The Winter Olympic Games is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held in Chamonix, France. The modern Olympic Games were inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894, leading to the first modern Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in 1896. The IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure and authority.
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002, was an international winter multi-sport event that was held from February 8 to 24, 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States.
Short track speed skating at the 2002 Winter Olympics was held from 13 to 23 February. Eight events were contested at Salt Lake Ice Center. Two new events were added for these games, with the men's and women's 1500 metres making debuts.
Short-track speed skating is a form of competitive ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters skate on an oval ice track with a length of 111.111 metres (364.54 ft). The rink itself is 60 metres (196.85 ft) long by 30 metres (98.43 ft) wide, which is the same size as an Olympic-sized figure skating rink and an international-sized ice hockey rink. Related sports include long track speed skating and inline speed skating.
Long-track speed skating, usually simply referred to as speed skating, is the Olympic discipline of speed skating where competitors are timed while crossing a set distance. It is also a sport for leisure. Sports such as ice skating marathon, short track speedskating, inline speedskating, and quad speed skating are also called speed skating.
Shani Earl Davis is an American former speed skater.
Jeremy Lee Wotherspoon is a Canadian speed skater, widely recognized as one of the greatest speedskating sprinters of all time.
Peaks Ice Arena is an indoor ice hockey and figure skating arena in Provo, Utah, located 43 miles (69 km) south of Salt Lake City. Along with the Maverik Center in West Valley City, it was built as an ice hockey and figure skating practice venue for the 2002 Winter Olympics. It currently serves as the home of the BYU Cougars men's ice hockey team, Peaks Youth Hockey Association, several high school teams, the Peaks Figure Skating Club, and a Learn-to-Skate USA program for beginning skaters of all ages.
Christine Diane Witty is an American speed skater and racing cyclist and participated in the Olympic Games in both sports.
Speed skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics was held over ten days, from 11 to 25 February. Twelve events were contested at the Oval Lingotto.
Bob Johannes Carolus de Jong is a Dutch former speed skater who specialized in long distances: five and ten kilometers.
Kristina Nicole Groves is a Canadian retired speed skater. She is Canada's most decorated skater in the World Single Distances Championships with 13 career medals in this event. She won four Olympic medals: she won two silver medals at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, in the 1,500 meters and team pursuit, and she won the silver medal in the 1500 m event and the bronze medal in the 3000 m event at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.
Christine Nesbitt is a Canadian retired long track speed skater who currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia. She won the gold medal in the 1000 metres event at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. She had previously won a silver medal in the team pursuit at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. She is also the 2011 sprint champion, 2012 1500 metres world champion, three-time world champion for 1000 metres, and three-time world champion for team pursuit. On 4 June 2015 she announced her retirement.
The Richmond Olympic Oval is an indoor multi-sports arena in the Canadian city of Richmond, British Columbia. The oval was built for the 2010 Winter Olympics and was originally configured with a speed skating rink. The venue has since been reconfigured and now serves as a community multi-sport park and includes two ice hockey rinks, two running tracks, a climbing wall, a rowing tank and a flexible area which can be used for, among other sports, basketball, volleyball, indoor soccer and table tennis.
The Utah Olympic Oval is an indoor speed skating oval located 14 miles (23 km) southwest of Salt Lake City, in Kearns, Utah. The Oval was built for the 2002 Winter Olympics and it hosted the long track speed skating events for the 2002 games. Inside the facility the 400 meter skating track surrounds two international sized ice sheets, and is itself surrounded by a 442 meter running track. Due to its high altitude, 4,675 feet (1,425 m), and the associated low air resistance, ten Olympic records and nine world records were set at the Oval during the 2002 games, the largest number of world records ever set at one event.
The Ice Sheet at Ogden, also known as the Weber County Ice Sheet, is located 35 miles (56 km) north of Salt Lake City on the campus of Weber State University in Ogden. The Ice Sheet opened in 1994 as a recreational training center for curling, ice hockey, and figure skating. During the 2002 Winter Olympics the Ice Sheet hosted the curling events. The Ice Sheet is also home to the Ogden Mustangs, a junior ice hockey team in the United States Premier Hockey League and Weber State University's men's hockey team.
Ted-Jan Bloemen is a Dutch-Canadian long track speed skater. He started competing for the Canadian national speed skating team during the 2014–15 season, but prior to that he competed for the Netherlands in international competitions. Bloemen primarily competes in the long-distance events as well as the team pursuit event. He is a former world record holder for the 5,000 m (6:01.86), set in Salt Lake City, and the Olympic record holder for the 10,000 m (12:39.77), set winning gold at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. Bloemen also won a silver medal in the 5,000 m at the Pyeongchang Olympics, the first Canadian male to medal in the distance since 1932. He has won a silver in 10,000 m and one bronze and silver in the team pursuit at the World Speed Skating Championships.
Derek Parra is an American inline skater and speed skater from San Bernardino, California, who graduated from Eisenhower High School in Rialto, California, in 1988. Parra won two medals at the 2002 Winter Olympics, held in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The 2002 Winter Olympic Games were held in and around Salt Lake City, United States from February 8 to 24, 2002, and the Paralympics from March 7 to 16, 2002. The sporting events were held in ten competitive venues, while non-competitive events, such as the opening ceremony, were held in six other venues. Three venues were also created for training purposes. All Olympic venues were scattered throughout Northern Utah.
