2018 Winter Olympics the country overall, after the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. It was the third time that an East Asian country had hosted the Winter Games, after Sapporo (1972) and Nagano (1998), both in Japan. It was also the first of three consecutive Olympics to be held in East Asia, the other two being the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The Games featured 102 events over fifteen disciplines in seven sports, with the addition of "big air" snowboarding, mass start speed skating, mixed doubles curling, and mixed team alpine skiing to the Winter Olympic
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