2002 Winter Olympics facts for kids

The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were held in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States from February 8 2002 to February 24 2002. There were about 2,400 athletes from 77 nations. They were in 78 events. Utah was the fifth state in the United States to host the Olympic Games.

Participating nations

78 National Olympic Committees sent athletes to the Salt Lake City games. Cameroon, Hong Kong (China), Nepal, Tajikistan, and Thailand were in their first Winter Olympic games.

Highlights

Olympic flame at Rice-Eccles Olympic Stadium during the opening ceremonies

• The Olympic Flame was lit by the members of the gold medal-winning US Hockey Team of the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY.
• These Olympics were the first time a United States president opened an Olympic Winter Games.
• These were the first Games to be held under IOC president Jacques Rogge.
• Janica Kostelić won three golds and a silver which were the first Winter Olympic medals ever for Croatia It was the first three-gold performance by a female.
• Skeleton returned as a medal sport in the 2002 Games for the first time since 1948.
• 2002 was the first time with the Women's Bobsled Event.
• China won its first and second Winter Olympic gold medals, both by women's short-track speed skater Yang Yang (A).
• One of the most memorable stories of the event was at the men's short track. Australian skater Steven Bradbury was behind in the semi-final. The winning skaters crashed into each other, letting him finish second and go through to the final. Bradbury was again behind in the final. Again all four other skaters crashed out in the final turn. He won the gold medal.This was the first gold for Australia—or any other country of the Southern Hemisphere—in the Olympic Winter Games.
• Australia won their second gold medal when Alisa Camplin won in Women's Aerials. This was the first ever Winter Games gold won by a woman from the Southern Hemisphere.
• The Canadian men's ice hockey team defeated the American team 5–2 to claim the gold medal. This ended 50 years without the hockey gold. The Canadian women's team also defeated the American team 3–2.

Olympic Games
Summer Games: 1896, 1900, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1912, (1916), 1920, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, (1940), (1944), 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024, 2028
Winter Games: 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, (1940), (1944), 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022
Athens 2004 — Turin 2006 — Beijing 2008 — Vancouver 2010 — London 2012 — Sochi 2014 — Rio 2016 — Pyeongchang 2018 — Tokyo 2020 Games in italics will be held in the future, and those in (brackets) were cancelled because of war. See also: Ancient Olympic Games

Youth Olympic Games
Summer Games: 2010, 2014, 2018
Winter Games: 2012, 2016, 2020
Singapore 2010 — Innsbruck 2012 — Nanjing 2014

Images for kids

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  Countdown clock used for the games in the shape of an arrowhead

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  Salt Lake City during the 2002 Winter Olympics

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  Curling at The Ice Sheet at Ogden on February 22, 2002

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  2002 Olympic Winter Games $5 coin created by the U.S. Mint

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  Spc. Patrick Jean-Mary, of Warwick, R.I., inspects two forms of identification during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City

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  Andrea Nahrgang competing at Soldier Hollow on February 18, 2002

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  Ski jumping medals being awarded at the Salt Lake Medal Plaza on February 13, 2002

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  Fireworks at the Salt Lake Medal Plaza

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  Vonetta Flowers and Jill Bakken during their medal ceremony at the Salt Lake Medal Plaza, after winning gold for the United States in the two-woman bobsleigh

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  Members of the US Olympic team at the Rice–Eccles Olympic Stadium holding the American flag that flew over the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001

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  The men's 10km sprint biathlon race at Soldier Hollow during the Games on February 13, 2002

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  The E Center during a hockey match on February 11, 2002

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  Utah Olympic Oval

See also

In Spanish: Juegos Olímpicos de Salt Lake City 2002 para niños