Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
CEDAR CITY — What do a runaway tiger, two Olympians and a southern Utah city have in common? They've all been a part of the Larry H. Miller Utah Summer Games.
Since its inception in 1986, the event has drawn a diverse field of athletes of all ages and skill levels. Today, it's considered one of the nation's top amateur sports festivals.
Held annually in Cedar City during the first week of June, the Utah Games feature all the pomp and circumstance of the Olympics. The opening ceremony includes a parade of athletes, entertainment, a torchbearer and a fireworks show. During the games, winners earn gold, silver and bronze medals. And thousands of volunteers make it all happen.
Rich Wilson, the first executive director of the games, became involved after receiving a phone call from Gerald R. Sherratt, then-president of Southern Utah University.
Sherratt had watched the 1984 Olympics and was inspired to host a similar event in Cedar City. He'd heard Wilson had volunteered at the Los Angeles Games and thought he might be able to help coordinate volunteers.
"After the Olympic experience, I was so all in. I was thrilled," Wilson said.
Wilson spent the early years of the games stumping across the state, "trying to sell people on a sports festival in Cedar City, Utah, that would be worthy of their time if they just participated with us," Wilson said.
Attendance quickly grew as the city laid out the red carpet.
In 2025, the Utah Summer Games welcomed 10,470 athletes — a substantial increase from the 750 who participated in the first event four decades ago.
"The Larry H. Miller Utah Summer Games truly strive to create an Olympic experience for people of all abilities," said Jon Oglesby, Utah Summer Games executive director. "We try, within each and every sport, to create competitive brackets, competitive spaces for athletes.
"We do have professional athletes that compete in some sports. We have high-level amateurs. We have weekend warriors. We have some people that hop into a sport maybe for the first time at the Utah Summer Games — and that's the real beauty of it," Oglesby said.
"Some of the games are tested and heated environments, and some of them are just a lot of fun to be in," said SUU President Mindy Benson.
Over the years, the Utah Summer Games have inspired many young athletes. After competing there while a student at Roy High School, Olympic bobsledder Bill Schuffenhauer was hooked. "Walking into that stadium and the opening ceremonies, and seeing the thousands of kids and thousands of participants, that really inspired me to continue to pursue sports and to see how it could impact my life altogether."
"I think it really was one of those beginning factors in helping lead and guide my path to the Olympic Games," said Noelle Pikus-Pace, Olympic skeleton medalist and Orem native. "It made me understand and know that I had so much more to give and that I wanted to give more."
Benson said, "The Utah Summer Games are where people find themselves. It's where athletes truly find how they can dig deep and be resilient. It's where people understand how to compete. It's where people find their abilities to go further than they ever anticipated themselves doing."
Learn how the Utah Summer Games keeps athletes and fans coming back — and how that tiger played a part — in the video above from KSL's Beyond the Game.
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