TEAMS ’24 Promotes U.S. Olympic Golden Decade Ahead
With two Games coming in 10 years, legends and executives excited for future
Posted On: September 24, 2024 By :The Opening Session examined the incredible opportunities for the sports-events industry in the decade to come. Los Angeles is officially on the clock for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games. The event will mark the first time a U.S. city has hosted the Summer Games in three decades and a return to the destination that revolutionized the current Olympic marketing landscape. And Salt Lake City is officially a decade away from hosting its second Winter Games this century when the event arrives in 2034.
This session is sponsored by the Utah Sports Commission
The Speakers
Edwin Moses, 3X Olympian: Moses won gold medals in the 400 meter hurdles at the 1976 and 1984 Olympics. Between 1977 and 1987, Moses won 107 consecutive finals (122 consecutive races) and set the world record in the event four times. In an administrative capacity, Moses has also worked with the Special Olympics, Montana State Games, Goodwill Games and the USOPC’s Olympic Festival.
Janet Evans, 3X Olympian, Chief Athlete Officer of LA28 Olympic & Paralympic Games: Evans won four Olympic gold medals and one silver medal during her three trips to the Games. She was a key leader of Los Angeles’ bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games and has spearheaded the effort to ensure athletes are at the heart of LA’s plans for the Games. At the 1996 Games in Atlanta, she passed the Olympic flame to Muhammad Ali.
Ezra Frech, 2X Paralympian: Frech is a 2-time Paralympian and 2-time gold medalist who represented Team USA at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games and won gold medals in the 100M and high jump. Frech and his family founded Angel City Sports — an organization dedicated to providing year-round sport opportunities to kids, adults and veterans living with physical disabilities.
Rocky Harris, Chief of Sport and Athlete Services, U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee: Harris joined the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee as the chief of sport and athlete services in August. The new role includes oversight of athlete service programming, Olympic and Paralympic sport performance, national governing body services, sport operations and collegiate partnerships. Harris previously was CEO for USA Triathlon since August 2017.
What They Said
Edwin Moses: “I never thought that I would see the Olympics come back to Los Angeles. It’s been 40 years, but it seems accelerated. I remember all the neon colors around the city and how exciting it was in 1984. I can’t wait to see track and field back in the (LA) Coliseum. There were 95,000 people there and when the gun went off you couldn’t hear anything. After the third hurdle I had an out of body experience and it took my brain about four or five days to realize what had happened. That kind of magic — I’d like to see it in Los Angeles again.”
Janet Evans: “The Olympics coming back to Southern California, where so many of us athletes live, is a full circle moment. Paris was an incredible success for the USOPC and the entire movement. Our games in Los Angeles are going to build on that, and will have a different identity from 1984. My team was in Paris, and they were talking to the athletes to find out they need in 2028 … We are pumping $160 million into Los Angeles through PlayLA, with an emphasis on Paralympic athletes.”
Ezra Frech: “We walked into a stadium of 70,000 people for the Paralympics and we’ve never seen anything like that. And my teammates and I kept saying ‘we can’t wait until 2028.’ We have a golden opportunity to forever change the way our country views disability … One of the biggest things we’re facing in sports is access for athletes with disabilities. A decade ago we started the non-profit to increase the opportunities for people with physical disabilities to play sports. We’re moving in the right direction and we’re hoping that we can activate sports for those people in cities across the country.”
Rocky Harris: “This is the most important decade of sports in American history with two Olympics on home soil. I ran hurdles in high school because of Edwin Moses and that’s the effect that having the Olympics in our country can have. It’s a way to unite and inspire the country, which is more divided now than it ever has been … We’re focused on growing the resources for the athletes and governing bodies so they have everything they need for LA28. We see the trajectory of the Paralympic Games growing. We are going to do our part to make sure America wakes up and is aware of the Paralympics and its athletes.”
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