Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
2002 Winter Olympics - 2 reference results
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIX Olympic Winter Games were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The motto chosen was Light The Fire Within

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

Other candidate cities were: Quebec City, Quebec, Canada; Sion, Valais, Switzerland; and Östersund, Sweden. Salt Lake City was selected as host city on June 16, 1995, at the 104th IOC Session in Budapest, Hungary. Olympic venues were scattered around Salt Lake City, as well as in the mountains at Park City, Ogden, and Provo. Athletes were housed in the Olympic Village at the University of Utah.

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

2002 Winter Olympics Bidding Results
City NOC Name Round 1
Salt Lake City, Utah

54
Östersund

14
Sion

14
Quebec City, Quebec

7

Highlights

  • 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

These Olympic games were the first since September 11, 2001, which meant a higher level of security than ever before provided for the Games. The Office of Homeland Security (OHS) designated the Olympics a National Special Security Event (NSSE).

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

''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

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 align=left 13 5 7 25
2 align=left 12 16 8 36
3 (host nation) 10 13 11 34
4 align=left 7 3 7 17
5 align=left 5 4 4 13
6 align=left 4 5 2 11
7 align=left 4 4 5 13
8 align=left 4 2 1 7
9 align=left 3 5 0 8
10 align=left 3 4 10 17

Participating nations

77 National Olympic Committees sent athletes to the Salt Lake City games.

  • (host)

References

See also

External links

Search another word or see 2002 Winter Olympics on Dictionary | Thesaurus