Figure Skating Participation - Five large delegations are to be noted: Canada, China, United States, Russia and Ukraine. - High level of participation among the former republics of the USSR (9 NOCs out of the 4 present in Salt Lake City, 30% of the total number of participating athletes), underlining the important tradition of the soviet states in figure skating. - Georgia participated for the first time in this discipline at the Winter Olympics. - The participation of both sexes was relatively equal (73, and 7 wo, 28 NOCs each). - The majority of the main delegations had a similar number of male and female participants. - The number of athletes did not change much since the Nagano Games (45 participants in 998), although the overall number of NOCs decreased slightly (from 37 to 3). - By NOC, the greatest decrease between two Olympics was in the Kazakhstan delegation they presented 5 athletes in Nagano, but none in Salt Lake City. On the other hand, China increased its participation by 7 athletes between 998 and 2002. number of athletes 6 's participation wo's participation Participating NOC's in figure skating source : IOC Figure skating: a long standing tradition in NOCs emerging from the break-up of the USSR Results - In total, 6 NOCs won medals, and had finalists - Two NOCs in particular are noteworthy as being the only ones to win more than one medal, namely Russia and the United States (respectively 5 and 3 medals, with 4 finalists each). - These NOCs have traditionally dominated this discipline, with the exception that the Russians perform equally well in the mixed and individual events, which is not the case for the United States.
number of finalists 4 finalists wo mixte NOC with at least one finalist (rank 4 to 8) in figure skating Participating NOC's in figure skating Finalists: North America and Eastern Europe take the places Medals : a USA-Russia match - an old habit in this discipline number of medals medals wo mixte NOC with at least one medal in figure skating NOC with at least one finalist (rank 4 to 8) in figure skating Participating NOC's in figure skating 5 2
- These two alone (combining former USSR and United Team), took 42% of the medals of these entire Olympics. - Among the other medal-winning NOCs, Canada and France appeared regularly on the podium, while China proved to be an up and coming nation in this discipline, and Italy won its first medal at Winter Olympics. - Two NOCs, Bulgaria and Israel, obtained places in the finals for the first time. - In 998, six NOCs won medals, while 9 had finalists. - In Salt Lake City, the same NOCs were medal winners, with the exception that Italy took the place of Germany. - Japan demonstrated solid improvet (with two finalists, compared to none in 998), and these good results were confirmed with two medals at the World Championships held in Nagano shortly after the Salt Lake City Games. - France s performance was slightly less notable this time, with one medal and 2 finals places fewer than at Nagano in 998. Speed skating Participation - Quite a high level of participation (66 athletes) but concentrated on relatively few NOCs (23). - The majority of NOCs were European (7), but those from other continents (2 from North America, 4 from Asia) had large teams. number of athletes 20 9 's participation wo's participation Participating NOC's in speed skating source : IOC Speed skating: participation focused on a few delegations with high numbers of athletes 3
- Eight NOCs had large delegations (more than 2 athletes), and represented 7.7% of the total number of participants. - The majority of the NOCs participated with a small number of athletes; 6 NOCs had only one athlete. - Japan sent the largest delegation (with 20 athletes) and was the only NOC to present the maximum authorised number of athletes for the speed skating events (0 and 0 wo). - The Czech Republic took part for the first time, although Czechoslovakia had previously participated in the Olympic Games in this discipline with athletes in total. - There were more than wo (respectively 95 athletes versus 7, 20 NOCs vs 7). - The larger delegations, with the exceptions of Germany and particularly China, generally had an over-representation of. - Wo were present in every NOC with more than three athletes, with the surprising exception of Norway, a traditionally strong country in this discipline. - There was a slight decrease in participation between 998 and 2002 ( 3.5%, 2 NOCs fewer), but this overall figure hides a different reality between the two sexes. The level of male participation increased slightly (+3.3%), while wo s participation decreased (down by %). - The biggest increases in participation between Nagano and Salt Lake City were to be seen in the Italian team (+4 athletes), and the United States (+3), while the largest decreases were Russia (5 fewer athletes), Austria, Norway and Ukraine ( 3 each). Results - Despite the high number of medals on offer (30), only 6 NOCs were medal winners. - Three NOCs between them won 80% of the medals The United States, the Netherlands (more so among the ), and German (with a huge proportion of wo). - The finalist places were more widely distributed, although these same three NOCs managed to take 56% of the places. - Apart from the medal-winning NOCs, few others (only 5) placed in the finals. - With 8 medals and 2 finalists, the Netherlands were the best performing NOC in the Salt Lake City Games. They are the model of a NOC that is ultra specialised in one discipline (for historic reasons). - The hierarchy didn t change much since the Nagano Games. The six medal-winning NOCs in 2002 had also won in 998; only Belgium was no longer on the podium. - On the other hand, the distribution of medals between the NOCs is somewhat different. The Netherlands won three fewer medals than at Nagano, while the United States improved greatly, with 6 more medals. - With four finalists in 2002 (compared to none in Nagano), Russia also showed some improvet. - Germany and Austria each lost three finalist places compared to 998. - In total, as regards the finalists, 0 NOCs had places in 998 compared to in 2002. Belarussia, Italy and Russia appeared in Salt Lake City, while Austria and Kazakhstan were no longer present. 4
number of finalists 2 finalists wo NOC with at least one finalist (rank 4 to 8) in speed skating Participating NOC's in speed skating Finalists: high level of specialisation, few NOCs win places Medals: Germany, USA and Netherlands leave little room on the podium for the other NOCs NOC with at least one finalist (rank 4 to 8) in speed skating number of medals medals wo NOC with at least one medal in speed skating Participating NOC's in speed skating 8 5
Short track Participation - The level of participation was quite low (with only 04 athletes), but on the other hand, there were quite a large number of NOCs (26). - The geographical distribution of the participating NOCs is less dominated by Europe in short track than in speed skating, even though the Europeans still claim the majority. Asia, North America and to a lesser degree Oceania, are also relatively well represented. - Eight NOCs sent large delegations (7 to 9 athletes), while 0 NOCs had only one athlete. - Six NOCs participated for the first time in this discipline, namely Belarussia, Hong Kong, Israel, Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia. - There were more male participants than females (55 athletes vs 49, 0 NOCs vs 7). - All the major delegations were mixed, with the exception of Australia and Belgium, composed exclusively of male athletes. - The level of participation in short track increased between 998 and 2002 (+4%, more notably 8 NOCs more), without any real difference between and wo. - The greatest increases in participation by NOC between Nagano and Salt Lake City were Hungary (7 more athletes), Bulgaria and Belgium (4 more athletes each). - The most notable decreases were in the delegations from the People s Democratic Republic of Korea (6 athletes less), although it should be noted that this NOC was absent in Salt Lake City; the Netherlands also had a notable decrease, with four fewer competitions. - This year, this latter NOC, a country where the practice of speed skating is a long-standing tradition, and very popular, has not as of yet appeared to be able to make a permanent mark on this discipline. number of athletes 9 's participation wo's participation Participating NOC's in short track source : IOC Short track: overwhelming presence of the Far East 6
number of finalists NOC with at least one finalist (rank 4 to 8) in short track finalists wo Participating NOC's in short track Finalists: No sign of the Europeans 6 Medals: North America () and Asia (wo) share the medals number of medals medals wo 7 NOC with at least one medal in short track NOC with at least one finalist (rank 4 to 8) in short track Participating NOC's in short track 7
Results - Seven NOCs shared the total of 24 medals, which shows that this discipline would appear to be more accessible than speed skating. - Only two medal-winning NOCs were European; the best performing NOCs were from Asia (China and Korea) and North America (Canada and the United States). - The distribution of the medals by sex would seem to follow a geographic tendency: the majority of the wo s medals were won by Asian NOCs, while the s medals were mainly won by North Americans. - The distribution of the finalists confirms the domination of these NOCs (to which Japan can also be added), but this time, the opposite sex compared to the medals (the United States wo s team are nonetheless slightly weaker). This NOC took a large proportion of the awards. - Bulgaria won its first medals in this discipline (and also its first finalist places). - Few other NOCs won places in the finals (only 4), apart from those who won medals. - Apart from the two NOCs from North America, the major speed-skating nations were virtually absent from short track (Germany, Norway, Netherlands...). - In 998, only 4 NOCs won medals, and had finalists. The extra medal-winning NOCs in Salt Lake City were Australia, Bulgaria, the United States, and Italy, while Japan won no medals this time round. - Short track is a relatively recent discipline in the programme of the Winter Olympic Games, (introduced in 992), and it seems to be attracting more and more NOCs and participants. It s quite spectacular (often with very unpredictable results) and has the advantage of being performed in a normal skating rink, which makes it much more accessible to a large number of countries, contrary to speed skating, which requires very specialised and expensive infrastructures. It is quite likely that this discipline will continue to develop and become more and more popular in the Winter Olympics programme. Ice hockey Participation - Ice hockey brought together the largest number of athletes (486), but only 6 NOCs. - The European NOCs were most numerous (2). - Ukraine participated for the first time, and Latvia for only the second time (they had participated once before in 936). - There were only half as many wo as. There were two main reasons for this: a lower number of teams (8 for the wo, 4 for the ), as well as a lower total number of authorised athletes per team for the wo than for the (20 vs 23). - The geographical distribution of the wo s teams was wider: 4 in Europe, 2 in North America and 2 in Asia (in fact, there was no s team from Asia at all). - With the exception of the Czechs, the major nations from s hockey also dominated the wo s competition. - Compared to 998, the number of female athletes increased due to the introduction of 2 extra teams, while the total number of male athletes remained unchanged. 8
number of athletes 45 20 's participation wo's participation Participating NOC's in ice hockey source : IOC Ice hockey: Level of wo s participation distributed better geographically (despite 6 less teams) - The same NOCs could be found in both Games, as the world leaders in this sport hadn t changed: Latvia, Switzerland and the Ukraine took the places of Italy, Japan and Kazakhstan in the s competition, with this latter NOC present also in the wo s competition, along with Germany and Russia. - Japan, host country of the 998 Winter Olympics and therefore automatically qualified, was absent from the ice hockey events in 2002 in both the wo s and s competitions. Results - The way the ice hockey competitions are organised means that it doesn t really mean very much to have a place in the finals. Indeed, there were only 8 wo s teams, so by definition, all were at least finalists. And for the s competitions, 6 teams (historically the best teams, or those with the most players in the North-American professional league, the NHL), qualified automatically from the outset for the final phase of the eight-team tournat. Only 2 other teams completed the competition, and these came from the qualifying rounds (in Salt Lake City, these teams were Germany, and Belarussia, which finally finished a brilliant fourth). - Canada and the United States managed the feat of winning medals in both the s and the wo s competitions (they faced each other in both finals, with the same result in each). The success of these two NOCs in the wo s competition reflects their constant domination of this sport since the creation of the first international competitions (990 for the World Championships). Their presence on the podium of the s competitions, however, was less systematic, as the competition is much more fierce. - Russia completed the podium in the s competitions (these three NOCs have won the most medals over the whole history of the Olympics, taking into account the ex-ussr and the Unified Team). 9
number of finalists 2 finalists wo NOC with at least one finalist (rank 4 to 8) in ice hockey Participating NOC's in ice hockey Finalists: Good performance by Belarussia Medals: North America s revenge on Europe NOC with at least one finalist (rank 4 to 8) in ice hockey number of medals medals wo 2 NOC with at least one medal in ice hockey Participating NOC's in ice hockey 0
- In the wo s competition, Sweden took third place. This was their first medal in wo s ice hockey at the Winter Olympics (they have never won a medal at the World Championships), but this was only the second edition of this event. - Compared to 998, the major NOC to lose out was Finland, double medal-winner in Nagano, but winning nothing in Salt Lake City. - Also noteworthy was the Czech Republic who lost their Olympic title, and the relative failure of Slovakia. This latter NOC, silver medal winners at the World Championships in 2000, finished second last (3th place), but unlike the six main teams, their players weren t able to get away from the NHL so easily. The clubs and directors of the NHL did not seem to have fully accepted the Olympic Games and the potential benefits, particularly in terms of international renown that they could gain from them (in fact, their participation in the Olympic Games is regularly called into question). Curling Participation - This team sport had been only recently introduced into the programme of the Winter Olympics (reintroduced in 998), and the number of participants was relatively limited (00 participants and 2 NOCs). - The participation was concentrated in three main geographical areas: North America, the Alpine countries and Scandinavia. Two other NOCs were also present: Great Britain, traditionally a leading nation in curling, and Russia (who participated for the first time in this sport, as did Finland, while France had already participated once before in 924 in Chamonix). number of athletes 0 5 's participation wo's participation Participating NOC's in curling source : IOC Curling: Both and wo from many NOCs participate IOC / noc dpt- cerso - 2002
number of finalists 2 finalists wo NOC with at least one finalist (rank 4 to 8) in curling Participating NOC's in curling Finalists: only France and Russia don t make it Medals: Canada and Switzerland perform well in both events number of medals 2 medals wo NOC with at least one medal in curling NOC with at least one finalist (rank 4 to 8) in curling Participating NOC's in curling 2
- The majority of the NOCs were present in both the wo s and the s competitions (8 NOCs out of 2). - The level of participation increased 25% compared to 998 (20 athletes more), due to the addition of two extra teams in the wo s and s competitions. - The NOCs present in Nagano were also represented in Salt Lake City, with three NOCs more: Finland, France and Russia. Results - In a tournat where only 0 teams participate, a place among the finalists is not particularly significant. The selection of the better teams is done in advance, at the qualifying competitions. - Only 2 participating NOCs were not among the first 8 of these Games, namely France and Russia. - Canada and Switzerland won medals in the s and wo s competitions. Norway and Great Britain completed the podium. - Three of these NOCs had already won medals in 998. Only Great-Britain was a newcomer among the medal-winners. -On the other hand, Denmark and Sweden, both medal-winners in 998, were not on the podium in Salt Lake City. 3