The Beijing 2022 Olympic Games are upon us, an it’s appropriate time to ponder about this global gathering, especially in the middle of a global pandemic. The 2002 Salt Lake City Games which are considered the most successful Olympic Games of the Modern era, so it makes sense for a few comparisons for between these Games on their 20th anniversary.

The Legacy of 2002 can be seen at most of the major venues which are still active today for major regional, national, and international events. The Utah Olympic Park with Bobsledding, Nordic Jumping Freestyle Water ramps along with Solider Hollow Nordic Center and Woodward Park City for skiers and snowboarders, are just some of the examples where youth programs and world class training come together, and they were all generated from the 2002 Olympic Games.

Twenty years ago, the 2002 Games were in peril due to the horrific events of 9/11, which threatened the running of the Games, in the end the Games became an international representation of resilience. Can Beijing potentially become a similar symbol of hope? Only time will only tell. Over 2 million fans from around the world descended upon Salt Lake City in 2002, it’s hard to imagine those types of numbers, especially with athletes and journalist already posting social media images of empty flights to China, however with over 3 billion people watched the recent Tokyo Summer Games in broadcast and streaming, so viewing numbers for Beijing could dwarf 2002 Olympics.

Some big names landed medals in 2002, including Bode Miller with two silver medals, Ross Powers took gold in the Half Pipe along with Kelly Clark, and Apolo Anton Ohno won the hearts of fans winning Gold in the Speed Skating Short Track.

As we dive into 2022 Beijing Games will again see some familiar faces none bigger than Shaun White. In the 2014 in Sochi Russia, White was the highest paid athlete at the Games in hauling in 20 plus million, that seems like plenty of incentive to head to China which will be his fifth Olympics. At the age of 36, with three Gold Medals in hand if he has nothing to lose and nothing to prove but if he lands on the podium his GOAT status will be secure.

Shaun White qualifying for Team USA in Laax Switzerland last month with a Third Place finish. Photo: Phillip Ruggli

Also headlining Team USA is David Wise who is attempting to win his third gold medal in the men’s ski halfpipe, Montana’s Bradley Wilson heading to his third Olympics along with Grand Targhee’s Jaelin Kauf, this will be her second Games, both competing in moguls. Snowboarding superstar Jamie Anderson has two Olympic Medals in Snowboarding Slopestyle and is hoping to threepeat.

Men’s Speed Team hopes lay with Travis Ganong and Ryan Cochran-Siegle, in the training runs Ganong was leading the charge for TEAM USA. One thing to remember is all of these race tracks have never been raced on before making it an open door for upsets and come from behind finishes.

The “Medal Quest” for Mikaela Shiffrin has created a lot of pressure, NBC has been running Olympic promos with Mikaela Shiffrin since October. She continues to break records and lead the charge for the US in Alpine Team. Arguably the best skier of all time with still plenty of runway in her career this will be her fourth Games and has three Olympic medals (2 Gold, 1 Silver) and four World Championship Medals (3 Gold, 1 Silver). There is a lot of pressure on Shiffrin and it was recently the second anniversary of the passing of her Father, so between NBC, her desire to win, and all of the international media coverage of her life on and off the mountain the pressure will be huge.

Mikaela Shiffrin hopes continues her winning ways. Photo: Stephen Cloutier

In the past we have seen what this sort of pressure has done to athletes as recent as this past Summer Olympic with Simone Biles, in the ski world Bode had the world watching in 2006 in Torino had a very disappoint games with no medals. Lindsey Vonn in 2010 in Vancouver took home two medals a Gold and a Bronze and it’s hard to say the most American World Cup Ski racer was unsuccessful at those Games however the hype was for five medals peddled by NBC, Sports Illustrated and other media outlets.

The Olympic movement has historically united the Nations of the world around sport and as fans we love our winners and often empathize with the effort and participating of the worlds best. These Games will be no different, there will be the underdog who overachieves, our heroes who stand on the podiums and the aging athletes we will miss when they retire and I for one plan on watching every minute of it.