PARK CITY, UT (June 29, 2015) – Thousands of winter sport supporters and fans gathered at the Utah Olympic Park on Saturday evening to celebrate the grand opening of the newly renovated Spence Eccles Olympic Freestyle Pool. Attendees were treated to a picture-perfect evening featuring a high-flying acrobatic show from Flying Ace Productions with trampoline routines, a professional diver and a demonstration of the new ramps.
Spencer F. Eccles, who contributed a $1 million challenge grant to the renovation, set the tone for the evening, celebrating sport and Utah’s dedication to its Olympic legacy.
“I was on the original 2002 bid committee, and we promised that, if we were to get the games, we would build a legacy facility that would continue to be maintained for many years after the Olympics,” said Eccles. “These facilities are available to our elite teams, but more importantly, they are accessible to our young athletes. When you see the six, seven, eight year olds training on these ramps, you can just imagine many of them will be on the national or Olympic teams one day.”
Spencer F. Eccles (center) celebrates with the Flying Ace All-Stars and young Park City athletes. (Tom Kelly/USSA)
The Flying Ace All-Stars, featuring athletes from the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team, U.S. Snowboarding, U.S. Freeskiing and local clubs like FLY Freestyle andTeam Park City United, showed off their skills on each of the seven sport-specific ramps, including the brand new freeride and mogul jumps. 2015 FIS World Cup Champion aerialist Mac Bohonnon kicked off the show, skiing through the commemorative red ribbon tied across the ramp before throwing a massive jump off the triple.
“It was an honor to take that first jump,” said Bohonnon. “Everyone has been so supportive of this project. We cannot be more excited to have the new ramps completed and to show the fans and donors what we can do on them. Our training has been good in the past, but this really brings it up to the next level.”
Aerialist Mac Bohonnon (front) and freeskiier McRae Williams make their way to the top of the water ramps. (Rocky Maloney)
The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) partnered with the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation (UOLF) and Eccles to raise $3 million to construct the new facility. At the time of the grand opening, the fundraising goal had been exceeded. Among the more than 300 donors were local clubs, including the Youth Sports Alliance which provides umbrella support to nine local clubs and works with over 2,000 young athletes each year in its Get Out & Play program.
“Over the years, these ramps have produced more than a dozen Olympic and World Champions,” stated USSA President and CEO Tiger Shaw. “This improved venue will not only allow athletes to be Best in the World, but will also provide opportunities for boys and girls to chase their Olympic dreams while having a ton of fun doing so.”
