It hasn’t waned one bit, according to the Olympic gold medalist from the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City. Parra sees it in the youth speedskating sessions he’s watched, the recreational hockey games he’s walked by and the laps taken by current Olympic hopefuls inside the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns.
The 47-year-old gold medalist turned sport director at the Olympic Oval is the embodiment of the state’s Olympic legacy, a southern California transplant who, after reaching the pinnacle of his career, decided to relocate to Utah and keep the legacy pressing forward.
His days are spent in the same building where he stood atop a podium, saw the American flag raised high and heard the national anthem as an Olympic champion.