Venues of the 2002 Winter Olympics College; others suggested the Games' Closing Ceremony could be held at Brigham Young University's Cougar Stadium. After the 1989 Olympic referendum passed, and Salt Lake City lost its 1991 bid to host the 1998 Winter Olympics, the Utah Sports Authority and Provo City decided to wait until Salt Lake City bid again for the 2002 Winter Olympics before beginning construction on the arena. After Salt Lake City won the 2002 Olympic bid in 1995, planning began again for what venue Utah County would host, and an Ice Sheet was decided upon. On September 17, 1997 ground was broken for construction
Winter Olympic Games competition at the age of 15. She became the youngest Olympic champion in history, a distinction she held for 70 years. The next Winter Olympics held in Lake Placid, New York, was the first to be hosted outside of Europe. Seventeen nations and 252 athletes participated. This was less than in 1928, as the journey to Lake Placid, United States, was long and expensive for most competitors, who had little money in the midst of the Great Depression. The athletes competed in fourteen events in four sports. Virtually no snow fell for two months before the Games, and there was