| Salt Lake City |
 |
 |
| GER |
12 |
16 |
7 |
35 |
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| USA |
10 |
13 |
11 |
34 |
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| NOR |
11 |
7 |
6 |
24 |
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| CAN |
6 |
3 |
8 |
17 |
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| RUS |
6 |
6 |
4 |
16 |
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| AUT |
2 |
4 |
10 |
16 |
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| ITA |
4 |
4 |
4 |
12 |
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| FRA |
4 |
5 |
2 |
11 |
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| SUI |
3 |
2 |
6 |
11 |
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| NED |
3 |
5 |
0 |
8 |
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Love is still a most popular event
By Angie Welling and Lucinda Dillon Kinkead
Deseret News staff writers
Love is in the air — mixed and mingled with the fierce essence of competition from these Winter Olympic Games.
It seems love and the Olympics do fit together like a horse and carriage if Thursday Valentine's Day celebrations in Salt Lake City were any indication.
Police officers standing sentinel handed out heart-shaped "Kiss Me" suckers, and couples, apparently heeding the advice, embraced in the street.
At the University of Utah's Olympic Village, Jackie Williams and Lisa Parson sold roses to a steady stream of people at the Village Hallmark store.
"We're busily taking care of Valentine's Day requests from the athletes and officials and everyone else in the Village," Williams said. "It's been very exciting."
About 50 athletes had come into the store before 5 p.m. to buy flowers for their sweeties. Dozens more had purchased cards.
Downtown, eight couples renewed their wedding vows in a special Thursday afternoon ceremony at Olympic Square.
Jennifer and Daaron Bleyl were the picture of romance and Olympic spirit at the Coca-Cola Pin Trading center. Jennifer perched her white veil atop her pin-covered Olympic hat and clutched a bouquet of long-stemmed red roses and a Winter Games 2002 flag.
"It's a very special way to bring in Valentine's Day and celebrate the Olympics at the same time," she said.
Salt Lake Organizing Committee volunteer Marty Furmanski and his wife, Rene, also joined the crowd. "I just thought it was something fun to do," Marty said. "I never thought in a million years we'd do something like this."
A black bow tie completed Marty's wedding day attire of his SLOC vest and ski pants, while Rene's veil was the perfect complement to her white "Team USA" sweatsuit.
Rather than rings, the couples exchanged official 2002 Valentine's Day/Coca-Cola pins.
Lincoln DeWitt, a member of the U.S. men's skeleton team, was on hand to serve as official "pin-bearer."
"They were looking for an Olympian that had a sweetheart around, and I qualified," DeWitt said, clutching the hand of his fiancee, Linda Sanders.
The Olympic couple didn't have big plans for the rest of the day. DeWitt headed back to Olympic Village and Sanders was on her way back to work.
"But he did pick me up with a dozen red roses," Sanders said. "That was romantic."
And Games planners didn't forget the unattached fans in Thursday's celebrations.
At the Samsung Olympic Rendezvous inside Olympic Square, six lucky bachelors and bachelorettes joined in a round of "The Dating Game" with U.S. snowboarders Ross Powers and Tricia Byrnes.
Questions like "If you had a signature snowboarding trick named after you, what would it be?" and "If you were part of a two-man luge team and could pick anyone as your partner, who would it be?" kept audience members and participants entertained.
Amy Murray, Minnesota, and Adam Egbert, Smithville, Utah, didn't actually win a date with the Olympians. Instead, it was a new cellular phone, photos, autographs and tickets to Thursday's night celebration at the Olympic Medals Plaza.
But in the spirit of Olympic romance, Egbert did say he would invite Byrnes to join him at the Sheryl Crow concert.
E-mail: awelling@desnews.com; lucy@desnews.com
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February 15, 2002
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