A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives.
On Feb. 8, 2002, the opening ceremonies for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games played out in Salt Lake City.
“Ice shimmered. Pennants and great swaths of fabric fluttered. Re-imagined beasts prowled. And secrets were revealed,” read the Deseret News coverage of the opening extravaganza, headlined “Eyes and ears of the world turn to Salt Lake.”
“Athletes, dignitaries, scores of performers, 55,000 spectators — and the watching world — gloried in fires within, without and high above Friday night as the 2002 Winter Games leapt to life in Salt Lake City’s Rice-Eccles Olympic Stadium.
“On behalf of a proud, determined and grateful nation,” President Bush — standing among young members of his American team — declared the XIX Winter Games to be open.”
Who lit the cauldron? The final torchbearer turned out to be Mike Eruzione, captain of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” men’s hockey team, who immediately beckoned to other teammates to the high platform beneath Salt Lake’s shimmering steel and glass caldron. The Olympic torch had been on a 13,500-mile, 46-state journey, including up and down the state.
What worried us? The too-fresh tragedies of Sept. 11, 2001, were remembered in one of the moving highlights of the 2½-hour show. The tattered American flag that flew at the World Trade Center the day the New York towers were brought down by terrorists was carried into the stadium by an honor guard of eight members of the U.S. Olympic team and representatives of the New York police and fire agencies that responded to the attacks, per coverage that day.
The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, accompanied by the Utah Symphony, sang the national anthem as a breeze blew gently across the flag.
President George W. Bush, who spent much of the day visiting with Utah political and religious leaders, as well as U.S. athletes, entered the stadium just before the tribute to the victims of the attacks against New York City and Washington, D.C. He stood beside Mitt Romney, the Salt Lake Organizing Committee president, and Jacques Rogge, the International Olympic Committee president. As many as 2 billion TV viewers watched the program.
And then the Games began.
In all, more than 2,500 athletes from 77 countries participated in the Games, drawing up to 80,000 spectators a day. The sporting program was the largest for a Winter Olympics, with 78 events in 15 disciplines and seven sports.
What do you remember from that night?
Here are some wonderful stories from Deseret News archives about the opening of the 2002 Games. Enjoy the memories:
“‘The perfect place’: Bush hails Salt Lake Olympics”
“Eyes and ears of the world turn to Salt Lake”
“Medals plaza at the heart of it all
“The most touching moment involved a flag, a choir and an anthem”
“Raise the curtain: 2002 Olympics ready for worldwide debut”
“Church and Olympics: When Latter-day Saints welcomed the world”
