One word triggered it all.
"Salt."IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch said "Salt" and 50,000 people crammed together on the grounds of the Salt Lake City-County Building went crazy.
The roar went on for minutes. Gold streamers emblazoned with the date and place - June 16, 1995. Salt Lake City 2002 - soared from canons fired by American Fork High School Band members. Beach balls bounded from the stage. The Joe Muscolino Band launched into a rousing version of the Beach Boys' hit "Fun, Fun, Fun," with lyrics especially adapted for the occasion.
Suddenly this was the party of the century, just as billed. The celebration continues through Saturday evening, when Utah residents who led the bid will return home to officially present the Games to the state.
Now, nearly 30 years after Utah first sought the Winter Olympic Games, residents are rejoicing that this will be the place in 2002.
Friday morning's festivities started as Olympic gold medalist Tommy Moe carried a hand torch in the midst of a parade of flag-waving children. As he made his way to the stage, a murmur of anticipation swept through 50,000 Utahns gathered at the City-County Building.
Moe mounted a platform and dipped his flame into a symbolic version of the Olympic torch.
"All right, Salt Lake City," Moe yelled.
It was just the beginning.
Football star Steve Young helped work the crowd into a frenzy as it waited for the announcement, leading a chant of "Salt Lake City 2002." He told residents he knew this feeling; it was a Super Bowl moment, he said.
"We're mature, right? We've already been rejected," Young said. "You know the 49ers. We've been rejected. Then what happened, huh?"
Moments later Samaranch, in a worldwide live broadcast from Budapest, Hungary, announced Salt Lake City would host the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. Utah's capital city has reached the ranks of cities deemed capable of hosting an international, world-class festival and sporting event.
No one seemed anxious to leave the party. Broad grins were everywhere. People wrapped themselves in remnants of gold streamers. Booths selling 2002 memorabilia were swamped.
At the corner of 400 South and State Street people posed for pictures in front of the Olympic countdown sign, which bore a big, black zero.
Angie Chynoweth, Salt Lake City, wanted a picture of daughter Chandley, 2, in front of the sign to show her seven years from now.
"I'm very excited," Chynoweth said. "I started to cry and we jumped up and down. It was just overwhelming. I know the Olympic committee worked so hard and it's just exciting we got it."
Two blocks away at the office of the Salt Lake Bid Committee - now called the Salt Lake Organizing Committee - volunteers celebrated a wonderful end to a hard-fought campaign.
"I don't think we got through screaming when the telephones started ringing," said volunteer Jeff Haney.
One earnest reporter from the BBC planned ahead. He called the committee office 10 minutes before the announcement scheduled for 11:20 a.m. Rather than risk a busy signal later, the reporter asked to hold on the line.
The office received calls from media around the world seeking information and reaction to the announcement. And then there was the call from the White House, seeking a list of committee members' names.
Not long after, Vice President Al Gore heaped praise on the Salt Lake committee.
"Your hard work over such a long period of time has paid off in spades . . .. All I can say is good things come to those who wait," Gore said in a telephone call broadcast at the City-County Building.
President Clinton sent congratulations from the Halifax economic summit.
"It is a great thing for the Western part of the United States and indeed for our whole country," Clinton said.
The quiet, stately halls of Congress erupted with raucous cheering and high-fives from Utah offices when Salt Lake City won the bid.
Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, was so excited he nearly jogged "with quite a spring in my step" to the Senate chamber to break the news to colleagues in a semi-breathless speech.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, was the only member of the delegation who flew to Budapest for the announcement. Like Bennett, the rest basked in the news at home.
Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Utah, said "the Olympic message of `excellence, fair play and tolerance' could not be better demonstrated than it is in Utah."
Rep. Enid Waldhotz, R-Utah, said Utah has the "perfect site in terms of venues, mountains and just the entire package."
A cautionary note came from Rep. Bill Orton, D-Utah, who called hosting the Games a "tremendous opportunity" but said the state needs to ensure the Games won't burden taxpayers or wreck the environment.
Praise for the bid committee also came from LeRoy T. Walker, president of the U.S. Olympic Committee.
"No city prepared more completely than Salt Lake City, no bid was more thorough and detailed, and at all times, the athletes of the world were the principal focal point of the effort," Walker said.
A promise of support came from leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"The Church will cooperate with state and city officials in their efforts to be hospitable hosts of the 2002 Winter Olympics," said the statement from President Gordon B. Hinckley and his counselors, President Thomas S. Monson and President James E. Faust.
Leaders of other local churches said hosting the Winter Olympics gives the state a rare opportunity to open its doors to the world.
"It is our hope that we use this opportunity as we prepare for the Olympics to build bonds of love and community among ourselves in working for a common cause," said Vicar General Monsignor J. Terrence Fitzgerald of the Diocese of Salt Lake. "I think the announcement that the Olympics will come here in 2002 is an opportunity to show off and share the great wealth that is ours in the state."
Bishop George Niederauer is attending the National Conference of Bishops in Chicago.
Rabbi Fredrick Wenger said he was "proud that Salt Lake City will be the host city for the Olympics and looks forward to working with the community" to bring the Games together.
The pledge of help is coming from all corners of the state.
Jeri Cartwright, of the Salt Lake Visitors and Convention Bureau, said calls poured into the organizing committee's office from people offering congratulations and wanting to sign up as volunteers.
"People need to be patient, let the committee get over jet lag and get organized," she said.
The committee estimates it will need the help of 30,000 volunteers in staging the 2002 Winter Games. Cartwright said a data bank of volunteers will likely be set up within a month or so.
Far from the madding crowd at the City-County Building - Bill and Nada's Cafe, to be exact - the talk about the Olympics was quieter but still enthusiastic.
One customer at the counter told a waitress he'd heard Salt Lake City had won the bid. That's good, he said, it will change Utah for the better.
Ferris Atwood, of AGL Development in Salt Lake City, sipped an afternoon cup of coffee and exulted in the state's success.
"I love it," he said. AG, a construction firm, owns rental apartments and houses throughout the valley. "We've been having a 90 percent rental as it is. This is bound to help," Atwood said, marveling over the amount of construction hosting the bid will trigger.
Salt Lake County will be among the entities benefiting from hosting the Winter Olympic Games seven years from now.
County Commissioner Brent Overson estimates the county will reap $4 million renting out the convention center it is building on West Temple. Plans call for an international media center to be based there during the Games, Overson said.
Overson said the celebration at the City-County Building was "tremendous. My heart stopped. There was a lot of hard work on the part of a lot of people and it paid off."
But not all Utahns are enthralled about inviting the world to celebrate athletic prowess here in 2002 and some fear the effects of a rush to cash in on Olympic gold.
A handful of protesters braved the Olympic-crazed crowds at the City-County Building to air their views. They carried signs with slogans such as "No place is the place for ego, greed and waste."
"We've had a minor setback this morning, have you heard?" said Steve Pace, a spokesman for Utahns for Responsible Public Spending, a vocal Olympic opponent.
The group is circulating petitions statewide calling for a referendum in 1996.
Pace called for Gov. Mike Leavitt to immediately organize an oversight committee to ensure the Games are managed carefully and fairly. He fears bid insiders will get the bulk of Olympic bounty.
"When a no-bid contract goes to an Olympic insider, we'll be there," Pace said. "When a million-dollar taxpayer guaranteed salary goes to an Olympic organizer, we'll be there too."
Alexis Kelner, another Olympic foe, predicts "Denver deja vu all over." A referendum led by opponents in that state forced Denver to withdraw its name as host for the 1976 Winter Games.
If the sentiment that swept the grounds of the City-County Building Friday shows anything, it's that such views aren't widely shared.
Organizing Committee spokesman Bob Hunter said residents need to have some faith now in the team that will plan the coming Winter Games.
"We made some promises to the IOC and those were we would put facilities in place to train athletes," Hunter said. "We did that, and because we did that they've put their faith in us.
"We also need to keep our faith with the people, that the people shouldn't shoulder the burden of this, that we would use the Olympics as an environmental enhancement tool and also that we would involve the people of Utah in these Games," he said. "Just as we kept our promises with the IOC, we will keep these promises with the people of Utah and make these the best Games ever."