Olympic dreams

Demetrius Lee, 14, who is Tavon's little brother, was most interested in the freestyle jumps and the ski jump.

"I felt like I was flying and it was an adrenaline rush — you feel weightless," Demetrius said.

Karen Johnson, a University of Utah professor of education, culture and society, heard about Building Bridges a year ago and wanted to bring the program to students in the Salt Lake area.

Billington didn't hesitate because, he said, facilities in Salt Lake and Park City are incredible and the state has one of only 15 bobsled tracks in the world.

"Plus communities in Utah pump a lot of money into making the kids happy," Billington said.

The program isn't all fun and games. Once students decide they want to pursue an event, it's a lot of hard work and training. Billington works to put them in contact with professionals who will help train them, and the students dedicate themselves to the goal.

But with that hard work comes an opportunity to see the world and learn about languages, different cultures and history.

Since the program started, Billington, along with the help of hundreds of sponsors, has taken students to places like the Grand Canyon, the Vatican, Prague and Rome, and they have trained in Austria, Japan, France and Germany as well as Park City.

"It's giving them an opportunity to see the world in doing that the world becomes smaller for them," Billington said.

After facing some fears along with a few bumps and bruises from spills on the ice the students say it was an experience that definitely opened their eyes.

"I have more of an appreciation for Olympic athletes because what they do is not easy — I am really glad I did this," Tavon Lee said.

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E-mail: terickson@desnews.com