SALT LAKE CITY—More goes on during the legislative session than passing bills. Sometimes people who are making a difference in the community receive special recognition for their contributions. During floor time on Wednesday in both the House and Senate, Olympic and Paralympic athletes from Utah or have ties to Utah who competed in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games were honored.

“As you know, one of the things that we do in the legislature for people that we want to honor and highlight their accomplishments is to give citations,” said Rep. Jon Hawkins, R-Pleasant Grove. “This group of individuals are very deserving of the citation that was given today. They represented Utah and their country in the Summer Olympics in Paris. We’re just really proud of them and the legacy that they continue to uphold for Utah.”

So it only felt right to bring them up and recognize them on both the House and Senate chamber floors for what they do, he said. “They’re great inspirations for not only their friends and family but the next generation as well. So we just wanted to highlight them and thank them for their representation of Utah and the accomplishments that they’ve all achieved.”

Left to right: Chari Hawkins, Samuel Watson and Zach Hammer field questions during a press conference after being given a citation in both the House and Senate. Photo by Becky Ginos

 After the floor recognition, the athletes introduced themselves at a press conference.

“I competed in the heptathlon which is a track and field event,” said Chari Hawkins, who went to school at Utah State University and now lives in Herriman. “It’s running, jumping and throwing.”

“I am a bronze medalist,” said Samuel Watson. “I’m currently number one overall and full record holder for speed climbing which made its Olympic debut as a standalone event in 2024. I moved to Utah in April of 2024 and I am a student at the University of Utah, studying operations and supply chain management.”

“I am also a speed climber,” said Zach Hammer. “I moved here in March of 2024 for full-time training as well as starting school this fall studying environmental science.”

“My name is Piper Kelly and I’m also a speed climber from the Paris Games. I moved here in November of 2023 after I qualified for the Paris Olympics in order to train full time.”

“I’m from Sweden,” said Emilia Nigare. “I dove at the Paris Games and I'm here because of college. I go to the University of Utah.”

“I’m an athlete, not a coach,” said David Blair, who won a bronze medal in the Paralympics in Paris. “Sometimes they get that confused. I do discus. I’ve lived in Utah my whole life and went to Davis, Weber State and went to Paris, Tokyo and Rio.”

“The state of Utah has definitely been fighting above its weight class in terms of sports achievements and athletics and building that kind of culture with the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games as well as the 2034 games,” said Watson. “It’s definitely wonderful to be a part of this state as it evolves around sports and to be a figure in that as USA climbing has made its base here. A lot of people have gravitated toward Salt Lake City in order to train for the various pursuits across many sports.”

“I’m 33 years old,” said Hawkins. “My first Olympics was at 32 years old but I’ve been training for it for 20 years. One of my biggest things I like to say is, it doesn’t matter if you’re from a small town and you weren’t born into this crazy gene pool where you were just like definitely going to make the Olympics at 16. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other, no matter where you come from. You can do anything if you put your mind to it. So I’m really grateful that we get to show up for Utah. Show up for yourself and you'll be surprised what you can accomplish.”