In addition, legal charges were brought against the leaders of Salt Lake's bid committee by the United States Department of Justice.

[12] In February 1999, in response to the bid scandal and a financial shortfall for the Games, Mitt Romney, then CEO of the private equity firm Bain Capital (and future U.S. presidential candidate, U.S.

The FBI and NSA arranged with Qwest Communications to use intercept equipment for a period of less than six months around the time of the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Their construction was overseen by the Salt Lake Olympic Bid Committee and the Utah Sports Authority—a body created under the referendum.

[24] The E Center in West Valley City[25] and the Peaks Ice Arena in Provo were also built with support from the SLOC, and co-hosted hockey.

[29] The Olympic Village was built at historic Fort Douglas, whose land had been acquired by the University of Utah to construct new residences.

[30] Main Street in Park City was converted into a pedestrian plaza during the Games, with festivities such as concerts, firework shows, and sponsor presences.

[43][44] To help reduce vehicle traffic to Soldier Hollow and provide a special experience for tourists, Heber Valley Railroad offered service to Wasatch Mountain State Park on steam locomotives during the Games.

[29] The Games were officially opened by President George W. Bush, who was standing among the US athletes (previous heads of state opened the Games from an official box), while the Olympic cauldron was lit by members of the gold medal-winning U.S. men's ice hockey team from the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York (as made famous by the "Miracle on Ice").

A fourth distance was introduced in short track speed skating for men and women, and the pursuit events were added to biathlon and cross-country skiing.

Five NOCs made their Winter Olympic debut in Salt Lake, including Cameroon, Hong Kong, Nepal, Tajikistan, and Thailand.

2,399 athletes from 78 NOCs In the following calendar for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, each blue box represents an event competition, such as a qualification round, on that day.

[55] At the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, the "medal plaza" was popularized as a way for the public to see presentations that would have otherwise taken place at far-flung, low-capacity or high-altitude venues and to have an evening program that often included musical performances.

It was narrated by Utah natives Donny and Marie Osmond (who voiced animatronic dinosaur skeletons designed by Michael Curry),[59][60] and featured performances by a number of musicians and bands, including Bon Jovi, Christina Aguilera, Creed, Dianne Reeves, Donny and Marie Osmond, Earth, Wind & Fire, Gloria Estefan, Harry Connick Jr., Kiss, Moby and Angie Stone, NSYNC, R. Kelly, Sting, Willie Nelson,[61] and Yo Yo Ma.

It also featured appearances by figure skaters such as Kurt Browning, Dorothy Hamill, and Ilia Kulick, as well as dancer Savion Glover.

[72] The emblem for the 2002 Winter Olympics was unveiled in August 1997, consisting of a stylized snowflake with segments colored in blue, orange, and yellow.

[77][78] Despite being held in a time zone only one hour ahead of Pacific Time, NBC still tape delayed much of its coverage for the west coast, although Salt Lake City's local NBC affiliate KSL-TV was given permission to air the live, east coast broadcasts to ensure their availability in the Games' host city.

[79][80] Coverage of the Games by the Seven Network in Australia featured The Ice Dream, a comedy miniseries presented by the double act of Roy and HG as a follow-up to The Dream—their series for the 2000 Summer Olympics.

The series featured a running gag of the duo proposing an Australian bid to hold the 2010 Winter Olympics in Smiggin Holes, New South Wales.

Ice rinks were very scarce in Utah, but they became plentiful and offered several entertainment and training opportunities for hockey players and figure skaters due to the Olympic Games.

"[87] According to the study "2002 Olympic Winter Games, Economic, Demographic and Fiscal Impacts", the estimated creation of new job years of employment was 35,424, and additional earnings of $1,544,203,000.

[citation needed][91] In 2017, an exploratory committee was formed to consider a Salt Lake City bid for a future Winter Olympics.

[93] In February 2022, amid the 2022 Winter Olympics and the 20th anniversary of the Games in Salt Lake City, the USOPC stated that it was "already in dialogue with the IOC, not yet for a specific year but as part of their evolving process", and acknowledged that there was "very high excitement and support from the local population.

"[94] In November 2023, the IOC recommended that Salt Lake City be invited to engage in "targeted dialogue" as preferred host for the 2034 Winter Olympics due to its reliance on private funding and existing infrastructure inherited from the 2002 Games.

[97] Athletes in cross-country skiing were disqualified for various reasons, including doping by two Russians and one Spaniard, leading Russia to file protests and threaten to withdraw from the competition.

Amid criticisms of the incident by both Canadian and American media outlets, and suspicions that this was part of a vote swapping scheme with Russia to benefit the French ice dance team, the International Skating Union (ISU) voted to suspend Le Gougne for failing to immediately inform officials of Gailhaguet's actions.

An IOC panel voted in favor of the motion, resulting in both Salé and Pelletier, as well as Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze, being jointly awarded gold medals.

[103][102][104] The South Korean team then appealed to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

[109] The controversy continued at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, held jointly in South Korea and Japan several months after the Olympics.

[110] When the South Korean soccer team scored a goal during the group stage match against the U.S. team, South Korean players Ahn Jung-Hwan and Lee Chun-Soo made an exaggerated move imitating the move Ohno had made during the speed skating event to imply the other athlete had drifted into his lane.