Venues of the 2002 Winter Olympics through broadcasts from the stadium. The opening ceremony of the 2002 Winter Paralympics was also held in the stadium on March 7, 2002. The Salt Lake Olympic Square was located in downtown Salt Lake City, and was a four-block area open only to pedestrians during the 2002 games. The Olympic Square was home to two other venues, the Olympic Medals Plaza and the Salt Lake Ice Center. It also included the Olympic Superstore, which sold officially licensed products. The square also housed the Sponsor Showcases and featured live music, food, drink, and other activities including the Olympic Celebration Series concerts.
Winter Olympic Games only country to have earned a gold medal at every Winter Olympics is the United States. Norway leads the all-time medal table for the Winter Olympics both on number of gold and overall medals, followed by the United States, Germany, and the former Soviet Union. A predecessor, the Nordic Games, were organised by General Viktor Gustaf Balck in Stockholm, Sweden in 1901 and were held again in 1903 and 1905 and then every fourth year thereafter until 1926. Balck was a charter member of the IOC and a close friend of Olympic Games founder Pierre de Coubertin. He attempted to