After the 9/11 attacks, organizers of the 2002 Winter Olympics — held just five months later — considered keeping fans away amid worries about terrorism, and perhaps merely televising events with no one in the stands.
Also, many countries said they feared for the safety of their athletes and were reluctant to send them, forcing the Salt Lake Organizing Committee to work hard to calm their worries — an effort that included private briefings in Utah to share secret intelligence plans.
Those little-known activities leading up to the Salt Lake Olympics were revealed in recent days as some of the event organizers remembered 9/11 on its 17th anniversary.