Winter Olympiad (2002)

The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIX Olympic Winter Games, and with the theme slogan "Light The Fire Within", celebrated in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The Olympic programme was expanded to 78 events; including the return of skeleton and the introduction of women's bobsleigh. Athletes from a record 18 nations earned gold medals. Canadian teams won both the men and women ice hockey tournaments. Ole Einar Bjoerndalen earned gold medals in all four biathlon events and Samppa Lajunen in all three Nordic combined competitions. Alpine skier Janica Kostelic won three gold medals and one silver. Simon Ammann scored unexpected victories in both individual ski jump events. Speed skater Claudia Pechstein earned her third straight gold medal in the 5,000m race also won at 3,000m. By taking the silver medal in singles luge, George Hackle became the first person in Olympic history to earn a medal in the same individual event five times in a row. Short track speed skater Yang Yang (A) became the first Chinese athlete to win a gold medal at the Winter Games. Competing in the women’s bobsleigh, Vonetta Flowers became the first black athlete to earn winter gold, while ice hockey player Jerome Iginla followed as the first black male winner.. The 2002 Salt Lake City Games 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^.

Opening date
08 February 2002

Closing date
24 February 2002

Ceremonies

Official opening of the Games by: President George W. Bush

Lighting the Olympic Flame by: The American ice hockey team, gold medal winners in Lake Placid, 1980

Olympic Oath by: Jim Shea (skeleton)

Official Oath by: Allen Church (Alpine skiing)

Participation

77 National Olympic Committees (Nations)
2,399 athletes (886 women, 1,513 men)
78 events
22,000 volunteers
8,730 media (2,661 written press, 6,069 broadcasters)

Country of the host city: United States of America (USA)

Candidate cities: Oestersund (SWE), Quebec City (CAN) and Sion (SUI)

Sports

• Biathlon                       
• Bobsleigh
• Ice Hockey                 
• Skating
• Skiing                         
• Curling
• Luge

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 Half pipe
• Snow basin - Downhill, Combined Downhill and Super-G
• Utah Olympic Oval - Speed skating

Highlights

• After knee surgery and a long rehabilitation, Janica Kostelic (CRO-Alpine skiing) made Olympic history. She started by taking the combined title and, after that, she proved unstoppable. More gold followed in the slalom and giant slalom, as well as silver in the super-G, making her the first woman skier to win four medals at one Game.

• China and Australia won their first gold medal in Olympic Winter Games history.

• The closing ceremonies marked the final live performance of Kiss with its complete original lineup. They performed "Rock And Roll All Nite".

• With two medals in the four-man competition, the United States won its first medal in men's bobsleighs since 1956.

• Estonia and Croatia won their first medal in Olympic Winter Games history.

Facts

• For the first time, women's bobsleigh was part of the programme with the two-person event.

• For the first time, instant video replay introduced in figure skating.

• The Olympics marked the first time an American president opened an Olympic Winter Games held in the United States.

• These were the first Games to be held under IOC president Jacques Rogge.

• The opening ceremonies included Grammy Award-winning artist, LeAnn Rimes singing the official song, "Light the Fire Within", 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.

• Along with the flag that flew at the World Trade Center site, the Challenger Flag was also carried into the stadium.