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2002 Winter Olympics

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2002 Winter Olympics

The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 (Arapaho: Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: Tit'-so-pi 2002; Navajo: Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: Soónkahni 2002), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from February 8 to 24, 2002, in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States.

Salt Lake City was selected as the host city in June 1995 at the 104th IOC Session. They were the eighth Olympics to be hosted by the United States, and the most recent to be held in the country until 2028, when Los Angeles will host the 34th Summer Olympics. The 2002 Winter Olympics and Paralympics were both organized by the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC), the first time that both events were organized by a single committee, and inspiring other Olympic and Paralympic Games to be organized by such since then. These were the first Olympic Games under the International Olympic Committee (IOC) presidency of Jacques Rogge.

The Games featured 2,399 athletes from 78 nations, participating in 78 events in 15 disciplines. Norway topped the medal table, with 13 gold and 25 medals overall, while Germany finished with the most total medals, winning 36 (with 12 of them gold). The hosting United States was third by gold medals and second by overall medals, with 10 and 34 respectively. Australia notably became the first Southern Hemisphere country to ever win gold medals at the Winter Olympics.

The Games finished with a budgetary surplus of US$40 million; the surplus was used to fund the formation of the Utah Athletic Foundation—which has continued to maintain the facilities built for these Olympics. The venues have continued to be used for national and international winter sports events after the Olympics. In 2023, the IOC's Future Host Commission invited Salt Lake City to participate in targeted dialogue with the IOC as preferred host of the 2034 Winter Olympics; the Games were officially awarded to Salt Lake City–Utah in July 2024.

Salt Lake City was chosen over Québec City, Canada; Sion, Switzerland; and Östersund, Sweden, on June 16, 1995, at the 104th IOC Session in Budapest, Hungary. Salt Lake City had previously come in second during the bids for the 1998 Winter Olympics, awarded to Nagano, Japan, and had offered to be the provisional host of the 1976 Winter Olympics when the original host, Denver, Colorado, withdrew. The 1976 Winter Olympics were ultimately awarded to Innsbruck, Austria.

There was a scandal involving allegations of bribery used to win the rights to the Games. Prior to its successful bid, Salt Lake City had attempted four times to secure the games, failing each time. In 1998, members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) were accused of taking gifts from the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) during the bidding process. The allegations resulted in the expulsion of several IOC members and the adoption of new IOC rules. Although nothing strictly illegal had been done, it was felt that the acceptance of the gifts was morally dubious. In addition, legal charges were brought against the leaders of Salt Lake's bid committee by the United States Department of Justice. Investigations were also launched into prior bidding process by other cities, finding that members of the IOC received bribes during the bidding process for both the 1998 Winter Olympics and 2000 Summer Olympics. In response to the scandal, Mitt Romney was hired as the new president and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee in February 1999.

The torch relay ceremonially began on November 19, 2001, with the traditional kindling of an Olympic flame in Olympia, Greece. On December 3, Greek skier Thanassis Tsailas lit the first torch from the cauldron, and transferred its flame to a ceremonial lantern for transport to Atlanta, where it arrived on December 4 to officially launch the U.S. leg of the relay. The route of the relay covered 13,500 miles (21,700 km), passed through 300 communities and 46 U.S. states, and was carried by 12,012 torchbearers.

The torch was modeled after an icicle, with a slight curve to represent speed and fluidity. The torch measures 33 inches (84 cm) long, 3 inches (7.6 cm) wide at the top, 0.5 inches (1.3 cm) at the bottom, and was designed by Axiom Design of Salt Lake City. It was created with three sections, each with its own meaning and representation.

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19th edition of Winter Olympics, in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
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