2002 Winter Olympics

The XIX Olympic Winter Games were held in 2002 in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Other candidate cities were Quebec City, Quebec, Canada; Sion, Switzerland; and Östersund, Sweden.

Highlights

Competition highlights included biathlete Ole Einar Bjørndalen, winning gold in all four men's events (10 k, 12.5 k, 20 k, 4 x 7.5 relay), 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).

Related Topics:
Ole Einar Bjørndalen - Simon Ammann - Janica Kostelić - Croatia

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Skeleton returned as a medal sport in the 2002 Games for the first time since 1948.

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A feature of these Games has been 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.

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China won its first and second Winter Olympic gold medals.

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One of the most memorable stories of the event occurred at the short-track speed skating. Australian skater Steven Bradbury, a competitor who had previously won a bronze 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 his competitors crash into each other, allowing him 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, 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.

Related Topics:
Steven Bradbury - Southern Hemisphere

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Finally, 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.

Related Topics:
Canadian - Ice hockey - American - 1998 Winter Olympic Games - Nagano

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