Utah native manages Olympic Athletes' Village


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SOCHI, Russia — The Olympics involve a huge amount of planning, both before and especially during the Games.

One place requiring a lot of attention is the Athletes’ Village — a place where athletes sleep, eat and get to know each other. With all of the moving pieces, it’s interesting to know a Utah man is in charge of it all.

Planning the logistics around the Athletes’ Village starts almost two years before the Olympics.

And Utah’s Dan Merkley has been involved with the Games for almost 20 years.

Merkley has lived all over the world, still has a house in Salt Lake County, and enjoys his occupation a great deal — despite it forcing him to be so far from home.

“I’ve been in Russia for two and a half years now,” said Merkley, who is the director of Athletes’ Village management at the Olympics. “I’ve enjoyed my job immensely. This has been the highlight of my career, so far.”

Merkley is directly responsible for managing the needs of more than 6,000 athletes, coaches and officials. Of all the potential issues that could arise, transportation concerns are among the biggest for officials.

In response to that, Merkley said these Olympics have been purposefully designed to be in a closer proximity.

“They (the Olympic committee) wanted to create the most compact Winter Olympic games ever,” he said, “so that athletes would never need to travel more than 12 or 15 kilometers to their event or competition or training venue.”

In the build-up to the Olympics, Merkley ordered 120 bicycles, pool tables, ping-pong tables and televisions so athletes could relax in a lounge-type area instead of rooms.

Another amenity Merkley has added to the fray is larger rooms.

“We think that’s a huge advantage to athletes,” he stated. “We’ve seen how much gear they bring with them and how much gear they acquire once they arrive. So, having the additional space is a great luxury for them and the officials that manage them.”

One expected problem is providing enough food for athletes. However, on top of any problem Merkley may have professionally, missing his family may trump any issue.

Merkley’s wife is expected to give birth this week in Utah, yet he won’t be there.

“Thank goodness through technology I’ll be able to connect home for that moment,” he said. “It’ll be really special and exciting for my team, who have always cared a lot about my family and me, and it will be a joyful reunion when I return.”

Just like the athletes he serves, Merkley’s focus is completely on these games. And, his wife completely understands that.

“We decided I would finish the job,” he said. “That would be important — to finish what we started.”

However, the job won’t finish for Merkley when the Olympics finish. As soon as these games finish, he is in charge of converting the rooms for the Paralympic Games, which also take place in Sochi a few weeks after the Olympics’ conclusion.

Then, it’s time to start planning for the next Olympics for Merkley.

Contributing: Jon Oglesby

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