Winter Olympic Games records were set in speed skating largely due to the introduction of the clap skate. The 2002 Winter Olympics were held in Salt Lake City, United States, hosting 77 nations and 2,399 athletes in 78 events in 7 sports. These Games were the first to take place since the September 11 attacks of 2001, which meant a higher degree of security to avoid a terrorist attack. The opening ceremony saw signs of the aftermath of the events of that day, including the flag that flew at Ground Zero, NYPD officer Daniel Rodríguez singing "God Bless America", and honour guards of
Winter Olympic Games to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, and the host of the 2026 Winter Olympics will be selected on June 23rd, 2019. , no city in the southern hemisphere has applied to host the cold-weather-dependent Winter Olympics, which are held in February at the height of the southern hemisphere summer. To date, twelve countries have participated in every Winter Olympic Games – Austria, Canada, Finland, France, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States. Six of those countries have earned medals at every Winter Olympic Games – Austria, Canada, Finland, Norway, Sweden and the United States. The