Among the relics and displays from the 2002 Games at Utah Olympic Park, you’ll find a mannequin sporting bright pink hair.
“It is really crazy,” said freestyle skier Shannon Bahrke. “To be able to walk into here and I think just remember a moment, you know, these Olympics happened right after 9/11 and it was a time when I really feel like the Olympics not only brought our country together, but they brought the world together.”
As a silver medalist in the Salt Lake City Games, Bahrke’s name has become synonymous with the 2002 Olympics. Now, she’s become a champion for the next one.
“I can’t sleep! I am so excited!,” she said. ” I just know that we’re gonna recreate the same thing and there’s gonna be other athletes that have their outfit in here, too, and that is so exciting.”
Shannon hopes that excitement transcends to others.
“Most of the people that live in Salt Lake were not around to experience that,” Bahrke explained. “So they have no idea what it means to have those athletes have impressions on their children, on their sports teams, on their family, on their friends, on their community.”