State of the Olympics.

• Author: Stewart, Heather Dawn
• Position: From the Editor

I'll admit it. Back in 2002, I was an Olympics Scrooge. I was not thrilled about the Winter Games coming to my city, disrupting everyone's lives, snarling traffic and crowding the downtown restaurants. I was impatient with all the talk of Roots berets and Olympic pins, and of people scrambling to volunteer at the Games in order to snag some Olympic swag. I didn't buy any Olympic pins; I didn't attend any Olympic events. I didn't even watch the Games on television. I begrudgingly switched my work schedule to 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. during the Games, so I could leave the city before the rush hour crush swelled with Olympic tourists.

The best I could say about the 2002 Winter Games, at the time, was that it wasn't as bad as I feared it would be.

Looking back, it's unmistakable that the Games were a pivotal moment for Utah. One clear-cut indicator is the number of skier days the state sees each year. In the 1996-2002 timeframe, the state had around 3 million skier days each year. In 2003 that ticked up to 3.4 million; 2004 saw 3.9 million skier days. Since then, the only year that's clocked below 4 million skier visits was 2011 at 3.8 million.

The 2002 Winter Games introduced the world to the Greatest Snow on Earth, and crowds have been flocking here ever since.

Other positive results of hosting the Games include strengthened transportation networks, the development of multiple five-star resort hotels in Utah and increased brand recognition for the state globally. The Games also boosted the careers of many local...