page_title: 2002 Winter Olympics
section_title: Opening ceremony
hierarchical_section_title: 2002 Winter Olympics / Opening ceremony
caption_attribution_description: An American Indian Chief during the opening ceremony of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games on February 8, 2002, in Salt Lake City, Utah.
context_page_description: The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002, was a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated from 8 to 24 February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States.
  2,399 athletes from 78 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout 165 sporting sessions. The 2002 Winter Olympics and the 2002 Paralympic Games were both organized by the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, the first time in Olympic and Paralympic history that both events were organized by a single committee. Utah became the fifth state in the United States to host the Olympic Games, after Missouri, New York, California, and Georgia. The 2002 Winter Olympics were the last Olympics to be held in the United States until the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. These were the first Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Jacques Rogge.
  The opening ceremony was held on February 8, 2002, and sporting competitions were held up until the closing ceremony on February 24, 2002. Production for both ceremonies was designed by Seven Nielsen, and music for both ceremonies was directed by Mark Watters.
context_section_description: Prior to the ceremony, the turf inside the stadium was removed and a giant, abstract shaped ice rink, designed by Seven Nielsen, was installed, covering a large part of the stadium floor. Performers would later perform on ice skates, rather than shoes.
  An American flag rescued from the World Trade Center Site on September 11 was carried into the stadium by an honor guard of American athletes and was carried in by firefighters and police officers from the NYPD, Port Authority Police, and FDNY. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, clad in white sweaters, performed The Star Spangled Banner, the U.S. national anthem, as the flag was raised. The parade of the 2,300 athletes was led by the Child of Light and began traditionally with Greece and ending with the host nation, the United States of America. As the artistic section kicked off, the five native Utah Native American tribes arrived together on horseback and performed several traditional "Welcome" stomp dances. The Dixie Chicks also performed.
  The beauty of the Utah landscape was showcased as huge puppets of native Utah animals, including a 15-foot-long bison and the American bald eagle (the national bird and animal of the U.S.), entered the stadium, as well as dancing pioneer settlers as two trains came together on, symbolizing the U.S. railroad industry which was beneficial to Utah's economy beginning in the 1860s, as well as economically linking the Western U.S. and the Eastern U.S. At the end of their performance, the performers unfurled a giant quilt that covered the entire stadium floor with the 2002 Winter Olympics logo in the center. Two figure skaters, Olympians Kristi Yamaguchi and Scott Hamilton performed on the oversized ice rink as "Light the Fire Within", the 2002 Winter Olympic's theme song was sung by LeAnn Rimes.
  After speeches by Jacques Rogge, President over the IOC and Mitt Romney, the CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, the Olympic flame, which had traveled 13,500 miles (21,700 km) was carried into the stadium by gold medalists Dorothy Hamill and Dick Button. They passed the flame to other pairs U.S. Olympic heroes, who either ran or skated their short relay. Gold medalists in Nagano 1998 Picabo Street and Cammi Granato carried the flame up the steps to the towering cauldron where they were met by Mike Eruzione, captain of the miracle on ice hockey team that won the Olympic gold medal in 1980. Eruzione summoned the other members of the team, who together lit the Olympic cauldron. The Opening Ceremony would win seven Emmy Awards.
  The President opened the Games standing among the US athletes, while previous heads of state opened the Games from an official box. NBC's Bob Costas applauded the move during the network's coverage of the Opening Ceremony.
  The official box was occupied by the President's Olympic delegation:
  Dorothy Koch, the President's sister
  Colin Powell, U.S. Department of State
  Mel Martinez, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
  Gale Ann Norton, U.S. Department of the Interior
  Tommy Thompson, Department of Health and Human Services
  Ann Veneman, U.S. Department of Agriculture
  Christine Todd Whitman, Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
  Hayden Fry, 2003 College Football Hall of Fame (University of Iowa head football coach)
  John Morris, Bass Pro Shops founder
  Cal Ripken, Jr., 2007 Baseball Hall of Fame (Baltimore Orioles shortstop)
  Sheryl Swoopes-Jackson, WNBA star
  Darrell Waltrip, 2012 NASCAR Hall of Fame (3-time NASCAR Cup Series champion)
caption: An American Indian Chief during the opening ceremony of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games on February 8, 2002, in Salt Lake City, Utah
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