Cyprus at the 2002 Winter Olympics in 1980. At the time of the Salt Lake City Olympics, no Cypriot athlete had ever won a medal. They would win their first medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics. This was their seventh appearance at a Winter Olympic Games. The 2002 Winter Olympics were held from 8–24 February 2002; a total of 2,399 athletes representing 77 National Olympic Committees took part. The only athlete sent by Cyprus to Salt Lake City was an alpine skier, Theodoros Christodoulou. He was the flag bearer for both the opening ceremony and the closing ceremony. Theodoros Christodoulou was 24 years old at the
2002 Winter Olympic bid scandal the International Olympic Committee Members and International Sport organizations. Despite their efforts, the 1998 Games went to Nagano, Japan, in a 46-to-42 vote. Many felt the reason was that the US had recently been awarded the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. Others, including Welch, believed it was because Nagano had better wined and dined the officials. A Salt Lake Olympic Bid Committee member complained about competing with the Japanese bid committee for the 1998 Olympic Winter Games: "We were giving out saltwater taffy and cowboy hats, and they were giving out computers. IOC members who came to inspect Nagano