1994 Winter Olympics (original) (raw)

See also: 1994 Winter Paralympics

The Games of the XVII Winter Olympiad were held in 1994 in Lillehammer, Norway. Other candidate cities were Anchorage, USA; �stersund/�re, Sweden; and Sofia, Bulgaria. In 1986 the IOC voted to change the schedule of the Olympic Games so that the summer and winter games would be arranged in alternating even-numbered years. Effectuating this vote, the Lillehammer Games were held in 1994, the only time the winter games have been staged two years after the preceding games.

Games of the XVII Winter Olympiad
Nations participating	67
Athletes participating	1,739 (522 women, 1,217 men)
Events	61 in 6 sports
Opening ceremonies	February 12, 1994
Closing ceremonies	February 27, 1994
Officially opened by	His Majesty King Harald V
Athlete's Oath	Vegard Ulvang
Judge's Oath:	Kari Karing
Olympic Torch	Crown Prince Haakon

Highlights

For the first time, the Winter Olympics are not held in the same year as the Games of the Olympiad.
The Olympic flame is brought into the stadium by a ski jumper.
Local hero Johann Olav Koss won three speed skating events, setting three world records.
Vreni Schneider won a complete set of medals in Alpine skiing and Manuela Di Centa medaled in all five cross-country events. Myriam B�dard won both women's individual biathlon races.
Gustav Weder and Donat Acklin became the first repeat winners of the two-man bobsled. Pairs skaters Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov repeated their 1988 Winter Olympics
A massive Norwegian crowd sees the Norwegian relay team being beaten by the Italians in the final metres of the cross country skiing relay. The crowd falls silent, but only briefly.