she singled out her oldest daughter, who had just started figure skating. The young child’s eyes were bursting with enthusiasm as she watched the Games.

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But the new sport was challenging and her daughter was discouraged — not knowing if she would ever land an axel. But with inspiration and practice, she finally accomplished it.

This is what the Olympics mean to all of us. 

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“We all have a personal story,” she said. “Sport teaches us things you cannot learn any other way. Utah is prepared. And the Olympics is as much a part of who we are as anything else in our state!”

The room grew quiet. Hearts were beating strong and eyes welling up with inspiration. Everyone in the room grasped that the Games are not about 17 magical days in 2034. The Games are about every day here in Utah as our youth are energized by the magic of sport.

My lifetime in Olympic sport had humble beginnings when I was just 7. Mom put me on the couch and said, “Stay there and watch the Olympics on television while I go to the store.”

I was obedient. I watched. And I was mesmerized by American Penny Pitou speeding down a mountain of snow in Squaw Valley to win Olympic silver in the downhill. That one moment in our suburban Madison, Wis., home set the course for my entire life.

That instant came 64 years ago for me. Since then, sport has taken me to every corner of the globe. It’s introduced me to places and people. I’ve experienced the uniqueness of different cultures. But I’ve also seen the universal elements that sport brings to every local community around the globe.

In 2016, Chinese Olympic champion speed skater Zhang Hong set a world record on the fastest ice on Earth at the Utah Olympic Oval. Now a member of the IOC’s Future Host Commission, she returned last week to the Oval — her emotion of seeing the rink again enhanced by a tearful reunion with two of her former Chinese teammates who are now coaches there.

At the Utah Jazz season finale, members of the IOC commission stepped onto the court for halftime photos. For a former member of the Afghan national basketball team, it was a moment of intense emotion to be standing on the floor of an NBA arena in front of a sellout crowd. She grabbed a basketball and started dribbling.

Down at Soldier Hollow, Olympic skeet shooting medalist Danka Bartekova from Slovakia, who will be making her fifth Games appearance in Paris, was issued a challenge from Park City biathlon star Emily Caldwell to a matchup on the shooting range. Caldwell opened by shooting clean (all five targets). Bartekova missed one shot in her first round, but then cleaned the second. Her smile told the story of the fun she had trying a new sport.

In the National Ability Center’s McGrath Mountain Center at Park City Mountain, International Paralympic Committee member Rita van Driel, who had coached here in 2002, looked in amazement at the adaptive equipment room.

In a coffee shop at the University of Utah, Park City speed skater Casey Dawson and alpine ski racer Maddie Kaiserman talked about the benefits of attending the U while training on world-class venues. 

What truly struck me over our four days together with global sport leaders and athletes was the commonality we all shared in sport. What struck them most was seeing the fiber of sport running through our training venues and in our communities.

The IOC had a simple message to Olympic bid leaders: “Don’t worry about starting to plan the Games now. But keep your focus on sport and community.”

This July 24, it is anticipated that Salt Lake City-Utah will get the Games for 2034. There is no doubt that the Olympics and Paralympics will be a memorable experience. But the work begins now on engaging sport to bring all of our Utah communities together.

As Lt. Gov. Henderson said, this is what the Games should mean to all of us!