Inspired by the Olympics? These Utah sports facilities can help you exercise – or just try something new
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Kyra Condie crayons her hands during practice to prepare to represent Team USA at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where climbing will premiere on Thursday, July 15, 2021 .
Whether you were inspired by the flips of gymnast MyKayla Skinner or the skills of swimmer Katie Ledecky, there are dozen of ways to keep the Olympic flame burning.
Park City’s Utah Olympic Park – where some of the events for the 2002 Olympics took place – is an obvious place to start. It offers summer activities for beginners and budding Olympians, said Kole Nordmann, the facility’s marketing and media production manager.
You don’t have to wait for snow to try out summer bobsleigh, ski and snowboard freestyle pool courses, zipline tours, extreme tubing and the Alpine slide. These activities are chargeable. Visit the Utah Olympic Park website for more information.
The park also offers plenty of free activities, said Nordmann, including hiking trails, the park’s two museums, and the chance to watch athletes go about their exercise programs.
Normally, sports fans “don’t see the grind every day,” said Nordmann. “[So seeing them train] makes athletes human. … That is their job. You have to do these things every day. “
Whether you’re looking for your next fitness obsession or just curious to try one of the more obscure sports of the Olympics, here are some other ways you can play like an Olympian in Utah.
More information, venue details and links can be found online at bit.ly/OlympicsTryItOut.
U.S. Olympic Team archer Brady Ellison has a grouping of arrows on a target while training at his shooting range on Thursday, -ril 30, 2020 in Miami, Arizona. Between remodeling his archery workshop and raising piglets, Brady Ellison shoots his tailor-made range 100 arrows a day. That’s not a high volume for him, but it has come a long way as the coronavirus pandemic pushes Tokyo games to next summer and puts his season on hold. ( – Photo / Ross D. Franklin)
Archery
From Marvel’s Hawkeye to Disney’s Princess Merida, there’s no shortage of characters wielding a bow and arrow.
But the real experts were found at the Tokyo Olympics, where Mete Gazoz from Turkey won gold in the men’s individual competition and An San from South Korea won gold in the women’s individual competition.
There are a number of locations in Utah where everyone from novices to seasoned archer can practice their aim, from the Easton Foundations Archery Center in Salt Lake to the Wild Arrow Archery in Centerville.
Ryan Chew of the United States eyes the shuttlecock during the semi-finals of the men’s badminton doubles against Brazil at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, Thursday, August 1, 2019. ( – Photo / Silvia Izquierdo)
badminton
In this racquet sport, which officially became part of the Olympic Games in 1992, players – either alone or in pairs – hit a shuttlecock over a net.
In Utah, aspiring badminton players can try the game courtesy of the Utah Badminton Association in Sandy or at the University of Utah Badminton Club in Salt Lake City.
File – On this August 19, 2016 File Photo, gold medalist Chloe Esposito of Australia, left, competes against Isabella Isaksen of the United States in the fencing portion of the women’s modern pentathlon at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Esposito announced at the end of January that there had been a “wonderful, unexpected surprise” and that the Australian could not defend her gold medal in the modern pentathlon at the Tokyo Olympics. She was pregnant with her first child. Two months later, Esposito and thousands of other Olympic athletes learned that the Tokyo Games would be postponed for a year to July 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic. While for some it meant recovering from injuries or extra time to prepare, Esposito realized that it might give her a second chance to be in Tokyo next year. ( – Photo / Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
fencing
If daring sword fights or epic duels seem exciting, then this sport might be for you.
The sport involves speed, agility and “chess-like strategic thinking,” according to the Wasatch Fencing website.
That year, the American Lee Kiefer won gold in the women’s singles football event.
Try it for yourself at Salt City Swords Fencing Club (formerly Utah Sword Academy), Wasatch Fencing in Kaysville, or Valkyrie Fencing Club in Pleasant Grove.
Denmark’s Mikkel Hansen shoots during the final of the Handball World Cup against Sweden in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, January 31, 2021. ( – Photo / Petr David Josek)
Handball
This game was first played in Scandinavia and Germany at the end of the 19th century, according to Team USA’s website. there are two teams of seven players each who pass a ball with their hands in order to throw it into the goal of the other team,
It was originally introduced as an outdoor summer sport at the 1939 Olympics, but has been played as an indoor summer sport since 1972.
Utah residents interested in trying this game can join the Utah Handball Association in Murray or the Massif SLC Team Handball Club.
However, Patrick Halladay, a representative of the Massif SLC Team Handball Club, made it clear that the Utah Handball Association is associated with a different version of the sport than the Olympics.
“It’s more like racquetball played with the palm of your hand,” he said. “Because of this confusion, Olympic handball is referred to as ‘team handball’ in the USA”
The Massif SLC Team Handball Club plays team handball, the Olympic version of the sport, Halladay said.
Judo instructor Tomoo Hamana helps protect a new student’s neck during a judo class at Hamana Dojo in the city of Oiso, west of Tokyo, on October 1, 2020. J -an is home to judo, and the nineteenth-century martial arts will surely get more attention than any other sport in the Tokyo Olympics, which is postponed for next year. But it also attracts unwanted scrutiny of the widespread allegations of violence and associated injuries and abuse. ( – photo / Hiro Komae)
Judo
This martial art requires physical skill and mental discipline, according to Team USA’s website, and includes techniques that enable competitors to lift, throw, and pin down opponents.
Nevertheless, the word “Judo” literally means “the path of gentleness”, from the J -anese character “ju” for “gentle” and “do” for “the path”.
In Tokyo, J -anese athletes won gold medals in five men’s weight classes, while four other J -anese judokas won gold in four women’s weight classes.
Adults and children can learn the moves at Rocky Mountain Judo in Midvale. The first visits are free, then classes cost $ 80 per month.
If you want to learn “the path of meekness,” take classes at the Lehi Judo Club or Kaizen Judo Dojo in Clearfield.
Editor’s Note • 150 Things To Do is a reporting project and weekly newsletter made possible with the generous support of the Utah Office of Tourism. Sign up for the 150 Things newsletter here.
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