Olympic Legacy with Colin Hilton, President and CEO of the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation

Olympic Legacy with Colin Hilton, President and CEO of the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation

With the end of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, the platform has been set for a generation of winter sports enthusiasts and hopefuls in Italy, through Milan and the mountains around Cortina and the Dolomites. In this episode we take a look a little bit about the legacy of a major sporting event, including the Olympics. Colin Hilton is the President and CEO of the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation, an organisation which does and has done an incredible job keeping the spirit and buzz of the Olympic Games alive every single day. After hosting the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Games, and Steven Bradbury’s short track speed skating gold medal, and with a lot of focus now on the Utah 2034 Olympic Winter Games, it’s an incredible case study for incorporating facilities and the winter sports environment into the community and lifestyle every day. The city and area is also now blessed with great venues from 2002 that have been maintained and used consistently, allowing the footprint for 2034 to be an exciting one. Do they upgrade? Do they build more? Do any major works need doing? It’s also a fascinating question being faced by the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games and what they do with their venues to ensure sport and recreation in South East Queensland is world class, and brilliant for the community, for years to come. Before the Milano Cortina Games, we caught up with Colin to chat about his journey as a leading administrator, and the work being doing by the UOLF.

Figure Skating Preview - Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics

A preview of the Figure Skating competitions at the Milano 2026 Winter Olympics, with international sports reporter and News Producer, specialising in Figure Skating, at Olympics.com [http://Olympics.com], Lena Smirnova. Lena gives us a unique insight into how to enjoy and follow the sport, what to look out for, and some of the major names to be excited about in Italy in February. Four Australians are making their Olympic Winter Games debuts, Anastasia Golubeva and Hektor Giotopoulos Moore in Pairs and Holly Harris and Jason Chan in Ice Dance, and Lena chats about their story, as well. The Figure Skating competition at Milano Cortina begins on Friday the 6th of February, at Milano Ice Skating Arena, with the Teams Event. Competition concludes on Thursday the 19th of February, with the women's singles gold medal being awarded.

Snowboard and Freestyle Skiing Preview - Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics

A look at and preview of many of the snowboard and freestyle skiing events at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, with FIS Park & Pipe Media Coordinator Chad Buchholz. From Scotty James, Ayumu Hirano, Mark McMorris, Fin Melville Ives and Valentino Guseli, to Eileen Gu, Chloe Kim, Choi Gaon, Zoi Sadowski-Synnott and Mia Brookes, Chad has a unique insight into many of the great athletes to keep an eye on. Chad also runs through the ins and outs of many of the events at Livigno in Italy, and how to appreciate the incredible feats we'll be witnessing.

Speed Skating Preview - Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics

A look at and preview of the Speed Skating competition at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, with international speed skating broadcaster, and expert, Gavin Day. It’s a stacked field of emerging superstars, and Gavin says Jordan Stolz from America could be one of the stories of the Games, along with his battle with the Netherlands' Jenning de Boo. Also chats about the women’s fields, with Italy’s Francesca Lollobrigida a name to be familiar with, and Dutch stars Femke Kok, Suzanne Schulting, Joy Beune and Jutta Leerdam, as well as Japan’s Yoshida Yukino, Takagi Miho, USA’s Erin Jackson and Brittany Bowe, Korea’s Lee Na-Hyun and Norway’s Ragne Wiklund among others to keep an eye on. Further in the men’s field, names to watch include Damien Zurek from Poland, Ning Zhongyan from China, Kjeld Nuis and Stijn van de Bunt from Holland and Italian hope Daniele di Stefano. Events will take place at the Milano Speed Skating Stadium, in the north west of Milan. It’s a temporary facility, converted from an exhibition centre. Competition starts on Saturday February 7 with the Women's 3000m and finishes on Saturday February 21 with the Women's Mass Start Final.

Ice Hockey Preview - Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics

A preview of the ice hockey tournaments at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, with international and NHL hockey reporter and expert Alan Adams. Alan chats through the logistics of getting the NHL players back to the Olympics, and previews the men’s tournament, identifying Canada’s relative issues in goaltending, and the ‘battle of inches’ between the USA and Canada, who he says have built their rosters to be able to even just beat each other. Says it's exciting to be watching players like Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, the Tkachuk brothers and Leon Draisaitl of Germany at the Olympics again. Says Sweden could win the men’s tournament and have the balance to win, but that Canada and the USA are the premier teams. Says then comes Sweden, and then the rest including Finland who he says you wouldn’t want to be playing in knockouts because they could ride great goaltending and grind a team into the dust, not make many mistakes and create big surprises in a low-scoring game. Added Czech Republic is somewhat resurgent but don’t have the depth to go the distance against the premier teams just yet. Covers the differences between NHL and IIHF hockey, highlights a potentially interesting quirk with the refereeing in some games, and dismisses any issues in ice size. On the Women’s side, praises the Professional Women’s Hockey League and what that is doing to the level of the sport, but says it will still be a Canada v USA final, and expect some of the best hockey you will ever see. Adds that Canada has gone for a settled and experienced roster and with hope that Marie Philip-Poulin can carry them to great heights again given her remarkable ‘determination to win’.  Says the USA has a really good program, great feeder system and NCAA talent, but with the PWHL, it’ll be interesting to see what impact the lack of being able to centralise for a year ahead of the Games has. On Hilary Knight, Alan says she has been the face of the US program since just about day one and continues to be among the best in the world, as well as the ability to produce in the big games. Says Czech Republic are getting better, Sweden and Finland are taking a while to meet the higher level,  but will get there with the right investment, and beyond that, it’s tough for the rest to put themselves in the frame. Also discusses some of his favourite Olympic hockey moments, including Canada v Poland at Calgary 1988 and having Mats Naslund’s gold medal in his mouth just after the final between Sweden and Canada in 1994. Australia hasn’t qualified for either the women’s or men’s tournaments.  The women's hockey tournament at Milano Cortina begins on Thursday the 5th of February and the men’s starts on Wednesday the 11th of February.