The Amazing Race 2

The Amazing Race 2 is the second season of the American reality competition show The Amazing Race. Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it featured 11 teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationship, competing in a race around the world. This season visited five continents and eight countries, traveling approximately over 13 legs. Filming took place between January 7 and February 3, 2002. Starting in Pahrump, Nevada, racers traveled through Brazil, South Africa, Namibia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand before returning to the United States, traveling through Hawaii and Alaska, and finishing in the San Francisco Bay Area. The season premiered on CBS on March 11, 2002, and concluded on May 15, 2002.
Lifelong friends Chris Luca and Alex Boylan were the winners of this season, while estranged couple Tara Lynch and Wil Steger finished in second place, and siblings Blake and Paige Mycoskie finished in third place.

Overview

The Amazing Race is a reality television show created by Bertram van Munster and Elise Doganieri, and hosted by Phil Keoghan. The series follows teams of two competing in a race around the world. Each leg of the race requires teams to deduce clues, navigate foreign environments, interact with locals, perform physical and mental challenges, and travel on a limited budget provided by the show. At each stop during the leg, teams receive clues inside sealed envelopes, which fall into one of these categories:

Route Info: These are simple instructions that teams must follow before they can receive their next clue.
Detour: A Detour is a choice between two tasks. Teams may choose either task and switch tasks if they find one option too difficult. There is usually one Detour present on each leg.
Roadblock: A Roadblock is a task that only one team member can complete. Teams must choose which member will complete the task based on a brief clue they receive before fully learning the details of the task. There is usually one Roadblock present on each leg.
Fast Forward: A Fast Forward is a task that only one team may complete, which allows that team to skip all remaining tasks on the leg and go directly to the next Pit Stop. Teams may only claim one Fast Forward during the entire race.

Most teams that arrive last at the Pit Stop of each leg are progressively eliminated, while the first team to arrive at the finish line in the final episode wins the grand prize of US$1,000,000.

Production

The second season of The Amazing Race traveled 52,000 miles, spanning five continents and eight countries. Casting for the second season began during the summer of 2001, before the first season premiered. Casting finals were taking place in Los Angeles in September during the September 11 attacks. Location scouting took place during September 2001, but was paused for a month and a half following the September 11 attacks. Legs in Europe were excluded this season due to fears about subsequent attacks, and connecting flights through countries including India, Israel, and Nigeria were prohibited. Producers had also planned a leg in Argentina during pre-production, but cancelled it due to Argentina's political instability after its economy failed. Filming ultimately lasted 28 days between January 7, 2002, and February 3, 2002. Teams raced through eight countries, six of which were new to the series: Brazil, South Africa, Namibia, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand.
The edition marked the debut of several show traditions. The color scheme for all route markers and flags was changed to yellow and red after the previous season's yellow and white. In addition, host Phil Keoghan and a local greeter welcomed all teams arriving at the Pit Stops at the end of each leg. Previously, Keoghan had appeared only to greet the last-place teams. Teams were also required to read their clues out loud on camera; this was optional for teams in the previous season.

Contestants

Eleven teams participated in the second season of The Amazing Race.

Contestants	Age	Relationship	Hometown	Status
	51	Mother & Daughter	Miami, Florida	Eliminated 1st '
	23	Mother & Daughter	Brooklyn, New York	Eliminated 1st '
	38	Married Parents	Clinton, Tennessee	Eliminated 2nd '
	39	Married Parents	Clinton, Tennessee	Eliminated 2nd '
	63	Grandmothers	Truckee, California	Eliminated 3rd '
	65	Grandmothers	Los Gatos, California	Eliminated 3rd '
	27	Twins	Albany, New York	Eliminated 4th '
	27	Twins	Albany, New York	Eliminated 4th '
	45	Pastors & Married Parents	Brainerd, Minnesota	Eliminated 5th '
	46	Pastors & Married Parents	Brainerd, Minnesota	Eliminated 5th '
	38	Sisters	Sunbury, Pennsylvania	Eliminated 6th '
	33	Sisters	Paxinos, Pennsylvania	Eliminated 6th '
	33	Former Roommates	New York City, New York	Eliminated 7th '
	28	Former Roommates	Brooklyn, New York	Eliminated 7th '
	31	Best Friends	Miami, Florida	Eliminated 8th '
	36	Best Friends	Miami, Florida	Eliminated 8th '
	25	Brother & Sister	Nashville, Tennessee	Third place
	21	Brother & Sister	Arlington, Texas	Third place
	31	Separated Couple	Los Angeles, California	Runners-up
	37	Separated Couple	Los Angeles, California	Runners-up
	25	Lifelong Friends	Boston, Massachusetts	Winners
	24	Lifelong Friends	Boston, Massachusetts	Winners

;Future appearances
Oswald & Danny were selected to race in The Amazing Race: All-Stars.
Alex Boylan went on to create and host the first season of the WGN America online reality show Around the World for Free, in which he journeyed around the world with no money, relying on the generosity and hospitality of locals. Blake Mycoskie appeared as a guest shark during the twelfth season of Shark Tank.

Results

The following teams are listed with their placements in each leg. Placements are listed in finishing order.

A placement with a dagger indicates that the team was eliminated.
An placement with a double-dagger indicates that the team was the last to arrive at a Pit Stop in a non-elimination leg.
A indicates that the team won the Fast Forward.

;Notes

Race summary

Leg 1 (United States → Brazil)

Episode 1: "The World Is Waiting: Go!"
Prize: A vacation to Hawaii
Eliminated: Deidre and Hillary

;Locations

Pahrump, Nevada
Las Vegas → Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro → Paquetá Island
Paquetá Island
Paquetá Island
Paquetá Island → Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro

;Episode summary

From Pahrump, Nevada, teams were instructed to fly to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Once there, teams had to climb to the top of Corcovado Mountain, where they found their next clue at the base of Christ the Redeemer.
Teams had to travel to Paquetá Island, where they had to find a big tree known as Fat Maria and kiss the tree in order to receive their next clue. Teams then traveled to the Lido Hotel, where they had to sign up for one of four boats returning to the mainland the next morning. Teams spent the night on the island and traveled to Sugarloaf Mountain, where they found their next clue the next morning.
This season's first Detour was a choice between Mountain and Beach. In Mountain, teams had to rappel down the face of Sugarloaf Mountain to receive their next clue. In Beach, teams had to take the gondola back down and go to Ipanema Beach to find Heloísa Pinheiro, the woman who inspired the song "The Girl from Ipanema", who gave them their next clue.
After the Detour, teams had to check in at the Pit Stop aboard the Tocorimé, a yacht in Guanabara Bay.
Leg 2 (Brazil)
Episode 2: "Help Me, I'm American!"
Eliminated: Hope and Norm