Australia at the 2002 Winter Olympics Australia with its second gold medal for the games. Steven Bradbury won Australia's and the Southern Hemisphere's first Winter Olympics gold medal in the 1000 metres event. Richard Goerlitz also attended these games, but did not compete. Australia at the 2002 Winter Olympics Australia competed at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, winning its first two gold medals in the Winter Games. It was the nation's best performance at the Winter Games prior to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Australia's first ever Winter Olympic gold, also the first such medal won by a competitor
Winter Olympic Games independent appearances for the first time since before World War II. At 16 years old, Finnish ski jumper Toni Nieminen made history by becoming the youngest male Winter Olympic champion. New Zealand skier Annelise Coberger became the first Winter Olympic medallist from the southern hemisphere when she won a silver medal in the women's slalom. The 1994 Winter Olympics, held in Lillehammer, Norway, were the first Winter Games to be held separately from the Summer Games. This change resulted from the decision reached in the 91st IOC Session (1986) to separate the Summer and Winter Games and place them in