The 2002 Olympics
The 19th Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah, were a sign
of peace in defiance of terrorism
By Dan Blunk
The 19th Winter Olympic Games opened on Feb. 9, 2002, in Salt Lake
City, Utah, amid unprecedented concerns over the security of athletes
and spectators. The tight security measures, costing more than $300
million and involving a huge police presence and metal detectors
outside venues, were implemented in light of the terrorist attacks
against the United States that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001. Despite
fears of new attacks, none occurred during the Games. For 17 days,
athletes from 78 countries competed on the world stage, a sign of
peace in defiance of terrorism throughout the world. However, the
Games were marred by one of the biggest scandals in the history of
Olympic figure skating and the news that several athletes had taken
performance-enhancing drugs.
German athletes dominated the Games, taking 35 medals, 12 of them
gold. A greatly improved U.S. team netted 34 medals, including 10
golds, up from only 13 medals in the 1998 Winter Games. Speed skaters
broke eight world records in 2002, the most in any single Olympics.
Croatian skier Janica Kostelic became the first skier to win four
medals in one Olympics.
The reintroduction of the thrilling sport of skeleton provided one
of the biggest stories of the 2002 Games. In skeleton, which is
similar to the luge, athletes lie on their stomachs on a steel sled
and slide down the same type of icy course used in the luge and
bobsled events. However, skeleton athletes face forward, shooting
down the course at more than 70 miles (113 kilometers) per hour.
Skeleton was introduced as an official sport in the 1928 Winter
Olympics. It appeared again in the 1948 Games but was later banned
because officials deemed it too dangerous.
The 2002 Winter Games were marred by one of the biggest judging
scandals in Olympics history. The scandal involved the pairs figure
skating competition on February 11, in which the gold was awarded to
Russians Anton Sikharulidze and Elena Berezhnaya, after a performance
with several major flaws. The Canadian pairs figure skaters, Jamie
Sale and David Pelletier, had skated nearly flawlessly but were only
awarded the silver medal. When the judges' 5-4 decision in favor of
the Russian team was displayed, the largely North American crowd
loudly booed. Olympic officials later accused a French judge of
vote-trading. The judge, Marie Reine Le Gougne, eventually admitted
to giving high marks to the Russian pair in return for a Russian
judge giving high marks to the French pair in ice-dancing, a separate
event.
After a six-day investigation, Olympic officials made the
unprecedented move to award gold medals to both pairs of skaters. Le
Gougne was later suspended from judging for three years.
On the final day of the Games, Olympic officials dismissed three
cross-country skiers for failing drug tests. Two of the athletes,
Larissa Lazutina of Russia and Johann Muehlegg of Spain, were
stripped of one gold medal each but were allowed to keep medals they
had won before the test. Olympic officials said all three skiers had
tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. British skier Alain
Baxter also tested positive and he was stripped of his bronze medal
in the men's slalom, the first ever won by a British skier.
Alpine Skiing
Women's Combined
Gold: Janica Kostelic, Croatia
Silver: Renate Goetschl, Austria
Bronze: Martina Ertl, Germany
Women's Downhill
Gold: Carole Montillet, France
Silver: Isolde Kostner, Italy
Bronze: Renate Goetschl, Austria
Women's Giant Slalom
Gold: Janica Kostelic, Croatia
Silver: Anja Paerson, Sweden
Bronze: Sonja Nef, Switzerland
Women's Slalom
Gold: Janica Kostelic, Croatia
Silver: Laure Pequegnot, France
Bronze: Anja Paerson, Sweden
Women's Super-G
Gold: Daniela Ceccarelli, Italy
Silver: Janica Kostelic, Croatia
Bronze: Karen Putzer, Italy
Men's Combined
Gold: Kjetil Andre Aamodt, Norway
Silver: Bode Miller, United States
Bronze: Benjamin Raich, Austria
Men's Downhill
Gold: Fritz Strobl, Austria
Silver: Lasse Kjus, Norway
Bronze: Stephan Eberharter, Austria
Men's Giant Slalom
Gold: Stephen Eberharter, Austria
Silver: Bode Miller, United States
Bronze: Lasse Kjus, Norway
Men's Slalom
Gold: Jean-Pierre Vidal, France
Silver: Sebastien Amiez, France
Bronze: Benjamin Raich, Austria
Men's Super-G
Gold: Kjetil Andre Aamodt, Norway
Silver: Stephan Eberharter, Austria
Bronze: Andreas Schifferer, Austria
Biathlon
Men's 10-K Sprint
Gold: Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, Norway
Silver: Sven Fischer, Germany
Bronze: Wolfgang Perner, Austria
Men's 12.5-K Pursuit
Gold: Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, Norway
Silver: Raphael Poiree, France
Bronze: Ricco Gross, Germany
Men's 20-K Individual
Gold: Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, Norway
Silver: Frank Luck, Germany
Bronze: Victor Maigourov, Russia
Men's 4 x 7.5-K Relay
Gold: Frode Andreson, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, Egil Gjelland, Halvard Hanevold, Norway
Silver: Sven Fischer, Frank Luck, Peter Sendel,Ricco Gross, Germany
Bronze: Vincent Defrasne, Gilles Marguet, Raphael Poiree, ulien Robert, France
Women's 10-K Pursuit
Gold: Olga Pyleva, Russia
Silver: Kati Wilhelm, Germany
Bronze: Irina Nikoultchina, Bulgaria
Women's 15-K Individual
Gold: Andrea Henkel, Germany
Silver: Liv Grete Poiree, Norway
Bronze: Magdalena Forsberg, Sweden
Women's 4 x 7.5-K Relay
Gold: Katrin Apel, Andrea Henkel, Uschi Disl, Kati Wilhelm, Germany
Silver: Gunn Margrit Andreassen, Liv Grete Poiree, Ann Elen Skjelbreid, Linda Tjoerhom, Norway
Bronze: Olga Pyleva, Galina Koukleva, Svetlana Ishmouratova, Albina Akhatova, Russia
Women's 7.5-K Sprint
Gold: Kati Wilhelm, Germany
Silver: Uschi Disl, Germany
Bronze: Magdalena Forsberg, Sweden
Bobsled
Four-Man
Gold: Andre Lange, Carsten Embach, Kevin Kuske, Enrico Kuehn, Germany
Silver: Todd Hays, Bill Schuffenhauer, Garrett Hines, Randy Jones, United States
Bronze: Mike Kohn, Doug Sharp, Brian Shimer, Dan Steele, United States
Two-Man
Gold: Christoph Langen, Markus Zimmermann, Germany
Silver: Steve Anderhub, Christian Reich, Switzerland
Bronze: Martin Annen, Beat Hefti, Switzerland
Women's
Gold: Jill Bakken, Vonetta Flowers, United States
Silver: Sandra Prokoff, Ulrike Holzner, Germany
Bronze: Susi-Lisa Erdmann, Nicole Herschmann, Germany
Cross-country skiing
Men's 10-K Free Pursuit
Gold: Johann Muehlegg, Spain
Silver: Thomas Alsgaard, Norway
Silver: Frode Estil, Norway
Men's 15-K Classical
Gold: Andrus Veerpalu, Estonia
Silver: Frode Estil, Norway
Bronze: Jaak Mae, Estonia
Men's 30-K Free Mass Start
Gold: Johann Muehlegg, Spain
Silver: Christian Hoffmann, Austria
Bronze: Mikhail Botvinov, Austria
Men's 4 x 10-K Relay
Gold: Thomas Alsgaard, Kristen Skjeldal, Frode Estil, Anders Aukland, Norway
Silver: Giorgio di Centa, Fabio Maj, Pietro Pillar Cottrer, Cristian Zorzi, Italy
Bronze: Tobias Angerer, Jens Filbrich, Andreas Schluetter, Rene Sommerfeldt, Germany
Men's 50-K Classical
Gold: Mikhail Ivanov, Russia
Silver: Andrus Veerpalu, Estonia
Bronze: Odd-Bjoern Hjelmeset, Norway
Men's Sprint
Gold: Tor Arne Hetland, Norway
Silver: Peter Schlickenrieder, Germany
Bronze: Cristian Zorzi, Italy
Women's 10-K Classical
Gold: Bente Skari, Norway
Silver: Olga Danilova, Russia
Bronze: Julija Tchepalova, Russia
Women's 15-K Free Mass Start
Gold: Stefania Belmondo, Italy
Silver: Larissa Lazutina, Russia
Bronze: Katerina Neumannova, Czech Republic
Women's 30-K Classical
Gold: Gabriella Paruzzi, Italy
Silver: Stefania Belmondo, Italy
Bronze: Bente Skari, Norway
Women's 4 x 5-K Relay
Gold: Viola Bauer, Manuela Henkel, Evi Sachenbacher, Claudia Kuenzel, Germany
Silver: Bente Skari, Hilde G. Pedersen, Marit Bjoerngen, Anita Moen, Norway
Bronze: Brigitte Albrecht Loretan, Andrea Huber, Natascia Leonardi Cortesi,Laurence Rochat, Switzerland
Women's 5-K Free Pursuit
Gold: Olga Danilova, Russia
Silver: Larissa Lazutina, Russia
Bronze: Beckie Scott, Canada
Women's Sprint
Gold: Julija Tchepalova, Russia
Silver: Evi Sachenbacher, Germany
Bronze: Anita Moen, Norway
Curling
Men's
Gold: Norway
Silver: Canada
Bronze: Switzerland
Women's
Gold: Britain
Silver: Switzerland
Bronze: Canada
Figure skating
Ice Dancing
Gold: Marina Anissina, Gwendal Peizerat, France
Silver: Irina Lobacheva, Ilia Averbuch, Russia
Bronze: Barbara Fusar Poli, Maurizio Margaglio, Italy
Women's Figure Skating
Gold: Sarah Hughes, United States
Silver: Irina Slutskaya, Russia
Bronze: Michelle Kwan, United States
Men's Figure Skating
Gold: Alexei Yagudin, Russia
Silver: Evgeni Plushenko, Russia
Bronze: Timothy Goebel, United States
Pairs Figure Skating
Gold: David Pelletier/Jamie Sale, Canada
Gold: Elena Berezhnaya/Anton Sikharulidze, Russia
Bronze: Zhao Hongbo/Shen Xue, China
Freestyle skiing
Men's Aerials
Gold: Ales Valenta, Czech Republic
Silver: Joe Pack, United States
Bronze: Alexei Grichin, Belarus
Men's Moguls
Gold: Janne Lahtela, Finland
Silver: Travis Mayer, United States
Bronze: Richard Gay, France
Women's Aerials
Gold: Alisa Camplin, Australia
Silver: Veronica Brenner, Canada
Bronze: Deidra Dionne, Canada
Women's Moguls
Gold: Kari Traa, Norway
Silver: Shannon Bahrke, United States
Bronze: Tae Satoya, Japan
Ice hockey
Men's
Gold: Canada
Silver: United States
Bronze: Russia
Women's
Gold: Canada
Silver: United States
Bronze: Sweden
Luge
Doubles
Gold: Patric-Fritz Leitner, Alexander Resch, Germany
Silver: Brian Martin, Mark Grimmette, United States
Bronze: Chris Thorpe, Clay Ives, United States
Men's Singles
Gold: Amin Zoeggler, Italy
Silver: Georg Hackl, Germany
Bronze: Markus Prock, Austria
Women's Singles
Gold: Sylke Otto, Germany
Silver: Barbara Niedernhuber, Germany
Bronze: Silke Kraushaar, Germany
Nordic combined
Individual 15-K
Gold: Samppa Lajunen, Finland
Silver: Jaakko Tallus, Finland
Bronze: Felix Gottwald, Austria
Sprint 7.5-K
Gold: Samppa Lajunen, Finland
Silver: Ronny Ackermann, Germany
Bronze: Felix Gottwald, Austria
Team 4 x 5-K Relay
Gold: Samppa Lajunen, Hannu Manninen, Jari Mantila, Jaakko Tallus Finland
Silver: Marcel Hoehlig, Bjoem Kircheisen, Georg Hettich, Ronny Ackermann, Germany
Bronze: Christoph Bieler, Michael Gruber, Felix Gottwald, Mario Stecher, Austria
Short track speed skating
Women's 1,000-Meter
Gold: A. Yang Yang, China
Silver: Gi-Hyun Ko, Korea
Bronze: S. Yang Yang, China
Women's 1,500-Meter
Gold: Gi-Hyun Ko, Korea
Silver: Eun-Kyung Choi, Korea
Bronze: Evgenia Radanova, Bulgaria
Women's 3,000-Meter Relay
Gold: Min-Kyung Choi, Min-Jin Joo, Hye-Won Park, Eun-Kyung Choi, Korea
Silver: A. Yang Yang, S. Yang Yang, Wang Chunlu, Sun Dandan, China
Bronze: Isabelle Charest, Marie-Eve Drolet, Amelie Goulet-Nadon, Alanna Kraus, Tania Vicent, Canada
Women's 500-Meter
Gold: A. Yang Yang, China
Silver: Evgenia Radanova, Bulgaria
Bronze: Wang Chunlu, China
Men's 1,000-Meter
Gold: Steven Bradbury, Australia
Silver: Apolo Anton Ohno, United States
Bronze: Mathieu Turcotte, Canada
Men's 1,500-Meter
Gold: Apolo Anton Ohno, United States
Silver: Li Jiajun, China
Bronze: Marc Gagnon, Canada
Men's 500-Meter
Gold: Marc Gagnon, Canada
Silver: Jonathan Guilmette, Canada
Bronze: Rusty Smith, United States
Men's 5,000-Meter Relay
Gold: Eric Bedard, Marc Gagnon, Jonathan Guilmette, Francois-Louis Tremblay, Mathieu Turcotte, Canada
Silver: Michele Antonioli, Maurizio Carnino, Fabio Carta, Nicola Franceschina, Nicola Rodigari, Italy
Bronze: Li Jiajun, An Yulong, Li Ye, Feng Kai, Guo Wei China
Skeleton
Men's
Gold: Jim Shea, United States
Silver: Martin Rettl, Austria
Bronze: Gregor Staehli, Switzerland
Women's
Gold: Tristan Gale, United States
Silver: Lea Ann Parsley, United States
Bronze: Alex Coomber, Britain
Ski jumping
Individual K120
Gold: Simon Ammann, Switzerland
Silver: Adam Malysz, Poland
Bronze: Matti Hautamaeki, Finland
Individual K90
Gold: Simon Ammann, Switzerland
Silver: Sven Hannawald, Germany
Bronze: Adam Malysz, Poland
Team K120
Gold: Michael Uhrmann, Stephan Hocke, Sven Hannawald, Martin Schmitt, Germany
Silver: Janne Ahonen, Matti Hautamaeki, Risto Jussilainen, Veli-Matti Lindstroem, Finland
Bronze: Damjan Fras, Robert Kranjec, Primoz Peterka, Peter Zonta, Slovenia
Snowboard
Men's Halfpipe
Gold: Ross Powers, United States
Silver: Danny Kass, United States
Bronze: Jarret Thomas, United States
Men's Parallel Giant Slalom
Gold: Philipp Schoch, Switzerland
Silver: Richard Richardsson, Sweden
Bronze: Chris Klug, United States
Women's Halfpipe
Gold: Kelly Clark, United States
Silver: Doriane Vidal, France
Bronze: Fabienne Reuteler, Switzerland
Women's Parallel Giant Slalom
Gold: Isabelle Blanc, France
Silver: Karine Ruby, France
Bronze: Lidia Trettel, Italy
Speed skating
Women's 1,000-Meter
Gold: Chris Witty, United States
Silver: Sabine Voelker, Germany
Bronze: Jennifer Rodriguez, United States
Women's 1,500-Meter
Gold: Anni Friesinger, Germany
Silver: Sabine Voelker, Germany
Bronze: Jennifer Rodriguez, United States
Women's 3,000-Meter
Gold: Claudia Pechstein, Germany
Silver: Renate Groenewold, Netherlands
Bronze: Cindy Klassen, Canada
Women's 500-Meter
Gold: Catriona Lemay Doan, Canada
Silver: Monique Garbrecht-Enfeldt, Germany
Bronze: Sabine Voelker, Germany
Women's 5,000-Meter
Gold: Claudia Pechstein, Germany
Silver: Gretha Smit, Netherlands
Bronze: Clara Hughes, Canada
Men's 1,000-Meter
Gold: Gerard van Velde, Netherlands
Silver: Jan Bos, Netherlands
Bronze: Joey Cheek, United States
Men's 10,000-Meter
Gold: Jochem Uytdehaage, Netherlands
Silver: Gianni Romme, Netherlands
Bronze: Lasse Saetre, Norway
Men's 1,500-Meter
Gold: Derek Parra, United States
Silver: Jochem Uytdehaage, Netherlands
Bronze: Adne Sondral, Norway
Men's 500-Meter
Gold: Casey Fitzrandolph, United States
Silver: Hiroyasu Shimizu, Japan
Bronze: Kip Carpenter, United States
Men's 5,000-Meter
Gold: Jochem Uytdehaage, Netherlands
Silver: Derek Parra, United States
Bronze: Jens Boden, Germany
About the author:
Dan Blunk is a staff editor at World Book.
