In a welcoming news conference, Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr. said U.S. Speedskating's impending move provided "indisputable" evidence that the Utah Olympic Oval and other Games infrastructure, plus strong community support, reflected a "partnership developing between the state, sport and athletes that will last well into the future."

For his part, new U.S. Speedskating Executive Director Bob Crowley said he was "absolutely pumped to be here. . . . With the Olympic tradition built here, this is the right place to be."

U.S. Speedskating had been based in Westlake, Ohio. But the U.S. Olympic Committee thought that location was too far removed from the organization's long-track speedskaters, most of whom trained on the "fastest ice on Earth" in Kearns.

Numerous world records have been set at the oval since it opened in 2001.

Talks about moving the organization to Salt Lake County began last February during the Turin Olympics, said Jeff Robbins, president of the Utah Sports Commission, a nonprofit group created by the Legislature to attract national and international sporting events to Utah.

With U.S. Speedskating joining the Park City-based U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association in calling Utah home, Robbins said the state has a "pretty good calling card" when touting its sports pedigree to other organizations considering staging events here.

The Sports Commission, which is funded largely with transient room tax revenue, will provide U.S. Speedskating with $250,000 over the next five years to stage events at the oval, plus another $150,000 over the next two years to cover relocation costs.

"It was a bargain to get them here," said Robbins.

The Utah Athletic Foundation, UAF, which oversees the oval and Utah Olympic Park outside of Park City, will not charge U.S. Speedskating any rent to set up its headquarters at the oval.

UAF Director Colin Hilton said the organization's presence will draw more people to the facility, increasing its revenues, and will provide a "terrific boost for up-and-coming speedskaters."

Elite speedskaters will benefit even more, bringing them closer to the administration and to the sports-science services that will become more readily available from The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital (TOSH), the Intermountain Health Care unit now directed by Eric Heiden, winner of five gold medals in speedskating at the 1980 Olympics.

Heiden's presence prompted distance speedskater Catherine Raney to move from Calgary to Salt Lake. "I'm looking forward to working with him to develop a four-year plan for me," she said.

Chad Hedrick, who won three medals at the Turin Olympics, also is excited about the prospect that short-track speedskaters eventually may move to Kearns from Colorado Springs, figuring cross training will benefit both groups. Crowley said that issue will be explored soon, "but we're not ready to push that button yet."

Perhaps the most ebullient person Wednesday was Doral Vance from the Oquirrh Recreation and Parks District, which a decade ago succeeded in attracting the oval to Kearns.

"I don't think we ever assumed the outcome would be this big," he said. "This is a great opportunity to get more Utah kids involved. Let's get these kids on skates."

mikeg@sltrib.com