1998 Winter Olympics

video

File:Placeholder

"Nagano 1998" redirects here. For the Winter Paralympics, see 1998 Winter Paralympics.

XVIII Olympic Winter Games

File:1998 Winter Olympics logo.svg Emblem of the 1998 Winter Olympics
Host city	Nagano, Japan
Motto	Coexistence with Nature (Japanese: 自然との共存, Shizen to no Kyōzon)
Nations	72
Athletes	2,176 (1,389 men, 787 women)
Events	68 in 7 sports (14 disciplines)
Opening	7 February 1998
Closing	22 February 1998
Opened by	Emperor Akihito
Cauldron	Midori Ito
Stadium	Nagano Olympic Stadium
Winter Summer 1998 Winter Paralympics

Template:1998 Winter Olympics

File:160501 Zenkoji Nagano Japan06s3.jpg

Main hall of Zenkō-ji in Nagano City.

File:Jigokudani hotspring in Nagano Japan 001.jpg

Japanese macaque at Jigokudani hotspring in Yamanouchi.

The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the Template:Nihongo4 and commonly known as Nagano 1998 (Japanese: 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the nearby mountain communities of Hakuba, Karuizawa, Nozawa Onsen, and Yamanouchi. The city of Nagano had previously been a candidate to host the 1940 Winter Olympics (which were later cancelled), as well as the 1972 Winter Olympics, but had been eliminated at the national level by Sapporo on both occasions.

The games hosted 2,176 athletes from 72 nations competing in 7 sports and 68 events. The number of athletes and participating nations were a record at the time. The Games saw the introduction of women's ice hockey, curling and snowboarding. National Hockey League players were allowed to participate in the men's ice hockey for the first time. Azerbaijan, Kenya, Macedonia, Uruguay, and Venezuela made their debut at the Winter Olympics.

The athlete who won the most medals at these games was the Russian cross-country skier Larisa Lazutina who won five medals, including three gold. The Norwegian cross-country skier Bjørn Dæhlie won four medals, including three gold, which took his total Olympic medal total to 12, including eight gold, which is a record for Winter Olympics. Czech men's ice hockey team won the gold medal. In Ski Jumping, Kazuyoshi Funaki won two gold medals and one silver for host Japan. The American Figure skater Tara Lipinski became the youngest champion in Olympic history at the age of 15 years and 255 days. Germany dominated the medal table with 29 medals, including 12 gold. Germany was followed by Norway and Russia, who won 25 and 18 medals respectively. Canada, which finished fourth in the medal table with 15 medals, including six gold, had its most successful Winter Olympics up until that point.

The host was selected on 15 June 1991, over Salt Lake City, Östersund, Jaca and Aosta. They were the third Olympic Games and second Winter Olympics to be held in Japan, after the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo. The games were succeeded by the 1998 Winter Paralympics from 5 to 14 March. These were the final Winter Olympic Games under the IOC Presidency of Juan Antonio Samaranch.

The hosting of the games improved transportation networks with the construction of the high-speed Shinkansen, the Nagano Shinkansen, now the Hokuriku Shinkansen, between Tokyo and Nagano Station, via Ōmiya and Takasaki. In addition, new highways were built, including the Nagano Expressway and the Jōshin-etsu Expressway and upgrades were made to existing roads.

Host city selection

Main article: Bids for the 1998 Winter Olympics

Other candidate cities for the 1998 Olympics were Aosta, Italy; Jaca, Spain; Östersund, Sweden; and Salt Lake City, United States. The host city selection was held in Birmingham, United Kingdom, on 15 June 1991, at the 97th IOC session. Nagano prevailed over Salt Lake City by just 4 votes. In June 1995, Salt Lake was chosen as the host of the following 2002 Winter Olympics.

The Nagano Olympic bid committee spent approximately $14 million to entertain the 62 International Olympic Committee members and many of their companions. The precise figures are unknown since Nagano, after the IOC asked that the entertainment expenditures not be made public, destroyed the financial records.

1998 Winter Olympics bidding results
City	Country	Round 1	Round 2 (Run-off)	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5
Nagano	Japan	21	—	30	36	46
Salt Lake City	United States	15	59	27	29	42
Östersund	Sweden	18	—	25	23	—
Jaca	Spain	19	—	5	—	—
Aosta	Italy	15	29	—	—	—

Marketing

Mascots

Main article: Sukki, Nokki, Lekki and Tsukki

Sukki, Nokki, Lekki and Tsukki, also known as the Snowlets are the 1998 Winter Olympic mascots and are four snowy owls. They represent respectively fire (Sukki), air (Nokki), earth (Lekki) and water (Tsukki) and together they represent the four major islands of Japan.

Sponsors

Sponsors of the 1998 Winter Olympics
Worldwide Olympic Partners The Coca-Cola Company John Hancock Financial Kodak McDonald's Panasonic Samsung Electronics Time Inc. United Parcel Service Visa Inc. Xerox (Fuji Xerox)
Gold Sponsors Amway Hachijuni Bank KDDI Kirin Company Mizuno Corporation Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Seiko Toyota
Official Supporters and Suppliers Bridgestone Brother Industries Corona Hanamaruki Foods Hitachi Zosen Corporation Idemitsu Kosan Japan Agricultural Cooperatives Japan Airlines KOKUYO MAYEKAWA Marudai Foods Oji Paper Company Pia Corporation Snow Brand Milk Products Tokio Marine Tokyo Gas Yamazaki Baking

Broadcasting Rights

Australia Seven Network

China CCTV

United Kingdom BBC

Highlights

Bjørn Dæhlie won 3 gold medals in cross-country skiing, making him the Winter Olympic competitor with the most wins ever. Alpine skier Hermann Maier survived a fall in the downhill and went on to win gold in the super-G and giant slalom. Netherlands won 5 of the 10 speed skating events, including 2 each by Gianni Romme and Marianne Timmer. Canada beat Denmark in the women's curling final, securing the latter their first Winter Olympic medal ever.

• Women's ice hockey was contested at the Olympic Games for the first time ever, and the United States beat the Canadians 3–1 for the gold medal. United States went undefeated in the women's tournament. The Czech Republic defeated Russia by a score of 1–0 for the men's gold medal, while Finland won both the men's and women's bronze medals for ice hockey.
• Cross-country skier Bjørn Dæhlie of Norway won three gold medals in Nordic skiing to become the first winter Olympian to earn eight career gold medals and twelve total medals.
• Curling returned as an official sport, after having been demoted to a demonstration event after the inaugural Winter Games in Chamonix in 1924.
• Snowboarding debuted as an official sport.
• Players from the NHL were able to compete in men's ice hockey due to a three-week suspension of the NHL season.
• Tara Lipinski, 15, narrowly beat Michelle Kwan in women's figure skating to become the youngest champion in an individual event in the history of the Winter Olympics.
• Alpine skier Hermann Maier (Austria) survived a fall in the downhill and went on to gold in the super-g and giant slalom.
• Speed skaters Gianni Romme and Marianne Timmer won two gold medals each for the Netherlands; 5 out of 10 titles in speed skating went to the Netherlands.
• Snowboarder Ross Rebagliati (Canada) won the gold medal, after initially being disqualified for testing positive for marijuana.
• Azerbaijan, Kenya, the Republic of Macedonia, Uruguay, and Venezuela made their first appearance at the Olympic Winter Games.
• Denmark won their first winter Olympic medal (and only one to date) when they won a silver medal in the women's curling event.
• Australia won their first individual Winter Olympic medal when Zali Steggall won bronze in the women's slalom.

Events

There were 68 events contested in 7 sports (14 disciplines).

• File:Alpine skiing pictogram.svg Alpine skiing (10) ()
• File:Biathlon pictogram.svg Biathlon (6) ()
• File:Bobsleigh pictogram.svg Bobsleigh (2) ()
• File:Cross country skiing pictogram.svg Cross-country skiing (10) ()
• File:Curling pictogram.svg Curling (2) ()
• File:Figure skating pictogram.svg Figure skating (4) ()
• File:Freestyle skiing pictogram.svg Freestyle skiing (4) ()
• File:Ice hockey pictogram.svg Ice hockey (2) ()
• File:Luge pictogram.svg Luge (3) ()
• File:Nordic combined pictogram.svg Nordic combined (2) ()
• File:Snowboarding pictogram.svg Snowboarding (4) ()
• File:Ski jumping pictogram.svg Ski jumping (3) ()
• File:Short track speed skating pictogram.svg Short track speed skating (6) ()
• File:Speed skating pictogram.svg Speed skating (10) ()

Venues

Main article: Venues of the 1998 Winter Olympics

Hakuba

• Hakuba Ski Jumping Stadium: Nordic combined (ski jumping), Ski jumping
• Happo'one Resort: Alpine skiing (Downhill, Super G, combined)
• Snow Harp, Kamishiro: Cross-country skiing, Nordic combined (cross-country skiing)

Iizuna

• Iizuna Kogen Ski Area: Freestyle skiing
• Spiral, Asakawa: Bobsleigh, Luge

Karuizawa

• Kazakoshi Park Arena: Curling

Nagano

• Minami Nagano Sports Park: Ceremonies (opening/ closing)
• Aqua Wing Arena: Ice hockey
• Big Hat: Ice hockey (final)
• M-Wave: Speed skating
• White Ring: Figure skating, Short track speed skating

Nozawaonsen:

• Nozawa Onsen Ski Resort: Biathlon

Yamanouchi

• Mount Higashidate: Alpine skiing (giant slalom)
• Mount Yakebitai, Shiga Kogen Resort: Alpine skiing (slalom), Snowboarding (giant slalom)
• Kanbayashi Snowboard Park: Snowboarding (Half-Pipe)

Cost and cost overrun

The Oxford Olympics Study established the outturn cost of the Nagano 1998 Winter Olympics at USD 2.2 billion in 2015-dollars and cost overrun at 56% in real terms. This includes sports-related costs only, that is, (i) operational costs incurred by the organizing committee for the purpose of staging the Games, e.g., expenditures for technology, transportation, workforce, administration, security, catering, ceremonies, and medical services, and (ii) direct capital costs incurred by the host city and country or private investors to build, e.g., the competition venues, the Olympic village, international broadcast center, and media and press center, which are required to host the Games. Indirect capital costs are not included, such as for road, rail, or airport infrastructure, or for hotel upgrades or other business investment incurred in preparation for the Games but not directly related to staging the Games. The cost and cost overrun for Nagano 1998 compares with costs of USD 2.5 billion and a cost overrun of 13% for Vancouver 2010, and costs of USD 21.9 billion and a cost overrun of 289% for Sochi 2014, the latter being the most costly Olympics to date. Average cost for Winter Games since 1960 is USD 3.1 billion, average cost overrun is 142%.

Calendar

All dates are in Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

●

Opening ceremony

Event competitions

●

Event finals

●

Closing ceremony

February	7 Sat	8 Sun	9 Mon	10 Tue	11 Wed	12 Thu	13 Fri	14 Sat	15 Sun	16 Mon	17 Tue	18 Wed	19 Thu	20 Fri	21 Sat	22 Sun	Events
File:Alpine skiing pictogram.svg Alpine skiing					1		2			2	1		2	1	1		10
File:Biathlon pictogram.svg Biathlon			1		1				1			1	1		1		6
File:Bobsleigh pictogram.svg Bobsleigh									1						1		2
File:Cross country skiing pictogram.svg Cross-country skiing		1	1	1		2		1		1		1		1		1	10
File:Curling pictogram.svg Curling									2								2
File:Figure skating pictogram.svg Figure skating				1				1		1				1			4
File:Freestyle skiing pictogram.svg Freestyle skiing					2							2					4
File:Ice hockey pictogram.svg Ice hockey											1					1	2
File:Luge pictogram.svg Luge			1		1		1										3
File:Nordic combined pictogram.svg Nordic combined								1						1			2
File:Short track speed skating pictogram.svg Short track											2		1		3		6
File:Ski jumping pictogram.svg Ski jumping					1				1		1						3
File:Snowboarding pictogram.svg Snowboarding		1		2		1											4
File:Speed skating pictogram.svg Speed skating		1		1	1	1		1	1	1	1		1	1			10
Total events		3	3	5	7	4	3	4	6	5	6	4	5	5	6	2	68
Cumulative total		3	6	11	18	22	25	29	35	40	46	50	55	60	66	68
Ceremonies	●															●
February	7 Sat	8 Sun	9 Mon	10 Tue	11 Wed	12 Thu	13 Fri	14 Sat	15 Sun	16 Mon	17 Tue	18 Wed	19 Thu	20 Fri	21 Sat	22 Sun

Medal table

File:1998 Winter Olympics medals.JPG

The silver, gold and bronze medals.

Main article: 1998 Winter Olympics medal table

(Host nation is highlighted.)

1		12	9	8	29
2		10	10	5	25
3		9	6	3	18
4		6	5	4	15
5		6	3	4	13
6		5	4	2	11
7		5	1	4	10
8		3	5	9	17
9		3	1	2	6
10		2	6	2	10

Participating National Olympic Committees

72 nations participated in the 1998 Winter Olympic Games. The nations Azerbaijan, Kenya, Macedonia, Uruguay, and Venezuela participated in their first Winter Olympic Games.

File:1998 Winter Olympic Games countries.png

Participating nations

Participating National Olympic Committees

The following 13 countries registered to take part, but eventually did not send a team.

• Template:Country data BAH
• Bolivia
• Template:Country data CAM
• Cameroon
• Costa Rica
• Template:Country data ESA
• Template:Country data GAM
• Template:Country data GUM
• Template:Country data GBS
• Template:Country data LIB
• Template:Country data KUW
• Template:Country data AHO
• Tajikistan

External links

• "Nagano 1998". Olympics.com. International Olympic Committee.
• Template:IOC medals
• The Organizing Committee for the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, Nagano 1998 (1998). The XVIII Winter Olympic Games: Official Report. The Organizing Committee for the XVIII Olympic Winter Games.

Downloadable PDF: Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, Appendix, retrieved on 17 January 2010.

Preceded by Lillehammer

Winter Olympics Nagano XVIII Olympic Winter Games (1998)

Succeeded by Salt Lake City

Template:EventsAt1998WinterOlympics Template:NOCin1998WinterOlympics Template:1998 Winter Olympic venues