"This is truly a full circle moment for me"- Lindsey Vonn reacts to Salt Lake City being awarded the 2034 Winter Olympics

Salt Lake City has been awarded the honor of hosting the 2034 Winter Olympics, and skier Lindsey Vonn was part of the delegation that made this possible. The former Olympic champion expressed pride and opened up about what it meant for her to be a member of the team responsible for bringing the Games back to Utah after having competed there in 2002.

On Wednesday, July 24, the IOC announced that the Winter Olympic Games would be returning to Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2034, nearly three decades after the city first hosted the event.

In her immediate reaction to the announcement, Lindsey Vonn, who was present at the 142nd IOC Session in Paris where the decision was made, looked extremely excited, jumping up and down with joy.

She later shared her thoughts on the Winter Games coming back to Salt Lake City in a detailed note on Instagram, writing:

“What an honor and privilege to be a part of the TEAM that helped bring the Olympics back to Salt Lake City today! This is truly a full circle moment for me. I remember when I was a kid and witnessing Salt Lake receive the nomination for the 2002 Olympics. I said to myself, "I'm going to be there!" Today, I hope we inspired kids around the world to say the same thing!

“Thank you to everyone for the unwavering support over the years to make this a reality! Thank you to everyone who came to our capital at 3am to celebrate our victory as a community! I love the Olympics. We love the Olympics. This is just the beginning!”

Lindsey Vonn explains her role on the Salt Lake City-Utah 2034 delegation

For Lindsey Vonn, an Olympian herself, her role at the 2034 Winter Games will differ vastly from her experiences at the Olympics she contested in.

On Instagram, the American explained that her role on the Salt Lake City-Utah 2034 delegation was that of the ‘Chief Athlete Experience’, which would make her responsible for creating an Olympic Village for the families of the participating athletes.

“I am the Chief of Athlete Experience and my biggest contribution to this bid is helping create an Olympic Village for the athlete's families. Taking care of families should be just as important as the athletes in my opinion. Without my family, I would never had been a skier, let alone an Olympic champion,” she wrote.

Lindsey Vonn made her Olympic debut as a 17-year-old at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. While she failed to bag a medal there, she later went on to win the Olympic gold in 2010.