SALT LAKE CITY — They say it's always darkest before the dawn, but that was far from true Wednesday as a celebration for the ages lit up Salt Lake City with Utahns coming out in droves to celebrate the return of the Olympic Games to the Wasatch Front.
Thousands gathered in Washington Square to watch the voting process unfold, and erupted when IOC President Thomas Bach announced the Olympics were coming back to Utah.
"The energy is electric, the crowd was so energetic," said snowboarder Zach Miller, a Paralympian who's hoping to compete in 2034.
Soon after the announcement, the crowd began chanting "S-L-C, S-L-C, S-L-C," a sign that most Utahns support the Games back in Utah for the first time since 2002.
Many in the crowd were wearing USA hats and shirts, along with anything sporting red, white and blue.
"What a thrill for Utah tonight," said Sandy Mayor Monica Zoltanski who was in the crowd sporting a cowboy hat. "I'm just so thrilled to be down here and celebrate with everybody."
"We are just absolutely thrilled!"
Even those with Olympic backgrounds couldn't stay away. Snowboarder Izzy Worthington's father is a 2-time Olympian and her sister is on the current U.S. team, but she wasn't too cool to pretend Wednesday's event wasn't worth attending.
"I actually forced a lot of people to come out here because I was like, "This is never going to happen ever again,'" she said. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and it's never going to come back, so you want to get out here and it's worth it."
