SALT LAKE CITY?After nearly a decade of preparation, Utah’s 40 days of welcoming the world came to a conclusion with the Closing Ceremony of the 2002 Paralympic Winter Games.

Mitt Romney said that thanks to the Paralympics brisk ticket sales, SLOC was able to spend more than planned on the Paralympics and the fireworks finale and the decorations around the venues.

Romney reported that some 88 percent of the 240,000 tickets available to the Paralympics were sold for a total of $2.5 million, $300,000 more than budgeted. SLOC also made $3 million more from the sale of Olympic tickets than the $180 million budgeted.