Beijing Olympians, from left, Stephen Schumann, Anna Hoffman, Jasper Good, Sylvia Hoffman, Kaysha Love, Hakeem Abdul-Saboor, Zachary Di Gregorio, Emily Sweeney, Summer Britcher, Sean Hollander, Tucker West and Jonny Gustafson pose at the Olympic Speedskating Oval on Thursday, March 24. (News photo — Lauren Yates)

LAKE PLACID — Hundreds of people gathered in Lake Placid on Thursday, March 24 to celebrate the village’s Olympic legacy and Olympians from Lake Placid and around the region.

A parade of Olympians returning from this year’s Beijing Winter Olympics, Olympians from past years and other athletes made its way from Brewster Park to the Olympic Speedskating Oval as spectators along Main Street cheered them on.

Figure skating Olympic silver medalist Paul Wylie was seen riding shotgun in a Lake Placid Volunteer Fire Department truck; local Olympians Billy Demong and Jay Rand were perched side by side on a parade float filled with their Olympic peers; and Beijing Olympians such as lugers Jonny Gustafson, Summer Britcher, Emily Sweeney, Tucker West, Zachary Di Gregorio and Sean Hollander, and bobsledders Sylvia Hoffman and Kaysha Love were seen throwing balloons and other goodies to kids along the parade route.

Lake Placid’s police and emergency services led the group, followed by the Lake Placid Middle High School marching band, Olympic hopefuls from the New York Youth Ski Educational Foundation, young CAN/AM hockey players and other organizations.

The state Olympic Regional Development Authority, in partnership with the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism and Adirondack Sports Council, hosted the “Lake Placid Athlete Parade and Welcome Home Olympians” celebration, which culminated in a series of speeches from athletes and local officials at the oval.

The Lake Placid High School marching band participates in Lake Placid's March 24 parade to honor the Beijing Winter Olympians. (News photo — Lauren Yates)

With Wylie as host, a lineup of Olympians took the stage after the parade.

Local officials and Olympians touted the recent improvements made to ORDA-managed Olympic facilities. ORDA CEO Mike Pratt recognized the oval as the site of the first tiered Olympic victory podium, where Lake Placid speedskater Jack Shea won two gold medals during the III Olympic Winter Games in 1932. Pratt said the newly remodeled venues would offer the training and resources needed to welcome more Olympians to the area.

The celebration also kicked off the weekend’s athletic competitions in Lake Placid, which included the FIS Continental Cup in women’s ski jumping; FIS Nordic combined 10K and 15K; U.S. Biathlon National Championships; and the Division III National Hockey Championships. Wylie, Demong and U.S. Biathlon CEO Max Cobb declared those events “open” — similarly to how the Olympic Games are declared open during an opening ceremony.

Demong, who’s in the process of ending his tenure as executive director of USA Nordic Sport, said it was fantastic to celebrate the end of his career in his hometown, standing in the middle of some of the updated Olympic venues. Demong recognized Lake Placid for hosting the FIS Continental Cup in women’s ski jumping, the first to ever be held in Lake Placid and one of the first since the sport’s inclusion as an Olympic sport in 2014.

“It’s that kind of leadership that our country needs now, as much as ever,” Demong said. “And I know Lake Placid is here to put a steady hand on the tiller for all of Olympic winter sport and drive us into the future.”

Participants of Lake Placid's March 24 parade to honor the Beijing Winter Olympians walk up Main Street. (News photo — Lauren Yates)

Lake Placid Mayor Art Devlin also spoke, commending Team USA on persevering in competition through the pandemic.

Ashley Walden, CEO of Adirondack Sports Council and COO of the 2023 FISU Winter World University Games, alongside the 2023 Games moose mascot, Adirondack Mac, performed an interactive skit in which Mac and Walden identified the 12 different sports in the university games, including curling, skiing, hockey, ski jumping, figure skating and Nordic combined.

Lake Placid’s Andrew Weibrecht, a two-time Olympic medalist in Alpine skiing, spoke about the “Olympic fabric” of Lake Placid, which he said carries to international events. He said that when Lake Placid athletes travel for sport, they often name the village as their home country rather than the U.S. The culture of sport is so embedded here, he said, it’s easy to forget there’s a broader sports world outside of Lake Placid.

“We are all from Lake Placid, and we live and breathe the culture that we grew up in here,” he said.

The event was topped off with a speech from Sylvia Hoffman, an Olympic bobsled pusher who earned a bronze medal with pilot Elana Meyers Taylor in Beijing. Hoffman, a Philadelphia native, encouraged athletes to keep working for their goals no matter what — that’s what she did after she was diagnosed with scoliosis in junior high school. Her doctors said she might not be successful in sports because of it, but the medal around her neck said otherwise.

Participants of Lake Placid's March 24 parade to honor the Beijing Winter Olympians walk up Main Street. (News photo — Lauren Yates)

“There’s always going to be that one person who says, ‘Hey, you can do it,’ and that’s what’s going to carry you to the next rep,” Hoffman said.

Support means everything, she said, and the Lake Placid community has shown her just that as she’s trained here throughout the years.

Hoffman ended the ceremony by lighting a small Olympic cauldron, which was met with applause and an explosion of sparklers on stage.

Olympians attending the event included Hakeem Abdul-Saboor (bobsled), Lowell Bailey (biathlon), Tommy Biesemeyer (Alpine skiing), Summer Britcher (luge), Andrea Henkel Burke (biathlon), Tim Burke (biathlon), Billy Demong (Nordic combined), Zachary Di Gregorio (luge), Duncan Douglas (biathlon), Jasper Good (Nordic combined), Mark Grimmette (luge), Jonny Gustafson (luge), Garrett Hines (bobsled), Anna Hoffman (ski jumping), Sylvia Hoffman (bobsled), Sean Hollander (luge), Duncan Kennedy (luge), Andrea Kilbourne-Hill (ice hockey), Mike Kohn (bobsled), Tommy Litz (figure skating), Benjamin Loomis (Nordic combined), Kaysha Love (bobsled), John Napier (bobsled), Justin Olsen (bobsled), Jay Rand (ski jumping), Matt Roy (bobsled), Stephen Schumann (Nordic combined), Gordy Sheer (luge), Emily Sweeney (luge), Bill Tavares (luge), Jayson Terdiman (luge), Katie Uehlander (skeleton), Ashley Walden (luge), Bengt Walden (luge), Andrew Weibrecht (Alpine skiing), Tucker West (luge) and Marketa Zayonc (luge).

(Lake Placid News Editor Andy Flynn contributed to this story.)

Participants of Lake Placid's March 24 parade to honor the Beijing Winter Olympians walk up Main Street. (News photo — Lauren Yates)

Participants of Lake Placid's March 24 parade to honor the Beijing Winter Olympians walk up Main Street. (News photo — Lauren Yates)

Olympian Sylvia Hoffman (bobsled, 2022 bronze medalist) holds the torch after the parade on March 24. (News photo — Lauren Yates)

From left are U.S. Biathlon Executive Director Max Cobb, USA Nordic Sport Executive Director Billy Demong (Nordic combined, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010 gold and silver medalist, 2014) and state Olympic Regional Development Authority Director of Sport Paul Wylie (figure skating, 1988, 1992 silver medalist). (News photo — Lauren Yates)

From left are local Olympians Jay Rand (ski jumping, 1968) and Matt Roy (bobsled, 1988). (News photo — Lauren Yates)

Local Olympians Tim Burke (biathlon, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018) and Andrea Kilbourne-Hill (ice hockey, 2002 silver medalist) (News photo — Lauren Yates)

State Olympic Regional Development Authority CEO Mike Pratt, left, shakes hands with Olympian Tucker West (luge, 2014, 2018, 2022) after the parade on March 24. (News photo — Lauren Yates)