Salt Lake City became the most populated area to have ever hosted a Winter Olympics; at the time of the Olympics its metropolitan population was 1,516,227. It was also the most ecologically varied area to hold the Winter Olympics; a large hot and arid desert lies just to the west of Salt Lake City.

Bids

The information below comes from the International Olympic Committee Vote History web page.

Highlights

• The opening ceremonies included Grammy Award-winning artist LeAnn Rimes singing "Light the Fire Within," the official song of the 2002 Olympics.
• The Grammy Award-winning Mormon Tabernacle Choir performed the "Star-Spangled Banner," National Anthem of the United States, for the opening ceremonies.
• John Williams composed "Call of the Champions," his third official theme for an Olympiad, and his first for a Winter Olympiad. It was performed by the Utah Symphony Orchestra and featured the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing the official motto of the Olympic Games "Citius, Altius, Fortius" (Faster, Higher, Stronger). The premiere of the work at the opening ceremonies also corresponded with John Williams' 70th birthday. The work is featured on the CD American Journey.
• There were also signs of the aftermath of September 11, 2001 (this was the first Olympics event held since then). They included the flag that flew at "Ground Zero," NYPD officer Daniel Rodriguez singing "God Bless America," and honor guards of NYPD and FDNY members.
• Along with the flag that flew at the World Trade Center site, the Challenger flag was also carried into the stadium.
• The opening segment of the opening ceremony celebrated all previous hosts of the Olympic Winter Games.
• These Olympics marked the first time a United States president opened an Olympic Winter Games held in the United States, although previous Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Richard Nixon had opened the 1932 Winter Olympics and the 1960 Winter Olympics in their roles as Governor of New York and Vice President of the United States, respectively.
• These were the first Games to be held under IOC president Jacques Rogge.
• Competition highlights included biathlete Ole Einar Bjørndalen of Norway, winning gold in all four men's events (10 k, 12.5 k, 20 k, 4 x 7.5 relay), Nordic combined athlete Samppa Lajunen of Finland winning three gold medals, Simon Ammann of Switzerland taking the double in ski jumping, and alpine skier Janica Kostelić winning three golds and a silver (the first Winter Olympic medals ever for an athlete from Croatia).
• Skeleton returned as a medal sport in the 2002 Games for the first time since 1948.
• Ireland reached its best ever position and came close to winning its first winter medal when Clifton Wrottesley (Clifton Hugh Lancelot de Verdon Wrottesley, 6th Baron Wrottesley) finished fourth in the men's skeleton event.
• The Women's Bobsled Event had its debut at the 2002 Games after several years of World Cup competition.
• A feature of these Games was the emergence of the so-called "extreme" sports, such as snowboarding, moguls and aerials, which appeared in previous Olympic Winter Games but have captured greater public attention in recent years.
• American Sarah Hughes won the gold medal in figure skating. American and heavy favorite Michelle Kwan fell during her long program and received the bronze medal.
• China won its first and second Winter Olympic gold medals, both by women's short-track speed skater Yang Yang.
• One of the most memorable stories of the event occurred at the men's short track. Australian skater Steven Bradbury, a competitor who had won a bronze in 1994 as part of a relay team but well off the pace of the medal favourites, cruised off the pace in his semifinal only to see three of his competitors crash into each other, allowing him to finish second and go through to the final. Bradbury was again well off the pace, but lightning struck again and all four other competitors crashed out in the final turn, leaving a jubilant Bradbury to take the most unlikely of gold medals, the first for Australia—or any other country of the Southern Hemisphere—in the Olympic Winter Games.
• The Canadian men's ice hockey team defeated the American team 5-2 to claim the gold medal, ending 50 years without the hockey gold. The Canadian women's team also defeated the American team 3-2 after losing to them at the 1998 Winter Olympic Games in Nagano.
• The closing ceremonies marked the final live performance of Kiss with its lineup of Stanley/Simmons/Frehley/Singer. They performed "Rock and Roll All Nite." Other artists performing at the 2002 ceremonies were Yo Yo Ma, R. Kelly, Christina Aguilera, Sting, Dianne Reeves, Harry Connick Jr., Dorothy Hamill, Dave Matthews Band, 'N Sync, Earth, Wind & Fire, Josh Groban, Charlotte Church and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

• There was a Canadian dollar underneath the ice in support of the Canadian men's team, supposedly placed there at the request of Wayne Gretzky, who knew the man responsible for ice upkeep.

Controversies

• Prior to these Olympic Winter Games, a number of IOC members were forced to resign after it was uncovered that they had accepted bribes in return for voting for Salt Lake City to hold the Games. IOC President Dr. Jacques Rogge and new CEO of the Salt Lake Games Mitt Romney then staged the Games and contended with the public opinion backlash due to the scandal.
• In the first week the figure skating competition resulted in the French judge's scores being thrown out and the Canadian team of Jamie Salé and David Pelletier being awarded a second gold medal.
• Athletes in short-track speed skating and cross-country skiing were disqualified for various reasons (including doping by two Russians and one Spaniard in cross-country skiing), leading Russia to file protests and threaten to withdraw from competition.
• Unproven allegations of bribery were leveled against many ice skating judges, leading to the arrest (at the request of the United States) and release of known criminal Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov by Italian officials.
• While there was a lot of international sympathy for the US in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, there were complaints that the Games were being conducted in a too patriotic or jingoistic way. In particular, President Bush was criticized for breaches of protocol, most of all for departing from the Olympic charter by extending the declaration to open the Games when he said, “On behalf of a proud, determined and grateful nation”, before adding the traditional formula, “I declare open the Games of Salt Lake City”.

Security measures

Aerial Survelance and radar control was provided by the marines of Marine Air Control Squadron 2 det C, from Cherry Point NC.

When he spoke during the opening ceremonies, Jacques Rogge, presiding over his first olympics as IOC president, told the athletes of the United States, the host country:

Medals awarded

Venues

• Deer Valley - Slalom, Freestyle Moguls and Aerials
• Utah Olympic Park - Bobsleigh, Luge, Skeleton, Nordic combined and Ski jumping
• Soldier Hollow - Cross-country skiing, Biathlon and Nordic combined
• Rice-Eccles Stadium - the opening and the closing ceremonies
• Peaks Ice Arena - Ice hockey
• E Center - Ice hockey
• Delta Center - Short track speed skating and Figure skating.
• Park City Mountain Resort - Giant Slalom, Snowboard GS and Halfpipe
• Snowbasin - Downhill, Combined Downhill and Super-G
• Utah Olympic Oval - Speed skating
• The Ice Sheet Ogden, Utah - Curling

''NOTE: Because of the no-commercialisation policy of the Olympics, the Delta Center was labeled as the "Salt Lake Ice Center," causing some confusion for visitors.

Medal count

Participating nations

• (host)

References

See also

• Competitors at the 2002 Winter Olympics
• 2002 Winter Paralympics
• Olympic Games
• Winter Olympic Games
• International Olympic Committee
• IOC country codes
• Call of the Champions, the Olympic theme song for 2002

External links

• IOC Site on 2002 Winter Olympics
• Pictures from the opening and closing Ceremonies
• The program of the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics