The 2002 Winter Games were marked by unprecedented controversies, a record medal haul for the host country and storylines with more Hollywood endings than a movie multiplex. Deseret News editors selected the following as the Games' Top 10 stories:
1 Protests
The 2002 Winter Olympics may go down in history as the "Whiner Olympics." First, the Canadian pairs silver medalists, Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, were awarded a gold medal after spectators and later Skate Canada appealed the judges' decision to award gold to Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze. IOC President Jacques Rogge's decision to give the Canadians duplicate gold started the protest ball rolling, and it wasn't long before the Koreans and the Russians decided to try for similar retractions of official rulings in short-track speedskating, cross country skiing, women's figure skating and men's ice hockey.
The Koreans said disqualification of a Korean short-track skater for a skating violation was unfair. An American won gold in that event. The Russians complained about penalties called against their team in a quarterfinal game against the Czech Republic that the Russians won; they also said blood testing of their superstar cross country skier that led to elimination of Russia's team from the race was unfair and that judging in women's figure skating that led to American Sarah Hughes' winning gold and Russian Irina Slutskaya's getting silver was biased.
The Russians at one point threatened to pull out of the semifinal hockey game with the USA, boycott the closing ceremonies and go home early. They also hinted they might not attend the Summer Games in Greece and might join with other disgruntled countries to start their own "unbiased" Olympics. All the protesting countries softened their stances after all appeals were denied by governing bodies.
2: Skategate
Under tremendous pressure to reform the judging system for figure skating, International Skating Union president Ottavio Cinquanta proposed sweeping changes in scoring and judging. The action was prompted by controversy over pairs figure skating results in which Russians Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze won gold and Canadians Sale and Pelletier took silver. A huge public outcry charging vote swapping and collusion led Rogge to award duplicate gold to the Canadian pair.
3: Third-generation Olympian wins gold
Jim Shea Jr., the only third-generation Olympian in the Games, won gold in men's skeleton, carrying a photo of his grandfather, Jack Shea, a double gold-medal-winning speedskater in 1932, in his helmet. Jack Shea, 91, had intended to attend the Games but was killed in a car accident just days before opening ceremonies. The young Shea wore one of his grandfather's gold medals around his neck when he received his own.
4: Hughes, not Kwan, wins figure skating
In an unprecedented move from fourth place to first, 16-year-old Sarah Hughes won the gold medal in ladies figure skating with a near-perfect free program. Michelle Kwan, expected to win gold and the sentimental favorite, won bronze after falling on a triple flip. Russian skater Irina Slutskaya won silver, and Russian Olympic officials protested the judging, calling it "biased."
5: U.S. medal count
American athletes increased their previous record 13 medals in Winter Olympics competition by 2 1/2 times. Winning 34 medals ? one fewer than Germany, the U.S. Olympic squad faltered in alpine skiing and cross country but swept snowboarding, took gold in men's and women's skeleton and bobsled, figure skating, men's ice hockey, short-track and long-track speedskating.
6: A safe, efficient Games
Despite heightened security following the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States by terrorists, Salt Lake City's Olympics were pulled off largely without incident, including traffic problems. Transportation proved efficient and, for the most part, trouble-free. Mother Nature cooperated with only three minor snowstorms, and spectators arrived at venues by car or bus mostly on time.
7: Hockey tournaments
Canada ended a 50-year gold drought, taking both gold medals in men's and women's ice hockey at the expense of the USA in what were called the best hockey tournaments in history. The men's tourney, heavy with NHL players, saw Belarus pulling off a tremendous upset of Sweden to make it to the bronze-medal game where it was beaten by Russia. Team USA first tied Russia in the preliminary round, then beat the Russians in semifinals to advance to the gold-medal game against Canada, which the Canucks won 5-2. The long-awaited rematch between the Canadian and American women turned into an easy win for the Canadians, who were beaten by Team USA in 1998.
8: Chris Witty and Chris Klug
Chris Witty won a gold medal and set a world record in the women's 1,000-meter speedskating event despite battling mononucleosis. Chris Klug became the first organ-transplant recipient to medal, winning bronze in snowboarding.
9: Multiple medalists; medals rescinded
Norwegian Ole Einar Bjoerndalen became only the third Olympic athlete to win four or more gold medals in one Games. He won four in biathlon. Croatia's Janica Kostelic won four medals in alpine skiing, three of them gold. Claudia Pechstein won gold and set a world record in the 3,000 meters, then won the 5,000 meters and became the first woman since American skater Bonnie Blair to win gold medals in the same event in three consecutive Olympics. Spain's Johann Muehlegg won three gold medals in cross country, including in the grueling 50K classic, but he failed a doping test and his third medal was rescinded, as was a gold medal in women's 30K presented Sunday to Russian cross country skier Larissa Lazutina, who failed a urinalysis done after she was disqualified from the women's relay Thursday because of a high hemoglobin level.
10: Those berets
Some security-check lines were long, but nothing compared to the lineups outside the Roots stores. Olympic fans went nuts over the official USA berets sold by the Canadian manufacturer, the official Olympic clothier. Everybody wanted one, and eventually the only place to score a beret was from a "scalper" on the street.