Speed skating at the 2002 Winter Olympics – Men's 1500 metres Speed skating at the 2002 Winter Olympics – Men's 1500 metres The men's 1500 m speed skating competition for the 2002 Winter Olympics was held in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. In reverse order of the 5000 metres, Jochem Uytdehaage first broke the world record, only to see it bettered by Derek Parra, who won the third US skating gold of the Games. He was the first Mexican-American to medal in a winter sport. Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows. The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
Winter Olympic Games than 2.5 million people Vancouver is the largest metropolitan area to ever host a Winter Olympic Games. Over 2,500 athletes from 82 countries participated in 86 events. The death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili in a training run on the day of the opening ceremonies resulted in the Whistler Sliding Centre changing the track layout on safety grounds. Norwegian cross-country skier Marit Bjørgen won five medals in the six cross-country events on the women's programme. She finished the Olympics with three golds, a silver and a bronze. For the first time, Canada won a gold medal at an Olympic Games