RIVERTON, Utah — The International Olympic Committee has selected Salt Lake City as the preferred host for the 2034 Winter Games.
The announcement sparked some big dreams of young hopefuls already looking towards 2034.
On Wednesday, 14-year-old Landers Gaydosh showed FOX 13 News one of the places he trains for ice climbing, the basement of his Riverton home.
"I train like, like ten months out of the year normally and most of it is rock climbing and then I'll like, do ice climbing like once a week," Landers said. "It's pretty much the same thing, but you still have like a harness and if you're inside of a gym, you might have shoes or you might have crampons on your feet."
The love for the sport of ice climbing for the eighth-grader at Oquirrh Hills Middle School has taken him across the world.
"I've been competing about for three years and I've been to Finland, Switzerland," Landers said.
In Switzerland last year, Landers competed in the U16 Ice Climbing World Championship and this year, he competed in the Speed Ice Climbing World Championship in Finland. He took home gold in both competitions.
"It does set him up for bigger parts in the sport, I mean, for example, if it becomes an Olympic sport, he's going to at least have an idea of where he fits in the U.S," said Jonathan Gaydosh, Lander's father.
Wednesday's announcement that Salt Lake City had been chosen as a preferred host for the 2034 Winter Olympics only added fuel to the fire for Landers.
"It definitely gives me a reason to keep competing and training pretty hard," he reflected.
Ice climbing hasn't officially become an Olympic sport yet, despite being part of exhibitions in previous Winter Games.
Landers and his dad are hopeful it will become an official Olympic sport by 2034 when Landers will be 24 years old and at a prime age in his climbing career.
"It would be super cool to compete in like a Winter Olympics but also, since it's in my hometown that just makes it like ten times better," Landers said.
In the near future, the young athlete is preparing to once again travel overseas and compete in the 2024 UIAA Youth Ice Climbing World Championship in France.
A GoFundMe has been started to help raise money for him to take the trip.
