When the Olympic Flame arrives in Salt Lake City, Utah, to inaugurate the 2002 Winter Games, it will have traveled roughly 22,500 kilometers through more than 40 states. For many people in Salt Lake City, though, the most difficult journey was completed in 1995. That was when their city was selected as the site of the 19th Winter Games.

The selection was a culmination of three decades of effort. During this time, Salt Lake City had been chosen to represent the United States three times. It lost out twice to Japanese cities, and once to Innsbruck, Austria.

More than a million people are expected to descend on Salt Lake City for the 2002 Winter Games. This is a far cry from 1924, when the Winter Games were not much more than a tack-on to the (Summer) Olympics.

The Winter Olympic Games became official in 1928. They have been held every four years since, with the exceptions of 1940 and 1944. By 1988, the Winter Games had become so popular that IOC officials decided to hold the Winter and Summer Games in different years.

This year, 2,345 men and women from 80 nations will compete for medals in events ranging from figure skating to snowboarding. The most popular event, though, is expected to be the spectacle of the opening ceremonies when an estimated 3.5 billion people will tune in.

1. culmination n. 全盛

2. far cry phr. 遙遠的距離，大不同的事物

3. spectacle n. 奇觀

4. tune in phr.v. 收看（電視轉播的）頻道

到奧運圣火抵達猶他州的鹽湖城為2002年的冬季奧運會揭幕的時候，它將已經穿過了40多個州，橫跨大約22, 500公里。然而，對于鹽湖城的許多居民來說，最艱難的一段旅程，在1995年就已經走完了。那一年，鹽湖城當選為第十九屆冬季奧運會的主會場。

這次當選是30年來努力的結果。30年來，鹽湖城三次代表美國爭取主辦權，其中兩次敗給了日本的城市，一次敗給了奧地利的因斯布魯克。

預計將會有一百多萬人涌入鹽湖城觀看2002年的冬季奧運會。和1924年的冬運會相比，可以說是天壤之別，那個時候，冬運會不過是（夏季）奧運會的附屬品而已。

1928年，冬季奧運會正式開始舉行。從那以后，除了1940年和1944年（因二次世界大戰）停辦之外，冬運會每4年舉辦一屆。到1988年，冬季奧運會受到了普遍的歡迎，國際奧委會于是決定（自1994年起）將冬運會和夏季奧運會分別在不同的年份舉辦。

今年，來自80個國家的2345位男女運動員將角逐花樣滑冰、滑板滑雪等項目的獎牌。然而，最受矚目的一項應該是開幕式的壯觀場景，估計屆時將有35億觀眾收看電視轉播節目。