The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...

, Norway. Having lost the bid for the

1992 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 64 , athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women) , events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines) , opening = 8 February 1992 , closing = 23 February 1992 , opened_by = President François Mitterrand , cauldron ...

to Albertville in France, Lillehammer was awarded the 1994 Winter Games on 15 September 1988, at the 94th IOC Session in Seoul, South Korea. This was the only Winter Olympics to take place two years after the previous edition of the Winter Games, and the first to be held in a different year from the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

. This was the second Winter Games hosted in Norway — the first being the

1952 Winter Olympics The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 6. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 6. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Oslo 1952, was a winter multi-sport event held from 14 to 25 February 195 ...

in Oslo — and the fourth Olympics overall to be held in a

Nordic country The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Swed ...

, after the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics ( sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1912), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad ( sv, Den V olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, be ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, Sweden, and the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

in Helsinki, Finland. Lillehammer is the northernmost city ever to host the Olympic Games. This was the last of three consecutive Olympics held in Europe, with Albertville and Barcelona in Spain hosting the 1992 Winter and

Summer Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...

Games, respectively. Although many of the events took place in Lillehammer, the skating events were held in Hamar, some ice hockey matches were played in

Gjøvik is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Toten. The administrative centre of the municipality is town of Gjøvik. Some of the villages in Gjøvik include Biri, Bybrua, and Hunndalen. The ...

, and the

Alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

events were held in Øyer and

Ringebu is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vålebru (the village is also known as ''Ringebu''). The municipality i ...

. Sixty-seven National Olympic Committees and 1,737 athletes participated in six sports and sixty-one events. Fourteen countries made their Winter Olympic debuts, of which nine were former Soviet republics. The Games also saw the introduction of stricter qualifying rules, reducing the number of under-performing participants from warm-weather countries. New events were two new distances in short track speed skating and aerials, while speed skating was moved indoors. Almost two million people spectated at the Games, which were the first to have the Olympic Truce in effect. The Olympics were succeeded by the

1994 Winter Paralympics The 1994 Winter Paralympics ( no, Paralympiske vinterleker 1994; nn, Paralympiske vinterleikane 1994), the sixth Paralympic Winter Games, were held in Lillehammer, Norway, from 10 to 19 March 1994. These Games marked the second time the Paraly ...

from 10 to 19 March.

Manuela Di Centa Manuela Di Centa, (born 31 January 1963) is a former Italian cross-country skier and Olympic athlete. She is the sister of former cross-country skier Giorgio Di Centa and cousin of former track and field athlete Venanzio Ortis. Career Di Centa, ...

and Lyubov Yegorova dominated women's

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

, taking five and four medals for Italy and Russia respectively. A crowd of more than 100,000 saw Italy beat Norway by 0.4 seconds in the men's 4 × 10 km relay. Vreni Schneider won a complete set of medals for

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

in Alpine skiing, while Norway took a podium sweep in the men's combined competition. Figure skater Nancy Kerrigan won silver in ladies' singles, despite being attacked a few weeks before the Games by Tonya Harding's associate Shane Stant; 16-year-old Oksana Baiul edged Kerrigan to win the gold medal, marking the first time the Ukrainian national anthem was played at the Olympics. Johann Olav Koss won three speed skating golds for Norway, while 13-year-old Kim Yun-mi from South Korea became the youngest-ever Olympic gold medalist.

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

defeated Canada in a dramatic penalty shootout in the ice hockey final. Russia won the most events, with 11 gold medals, while Norway collected the highest number of medals overall, winning 26.

Host city selection

Planning for the Lillehammer bid started in 1981, following Sweden's failed Falun bid for the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games (french: XVes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Calgary 1988 ( bla, Mohkínsstsisi 1988; sto, Wîchîspa Oyade 1988 or ; cr, Otôskwanihk 1998/; srs, Guts� ...

, which lost out to

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

. The bid was supported by the

Swedish government The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden ( sv, Konungariket Sveriges regering) is the national cabinet of Sweden, and the country's executive authority. The Government consists of the Prime Ministerappointed and dismissed by the Speaker of the R ...

, largely to help stimulate the economy of the inland counties. Lillehammer originally bid for the 1992 Games but came fourth in the voting, with the Games ultimately awarded to Albertville, France. In 1985, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to separate the Summer and Winter Games (which had been held in the same year since the inception of the Winter Olympics in 1924) and arrange for them to take place in alternating even-numbered years. Lillehammer subsequently launched another bid, now for the 1994 Games, with some drastic modifications of the project, such as a new indoor speed skating venue and an additional ice hall in Lillehammer. Supplementary government guarantees and funds were secured for the new bid. Three other locations put in bids for the 1994 Games:

Anchorage Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

(United States), Östersund (Sweden), and Sofia (Bulgaria). Lillehammer was elected to host the 1994 Winter Games at the 94th IOC Session, held in Seoul on 15 September 1988, two days before the start of the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

. Until

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, the Lillehammer Games were the last Winter Olympics to be held in a town, rather than centered in a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Organization

The overall responsibility for the games was held by the Lillehammer Olympic Organizing Committee, which was created on 14 November 1988 and led by

Gerhard Heiberg Jens Gerhard Heiberg (born 20 April 1939, in Oslo) is a Norwegian industrialist who was head of the Lillehammer Olympic Organizing Committee (LOOC) and member of the International Olympic Committee. Education Heiberg received a graduate degree in ...

.LOOC (I): 19 It was reorganized several times with various subsidiaries, but from 1993 consisted of a single company owned 51% by Lillehammer Municipality, 24.5% by the Government of Norway and 24.5% by the Norwegian Olympic Committee. The government had issued a guarantee for the games, and also covered the expenses related to infrastructure. The total costs of the games was 7.4 billion

Norwegian krone The krone (, abbreviation: kr (also NKr for distinction); code: NOK), plural ''kroner'', is currency of the Kingdom of Norway (including Svalbard). Traditionally known as the Norwegian crown in English. It is nominally subdivided into 100 ''� ...

(NOK), of which NOK 0.95 billion was expenditure by the ministries, NOK 4.48 billion was for operations and event expenses, and NOK 1.67 billion was for investments. The games had a revenue of NOK 2.71 billion, of which NOK 1.43 billion was from television rights, NOK 0.65 billion was from sponsors, and NOK 0.15 billion was from ticket sales. Production of the broadcasting, which costs NOK 462 million, was the joint responsibility of the

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest ...

(NRK),the CTV (Canada) (CTV) and the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...

(EBU). NRK had 1,424 people working at the Olympics, while international broadcasters sent an additional 4,050 accredited broadcasting personnel. The transmission rights for the games were held by EBU in Europe, CBS in the United States, NHK in Japan, CTV in Canada, the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union,

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

in Australia, as well as other broadcasters in other countries. The total transmission rights price was 350 million United States dollars, 310 of which were paid by CBS. In part because of the Harding–Kerrigan affair, the viewership in the United States is still the highest ever for Winter Olympics. NOK 460 million was used on information technology,LOOC (II): 5 with the main system running on an IBM AS/400. 3,500 terminals were in use during the game based on the Info '94 system; it was the first Olympics to have terminals installed abroad. Seiko delivered the time-keeping devices. Telecommunications were delivered by

Telenor Telenor ASA ( or ) is a Norwegian majority state-owned multinational telecommunications company headquartered at Fornebu in Bærum, close to Oslo. It is one of the world's largest mobile telecommunications companies with operations worldwide, ...

, including signal transmission. This included a mobile radio network with nine base stations.

Cost and cost overrun

''The Oxford Olympics Study'' established the outturn cost of the Lillehammer 1994 Winter Olympics at US$2.2 billion in 2015-dollars and cost overrun at 277% 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 Lillehammer 1994 compares with costs of US$2.5 billion and a cost overrun of 13% for Vancouver 2010, and costs of US$51 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 US$3.1 billion, average cost overrun is 142%.

Events

There were 61 events contested in 6 sports (12 disciplines).

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony was held at the ski jumping hill Lysgårdsbakken. Artistic content was made to present a range of Norwegian culture, included Sami joik, Telemark skiing, fiddlers and folk dancing, simulations of traditional events and their processions, and the figure of vetter from

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...

. After speeches by Heiberg and IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch, the games were officially declared opened by King Harald V. The Olympic Flame was to be skied down the skijump before lighting the cauldron. Originally this task had rested upon

Ole Gunnar Fidjestøl Ole Gunnar Fidjestøl (born 21 March 1960) is a Norwegian former ski jumper. Career He won silver medals in the team large hill event at the Nordic World Ski Championships (1987, 1989) as well as a bronze medal in the team large hill at the 1 ...

, but after he was injured in a practice jump, his back-up

Stein Gruben Stein is a German, Yiddish and Norwegian word meaning "stone" and "pip" or "kernel". It stems from the same Germanic root as the English word stone. It may refer to: Places In Austria * Stein, a neighbourhood of Krems an der Donau, Lower Austr ...

received the honor.The cauldron was lit by

Crown Prince Haakon Magnus Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway (; Haakon Magnus; born 20 July 1973) is the heir apparent to the Norwegian throne. He is the only son of King Harald V and Queen Sonja. Haakon represents the fourth generation of the sitting Norwegian royal famil ...

. The Olympic oaths were issued by Vegard Ulvang for the athletes and Kari Kåring for the officials.

Alpine skiing

Since the 1992 Games, the rules for combined changed, where the winner was determined by total time instead of points. The women's downhill was originally scheduled for Hafjell, but after protests it was moved to Kvitfjell, which also hosted the men's downhill and super-G. In the men's events, Germany's Markus Wasmeier won two disciplines,

giant slalom Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline. It involves skiing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in slalom but less than in Super-G. Giant slalom and slalom make up t ...

and super-G, finishing ahead of the United States's

Tommy Moe Thomas Sven Moe (born February 17, 1970) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from the United States. An Olympic gold and silver medalist in 1994, he specialized in the speed events of downhill and super G. Early years Born in Missoula, Mon ...

on the super-G. Moe won the downhill ahead of Norway's Kjetil André Aamodt, who came in third in the super-G. Austria's

Thomas Stangassinger Thomas Stangassinger (born 15 September 1965) is an Austrian former alpine skier. Career Throughout the 1990s, he belonged to the international slalom elite. He won a silver medal in the World Ski Championships in Saalbach-Hinterglemm and a br ...

won the

slalom To slalom is to zigzag between obstacles. It may refer to: Sports ;Alpine skiing and/or snowboarding * Slalom skiing, an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline * Giant slalom, an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline * Super-G ...

ahead of Italy's Alberto Tomba. In the

combined Combined may refer to: * Alpine combined (skiing), the combination of slalom and downhill skiing as a single event ** Super combined (skiing) * Nordic combined (skiing), the combination of cross country skiing and ski jumping as a single event * T ...

, Norway took a medal sweep, with

Lasse Kjus Lasse Kjus (born 14 January 1971) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Norway. He won the overall World Cup title twice, an Olympic gold medal, and several World Championships. His combined career total of 16 Olympic and World Championsh ...

winning ahead of Aamodt and Harald Christian Strand Nilsen. In the women's events, Switzerland's Vreni Schneider was the most successful, winning the

, taking silver in

and taking bronze in

. The only other athlete to take multiple medals was Italy's

Isolde Kostner Isolde Kostner (born 20 March 1975) is an Italian former Alpine skier who won two bronze medals at the 1994 Winter Olympics and a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. She was the Italian flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the 2002 Olym ...

, who took a third place in both downhill and super-G. The downhill was won by Germany's Katja Seizinger, super-G by the United States'

Diann Roffe Diann Roffe (born March 24, 1967), also known as Diann Roffe-Steinrotter, is a former World Cup alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist from the United States. Early life Roffe was born in Warsaw, New York and learned to ski at tiny ...

, the giant slalom by Italy's

Deborah Compagnoni Deborah Compagnoni (; born 4 June 1970) is an Italian former Alpine skier who won three gold medals at the 1992, 1994, and 1998 Winter Olympics. Biography Deborah Compagnoni was born in Bormio, northern Lombardy, and skied with the G.S. Fore ...

, and the combined by Sweden's Pernilla Wiberg.

Biathlon

Russia and Germany split all the individual men's medals. In the 10 km sprint, Russia's Sergei Tchepikov won ahead of

Ricco Groß Ricco Groß (also spelled Gross, born 22 August 1970) is a former German biathlete whose exploits made him one of the most successful biathletes of all time at the Winter Olympics and the World Championships. Career He has been married to his wi ...

, both with a clean sheet. Bronze winner Sergei Tarasov won the 20 km individual ahead of Germany's

Frank Luck Frank Luck (born 5 December 1967) is a former German and, before 1990, East German biathlete. Career Luck started early with cross-country skiing, but in 1980 he went over to biathlon. By 1988 at the age of 21 he had already qualified for the W ...

and

Sven Fischer Sven Fischer (born 16 April 1971) is a former German biathlete. He trained with the WSV Oberhof 05 club, and was coached by Frank Ullrich and Fritz Fischer (national coaches) and Klaus Siebert (club coach). After the 2006/07 biathlon season, he ...

. Germany easily revenged itself by winning the 4 × 7.5 km relay ahead of Russia and France. In the women's class, Canada's Myriam Bédard won both the individual events, finishing ahead of Belarus'

Svetlana Paramygina Svetlana Paramygina (sometimes Paramyguina) ( be, Святлана Парамыгіна) (born April 5, 1965 in Sverdlovsk, Russian SFSR) is a former Belarusian biathlete. Her international biathlon career began in 1983. In the 1993 ...

on the 7.5 km sprint and ahead of France's

Anne Briand Anne Briand (born 2 June 1968, in Mulhouse). Is a former French biathlete. She belonged to the world's best biathletes in the early 1990s. At the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, the first time this competition was introduced at the olympic level sh ...

on the 15 km individual. In the 4 × 7.5 km relay, the format since 1992 was changed from three to four participants. Russia, with a clean sheet, won ahead of Germany, who made six misses, with France taking the bronze.

Bobsleigh

In two-man, Switzerland took the top two places, with

Gustav Weder Gustav Weder (born 2 August 1961 in Diepoldsau) is a Swiss bobsledder who competed from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. Competing in three Winter Olympics, he won four medals with two gold (Two-man: 1992, 1994), one ...

Donat Acklin Donat Acklin (born 6 June 1965 in Herznach) is a Swiss bobsled, bobsledder who competed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Competing in three Winter Olympics, he won four medals with two gold (Two-man: 1992 Winter Olympics, 1992, 1994 Winter Olym ...

winning 0.05 seconds ahead of

Reto Götschi Reto Götschi (born 25 December 1965, in Hausen am Albis) is a Swiss bobsledder who competed in the 1990s. He won a silver medal in the two-man event with teammate Guido Acklin at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. Götschi also won a c ...

and

Guido Acklin Guido Acklin (born 21 November 1969) is a Swiss bobsledder who competed in the 1990s. At the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, he won a silver medal in the two-man event with his teammate Reto Götschi. Acklin also won two medals in the two- ...

, who were again 0.15 seconds ahead of Italy's Günther Huber and Stefano Ticci placing third. In four-man, Germany-II, consisting of

Harald Czudaj Harald Czudaj (born 14 February 1963) is a German former bobsledder who competed during the 1990s. Competing in three Winter Olympics, he won a gold medal in the four-man event at Lillehammer in 1994. Czudaj also won four medals at the FIBT Wor ...

Karsten Brannasch Karsten Brannasch (born 17 August 1966 in Altdöbern) is a German bobsledder who competed in the early 1990s. He won a gold medal in the four-man event with his teammates Harald Czudaj, Olaf Hampel and Alexander Szelig at the 1994 Winter Ol ...

, Olaf Hampel and

Alexander Szelig Alexander Szelig (born 6 February 1966 in Werdau) is an East German-German bobsledder who competed in the early 1990s. Competing in three Winter Olympics, he won a gold medal in the four-man event with teammates Harald Czudaj, Karsten ...

, finished 0.06 seconds ahead of Switzerland-I and 0.23 ahead of Germany-I.

Cross-country skiing

Participants from five countries took all the medals of the ten events. Starting in 1994, the Olympics alternated which of the medium-distance and long-distance races had classical and freestyle. men's 4 × 10 km relay was watched by a crowd of nearly 150,000. Norway, Italy and Finland followed each other tightly for three and a half rounds, with the second and third exchange of the three talking place within 1.1 seconds of each other. Finland fell behind in the end, and Norwegian

Bjørn Dæhlie Bjørn Erlend Dæhlie (born 19 June 1967) is a Norwegian businessman and retired cross-country skier. From 1992 to 1999, Dæhlie won the Nordic World Cup six times, finishing second in 1994 and 1998. Dæhlie won a total of 29 medals in the Olym ...

and Italian

Silvio Fauner Silvio Fauner (born 1 November 1968 in San Pietro di Cadore, Province of Belluno) is an Italian former cross-country skier who competed from 1988 to 2006. His best known victory was part of the 4 × 10 km relay team that upset Norway at the ...

battled to the end, with Italy beating Norway by 0.4 seconds. Dæhlie won the 10 km classical and 15 km freestyle pursuit, while taking silver in the 30 km freestyle. Kazakhstan's Vladimir Smirnov won the 50 km classical, in addition to silver in the 10 km and the 15 km. Norway's

Thomas Alsgaard Thomas Alsgaard (born 10 January 1972) is a Norwegian former professional cross-country skier. Alsgaard is regarded by many as the best performer of the freestyle technique (skating) in cross-country skiing and many of today's best skiers have st ...

won the 30 km, while Finland's Mika Myllylä took an individual silver and a bronze. Italy's

and Russia's Lyubov Yegorova dominated the women's events. They took five and four medals each, respectively, and between them winning all the races. Yegorova finished ahead of Di Centa on the 5 km classical and the 10 km pursuit, while Di Centa finished ahead of Yegorova on the 15 km freestyle, and also won the 30 km classical ahead of Norway's

Marit Wold Marit Elisabeth Mikkelsplass (born Marit Wold on 22 February 1965) is a former Norwegian cross-country skier who competed from 1985 to 1998. She represented Kjelsås IL in Oslo. Today she is married to former Norwegian cross-country skier Pål G ...

. Finland's

Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi (née Hämäläinen; born 10 September 1955) is a Finnish former cross-country skier. Career She was the big figure at the 1984 Olympics in Sarajevo, winning all three individual cross-country skiing events (5, 10 and 20 ...

took two bronze medals, in 5 km and 30 km. In the 4 × 5 km relay, Norway and Russia kept up with each other until the final stage, in which

Anita Moen Anita Moen (born 31 August 1967), sometimes credited as Anita Moen-Guidon, is a Norwegian former cross-country skier who competed from 1987 to 2003. She won five medals at the Winter Olympics with three silvers (4 × 5 km relay: 1994, 1998, ...

lost to Yegorova, with Italy finishing third. With Yegorova's sixth career gold, she was tied as the most-winning Winter Olympic participant.

Figure skating

On 6 January, Tonya Harding's ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly and his friend Shawn Eckdardt, conspired with Shane Stant to club fellow female figure skater Nancy Kerrigan in the knee. Both Harding and Kerrigan were selected for the Olympic team. After Harding admitted to helping to cover up the attack, the United States Olympic Committee initiated proceedings to remove her from the Olympic team, but Harding retained her place after threatening legal action. In the ladies' singles, Ukraine's Oksana Baiul won ahead of Kerrigan and Chen Lu, with Harding finishing eighth. In the men's singles, Russia's

Alexei Urmanov Alexei Yevgenyevich Urmanov (; born 17 November 1973) is a Russian figure skating coach and former competitor. He is the 1994 Olympic champion, the 1993 World bronze medalist, the 1997 European champion, the 1995–96 Champions Series Final ...

won ahead of Canada's Elvis Stojko and France's

Philippe Candeloro Philippe Candeloro (born 17 February 1972) is a French former competitive figure skater. He is a two-time Olympic bronze medalist (1994, 1998), a two-time World medalist (1994 silver, 1995 bronze), a two-time European silver medalist (1993, 1997 ...

. Relaxation of the

amateurism An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist. History Hist ...

rules led to several former stars returning, such as ice dancing 1984 Champions Great Britain's

Jayne Torvill Jayne Torvill, OBE (born 7 October 1957) is a British professional ice dancer and former competitor. With Christopher Dean, she won a gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics and a bronze medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics, becoming one of the ...

and

Christopher Dean Christopher Colin Dean, OBE (born 27 July 1958) is a British ice dancer who won a gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics with his skating partner Jayne Torvill. They also won a bronze medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics. Early life Dean grew u ...

, who took a bronze behind Russians Oksana Grishuk and

Evgeny Platov Evgeni Arkadievich Platov (Ukrainian to English: Ev'heni Arkadievich Platov) (russian: Евгений Аркадьевич Платов; born August 7, 1967; Ukrainian: Євген Аркадійович Платов) is a Russian former competit ...

, and

Maya Usova Maya Valentinovna Usova (russian: Майя Валентиновна Усова; born 22 May 1964) is a Russian former Ice dancing, ice dancer. With Alexander Zhulin, she is a two-time Olympic medalist (Figure skating at the 1994 Winter Olympics ...

and

Alexander Zhulin Alexander (Sasha) Viacheslavovich Zhulin (; born 20 July 1963) is a Russian ice dancing coach and former competitor. With Maya Usova, he is a two-time Olympic medalist ( 1994 silver, 1992 bronze), the 1993 World champion, and the 1993 Europe ...

. In

pair skating Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...

, the Russians also took a double, with Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov winning ahead of

Natalia Mishkutenok Natalia Yevgenievna Mishkutionok (russian: Наталья Евгеньевна Мишкутёнок, born 14 July 1970) is a Belarusian former pair skater. With Artur Dmitriev, she is the 1992 Olympic champion, the 1994 Olympic silver medalist ...

and Artur Dmitriev.

Freestyle skiing

Aerials was added as a discipline, after it had been a

demonstration sport A demonstration sport, or exhibition sport, is a sport which is played to promote it, rather than as part of standard medal competition. This occurs commonly during the Olympic Games, but may also occur at other sporting events. Demonstration spor ...

at the previous two games.

Ski ballet Ski ballet is a form of ballet performed on skis. It is very similar to figure skating, combining spins, jumps, and flips in a two-minute routine choreographed to music. It was part of the professional freestyle skiing tours of the 1970s and 1980 ...

, which had been a demonstration sport in 1992, was dropped. Canada dominated the men's events, with

Jean-Luc Brassard Jean-Luc Brassard (born August 24, 1972) is a Canadian freestyle skier, winning the gold medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics. Brassard has been credited with popularizing the wearing of bright knee pads to show off absorption and leg position fo ...

winning the men's moguls ahead of Russian

Sergey Shupletsov Sergey Borisovich Shupletsov (russian: Сергей Борисович Шуплецов; April 25, 1970 in Chusovoy – July 14, 1995 in La Clusaz) was a Russian freestyle skier and Olympic medalist. He received a silver medal at the 1 ...

. In the men's aerials, Switzerlands's

Andreas Schönbächler Andreas Schönbächler (born 24 April 1966) is a Swiss freestyle skier and Olympic champion. He won a gold medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olymp ...

won ahead of Canada's Philippe LaRoche and Lloyd Langlois, with Canadians also claiming the fourth and sixth places. In the women's disciplines, Norway was the only nation to take two medals;

Stine Lise Hattestad Stine Lise Hattestad Bratsberg (born 30 April 1966) is a former Norwegian freestyle skier Freestyle skiing is a skiing discipline comprising aerials, moguls, cross, half-pipe, slopestyle and big air as part of the Winter Olympics. ...

won the moguls ahead of the United States' Liz McIntyre. In the aerials,

Lina Cheryazova Lina Anatolyevna Cheryazova (russian: Лина Анатольевна Черязова, 1 November 1968 – 23 March 2019) was an Uzbek freestyle skier who competed in aerials. She won a bronze medal at the 1990 European Championship and a gold ...

won, claiming Uzbekistan's only medal,LOOC (IV): 65 ahead of Sweden's

Marie Lindgren Marie Lindgren (born 26 March 1970) is a Swedish freestyle skier and Olympic medalist. She received a silver medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, in aerials.Hilde Synnøve Lid Hilde Synnøve Lid (born 18 March 1971) is a Norwegian freestyle skier and Olympic medalist. She won a bronze medal in women's aerials at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer.single round robin, with the four best advancing to the single elimination medal tournament. Group A saw Finland win all five matches, while the host nation lost all theirs. Also Germany, the Czech Republic and Russia advanced from the group, all with three victories. Group B was won by Slovakia ahead of Canada, Sweden and the United States. The quarter-finals saw the Czech Republic, the United States, Germany and Slovakia eliminated. In the semi-finals, Canada beat Finland 5–3, while Sweden beat Russia 4–3. After the final period of the final, the match was a 2–2 tie, resulting in a shoot-out. After six shots, it was tied 2–2 until Sweden's Peter Forsberg beat

Corey Hirsch Corey Hirsch (born July 1, 1972) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender, currently working for Sportsnet as a colour commentator on Vancouver Canucks radio broadcasts. He spent the majority of his National Hockey Leag ...

, making the Swedes win after Paul Kariya missed his shot. This led to

Tomas Jonsson Alf Tomas Jonsson (born 12 April 1960) is a former ice hockey player from Sweden. He is assistant coach for the Denmark men's national ice hockey team, Danish national ice hockey team. Jonsson was drafted by the New York Islan ...

, Håkan Loob and Mats Näslund becoming the first three members of the Triple Gold Club.

Luge

Italy, Germany and Austria collected all the medals in the luge events. Germany's

Georg Hackl Georg Hackl (often named: Hackl Schorsch, ; born 9 September 1966) is a German former luger who was three time Olympic and World Champion. He is known affectionately as ''Hackl-Schorsch'' or as the ''Speeding Weißwurst'' a reference to what he ...

won the men's singles, making him the first to defend an Olympic title in the event in thirty years. He finished ahead of Austria's

Markus Prock Markus Prock (born 22 June 1964) is an Austrian luger who competed between 1983 and 2002. Born in Innsbruck, Prock competed in six Winter Olympics winning three medals in the men's singles event with two silvers ( 1992, 1994) and one bronze ( 2 ...

and Italy's Armin Zöggeler. In the doubles, the two Italian teams finished on top, with

Kurt Brugger Kurt Brugger (born 17 March 1969 in Bruneck, South Tyrol) is an Italian luger and coach who competed from 1987 to 2003. Together with Wilfried Huber, he won the men's doubles event at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. He competed in fou ...

and

Wilfried Huber Wilfried Huber (born 15 November 1970 in Bruneck, South Tyrol) is an Italian luger and coach who competed from 1985 to 2010. Together with Kurt Brugger, he won the men's doubles event at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehamm ...

winning ahead of Hansjörg Raffl and Norbert Huber. In the women's singles, Italy's

Gerda Weissensteiner Gerda Weissensteiner OMRI (born 3 January 1969) is an Italian luger and bobsleigh pilot who competed from the late 1980s to 2006. Competing in six Winter Olympics, she won the gold medal in the women's singles luge event at the 1994 Winter Olym ...

won ahead of Germany's Susi Erdmann and Austria's

Andrea Tagwerker Andrea Tagwerker (born 23 October 1970) is an Austrian luger who competed from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. Competing in four Winter Olympics, she won the bronze medal in the women's singles luge event at the 1994 Winter Ol ...

. The own debuts was start Nedžad Lomigora from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Marco Feder from Liechtenstein, Sminon J. Payne from Bermuda, Paul Hix from United Kingdom, Josef Svarek from Slovakia, Roger White from Australia.

Nordic combined

Although the events were the same, since the 1992 Games there was a rule change so that instead of jumping three times and taking the points for the best two, the competitors only jumped twice. In the individual normal hill/15 km, Japan's Kenji Ogiwara had only lost a single event in the season's World Cup, but came in sixth on the hill, which was won by Norway's Fred Børre Lundberg. He won the event after finishing eight-best in the skiing, ahead of Japan's Takanori Kono, Norway's Bjarte Engen Vik and Ogiwara in fourth. In the team normal hill/3 x 10 km, Japan finished first, third and fifth among the jumpers, giving them a 5:07 minute lead over Norway and finishing 4:49 minutes ahead. Switzerland took the bronze.

Short track speed skating

Short track speed skating was dominated by South Korea, who won four of the six events. After the discipline's debut in 1992, 1994 featured two new events, the men's 500 meters and the women's 1000 meters. South Korea's

Chae Ji-Hoon Chae Ji-hoon (Hangul: 채지훈; Hanja: 蔡智薰; born 5 March 1974) is a retired South Korean short track speed skater Skating career Chae won a gold medal in the 500 m and a silver medal in 1000 m at the 1 ...

won the men's 500 meters, while taking silver on the

1000 meters The 1000 metres is an uncommon middle-distance running event in track and field competitions. The 1000 yards, an imperial alternative, was sometimes also contested. All-time top 25 *h = hand timed *i = indoor performance *A = affected by ...

behind countryman Kim Ki-Hoon, who defended his 1992 gold. The bronze was won by Canada's

Marc Gagnon Marc Gagnon (born May 24, 1975) is a Canadian former short track speed skater. He is a four-time Overall World Champion for 1993, 1994, 1996 and 1998, and winner of three Olympic gold medals. Biography Born in Chicoutimi, Quebec, Gagnon started ...

, who won the B final. In the A final, countryman

Derrick Campbell Derrick Nathan Campbell (born February 18, 1972) is a Canadians, Canadian Short track speed skating, short track speed skater who competed in the 1994 Winter Olympics and in the 1998 Winter Olympics. He was born in Cambridge, Ontario. In 1994 h ...

was obstructed by Great Britain's

Nicky Gooch Nicholas "Nicky" John Gooch (born 30 January 1973) is a British short track speed skater who competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics, 1994 Winter Olympics, 1998 Winter Olympics and 2002 Winter Olympics. Gooch was born in Roeh ...

, who was disqualified. Campbell got up and started celebrating his bronze medal, when he discovered he had not completed the race. In the men's 5000 meter relay, South Korea did not enter after a fall in the sole qualifying event, which took place in March 1993. Canada fell during the final, which saw Italy take a clear victory ahead of the United States, who were marginally ahead of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The United States'

Eric Flaim Eric Joseph Flaim (born March 9, 1967) is an American former speed skater. He became a world champion in 1988, as well as capturing Olympic silver medals, namely in speed skating at the 1988 Winter Olympics and in short track speed skating at t ...

became the first to take Olympic medals in both short track and long track speed skating, while Australia took its first Winter Olympic medal ever. Six people took the individual medals in the women's events, with the United States' Cathy Turner defending her 1992 gold on the

500 meters The 500 metres is a rarely run middle-distance running event in track and field competitions. All-time top 25 *i = indoor performance *OT = oversized track (exceeding 200m in circumference) *A = affected by altitude *h = hand timing Men *C ...

and South Korea's Chun Lee-Kyung taking the gold in 1000 meters. South Korea won the 3000 meter relay with a team of four girls under 19. At 13, Kim Yoon-Mi became the world's youngest Olympic gold medalist.

Ski jumping

Norway won three of the six individual medals, with Norway's

Espen Bredesen Espen Bredesen (born 2 February 1968) is a Norwegian former ski jumper. Career At World Cup level he won gold and silver medals at the 1994 Winter Olympics at Lillehammer. At the 1992 Winter Olympics, he performed badly, coming last in the nor ...

winning the

normal hill Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the final ...

ahead of Norway's

Lasse Ottesen Lasse Ottesen (born 8 April 1974) is a Norwegian former ski jumper who competed from 1991 to 2002. Career He grew up in the little hamlet of Aurskog in eastern Norway and represented the local sports club Aurskog-Finstadbru SK. His biggest succe ...

and Germany's

Dieter Thoma Dieter Thoma (born 19 October 1969) is a West German/German former ski jumper. Career During that time he was the second best German ski jumper after Jens Weißflog. Thoma was not the first known ski jumper in the family: his uncle Georg Thoma wa ...

. In the

large hill Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fin ...

, Germany's Jens Weißflog won ahead of Bredesen and Austria's

Andreas Goldberger Andreas "Andi" Goldberger (born 29 November 1972) is an Austrian former ski jumper. He became the first man in history to jump over 200 metres in 1994, although he didn't manage to stand. Career He won the World Cup overall titles three times ( ...

. In the large hill team, the 1994 Games introduced new rules whereby all four jumps in each round counted, and not just the best three. Neither Norway nor Finland, who between them had won all but one former Olympic team jump, managed to collect a medal. The event became a duel between Germany and Japan, with only a point separating them after the first round of jumps. Masahiko Harada had the last jump, and would secure a gold if he managed 105 meters but lost his 'cool' mistiming his leap and landed at 97.5 meters, giving the gold to the Germans.

Speed skating

The long track speed skating events moved indoors, after they had been held outdoors in 1992. The 1994 Games introduced new qualification rules, limiting the number of participants in the men's 5000 meters and women's 3000 meters to 32, and only allowing the 16 best in each of these events to participate in the men's 10000 meters and the women's 5000 meters. Norway's Johann Olav Koss took three golds, in the men's 1,500 meters, 5000 meters and 10000 meters. In the latter two, he finished ahead of fellow countryman

Kjell Storelid Kjell Storelid (born 24 October 1970) is a former speed skater from Norway. Storelid's best achievement on the ice was two silver medals on 5,000 m and 10,000 m at the Winter Olympics 1994 in Lillehammer - behind Johann Olav Koss J ...

. The men's 500 meters was won by Russia's Aleksandr Golubev ahead of fellow countryman

Sergey Klevchenya Sergey Konstantinovich Klevchenya (russian: Серге́й Константинович Клевченя, born January 21, 1971 in Barnaul) is a Russian speed skater who competed for the Unified Team in the 1992 Winter Olympics and for Russia in ...

, while the men's 1000 meters was won by American Dan Jansen. For women, American Bonnie Blair defended her two 1992 golds in

and

. Austria's

Emese Hunyady Emese Hunyady (born 4 March 1966) is a former Hungarian-Austrian speed skater. At age ten, Hunyady participated at the 1977 Hungarian Sprint Championships for Juniors, finishing sixth. Representing Hungary, she had her first international comp ...

won the

1500 meters The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

ahead of Russia's

Svetlana Bazhanova Svetlana Valeryevna Bazhanova (russian: Светлана Валерьевна Бажанова) (born 1 December 1972) is a former speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in tra ...

and Germany's Gunda Niemann. However, Bazhanova took gold ahead of Nemeth-Hunyady on the 3000 meters, with Germany's

Claudia Pechstein Claudia Pechstein (born 22 February 1972) is a German speed skater. She has won five Olympic gold medals. With a total of nine Olympic medals, five gold, two silver and two bronze, she was the most successful Olympic speed skater, male or femal ...

in third. Pechstein would go on to win the 5000 meters ahead of Niemann.

Closing ceremony

At the closing ceremonies, also held at Lysgårdsbakken, all spectators were handed a flashlight with the inscription "Remember Sarajevo"—the host of the

1984 Winter Olympics The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games (Serbo-Croatian and Slovene: ''XIV. Zimske olimpijske igre''; Cyrillic: XIV Зимске олимпијске игре; mk, XIV Зимски олимписки игр ...

which was at worst moment of the

Yugoslavian Civil War The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and insurgencies that took place in the SFR Yugoslavia from 1991 to 2001. The conflicts both led up to and resulted from t ...

,the Siege of Sarajevo . The first entrants on the stage were

Liv Ullmann Liv Johanne Ullmann (born 16 December 1938) is a Norwegian actress and film director. Recognised as one of the greatest European actresses of all time, Ullmann is known as the muse and frequent partner of filmmaker Ingmar Bergman. She acted in m ...

and Thor Heyerdahl, followed by the athletes' precession. After the Olympic flag had been transferred to Nagano mayor Tasuka Tsukada, speeches were held by Lillehammer mayor

Audun Tron Audun Tron (born 7 March 1945) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. From 1987 to 1999, Tron was the mayor of Lillehammer. As such he played a role in the 1994 Winter Olympics. During the first cabinet Stoltenberg, from 2000 to 2001, ...

, Heiberg and Samaranch. The latter used his speech to remind about Sarajevo's situation, before giving Heiberg IOC's gold medal. Artistic presentations followed with many of the themes from the opening ceremony.At the 15-minute presentation as the next host city,Nagano was presented to world as a modern

Yama-uba , Yamamba or Yamanba are variations on the name of a ''yōkai'' found in Japanese folklore. Description The word can also be written as 山母, 山姫, or 山女郎, and in the town of Masaeki, Nishimorokata District, Miyazaki Prefecture (no ...

,also the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 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 ...

mascots, the Snowlets, was also presented on a public eye for the first time. Of the 2,200 people performing in the opening and closing ceremonies, only 50 were professionals.

Paralympics

The VI Winter Paralympics were run in part by a diferent Organizing Committee (LPOC), but the LOOC managed all the common areas of the two events, serving as a model for Sydney that would host the

2000 Summer Paralympics The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was last time that the Summer Paralympics which were organized by two different ...

,six years latter.The Games were held from 10 to 19 March. Competitions were held in

, ice sledge speed racing, biathlon and

; the games also introduced ice sledge hockey. The Paralympics used the same venues as the Olympics, and were the second in Norway, after the

1980 Winter Paralympics The 1980 Winter Paralympic Games ( no, Paralympiske vinterleker 1980; nn, Paralympiske vinterleikane 1980), the second Winter Paralympics, were held from 1 to 7 February 1980 in Geilo, Norway. Eighteen countries took part with 299 athletes. A d ...

in Geilo. 471 athletes from 31 countries participated, with Norway claiming the most gold medals ahead of Germany. This was the first Paralympics which the

International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; german: Internationales Paralympisches Komitee) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and fun ...

had 100% involvement and responsibility.They featured their own logo (the people under the sun), the amputee mascot Sondre, However,the Paralympics despite being organized by an Organizing Committee in a diferent composition, had the same visual identity as was treaty as an integral part of the event.

Venues

The games were spread out over ten venues in five municipalities in two counties, Oppland and Hedmark.

, with 25,000 inhabitants, and Hamar and

, both with 27,000 inhabitants, are all situated on the lake

Mjøsa Mjøsa is Norway's largest lake, as well as one of the deepest lakes in Norway and in Europe. It is the fourth-deepest lake in Norway. It is located in the southern part of Norway, about north of the city of Oslo. Its main tributary is the rive ...

. Gjøvik and Hamar are located south of Lillehammer. Hunderfossen is located north of Lillehammer, but lies within the municipality. Øyer and Ringebu, both with just under 5,000 inhabitants, are located north of Lillehammer, in the valley Gudbrandsdalen. Lillehammer had four venues, Hamar had two venues, while Hunderfossen, Gjøvik, Øyer and Ringebu had one venue each. In Lillehammer, Lysgårdsbakken features twin ski jumping hills. The large hill has a hill size of 138 and a critical point of 120, while the normal hill has a hill size of 100 and a critical point of 90. The hill has capacity for 35,000 spectators and hosted, in addition to the ski jumping events, the opening and closing ceremonies.

Birkebeineren Skistadion Birkebeineren Ski Stadium ( no, Birkebeineren skistadion) is a cross-country skiing and biathlon venue located in Lillehammer, Norway. Situated from the town center and at above mean sea level, it has two stadium areas, one for cross-country ...

featured cross-country skiing and biathlon, with the stadium itself having a capacity for 31,000 spectators during cross-country skiing and 13,500 during biathlon. In addition, spectators could watch from along the tracks.

Kanthugen Freestyle Arena Kanthaugen Freestyle Arena ( no, Kanthaugen Freestyleanlegg) is a freestyle skiing stadium located in the hillside area of Kanthaugen in Lillehammer, Norway. Opened in 1992, it was built for the 1994 Winter Olympics. The venue consists of thre ...

featured a capacity for 15,000 spectators. All the outdoor skiing arenas had free areas, which saw up to 25,000 extra spectators at the team jump and 75,000 extra spectators at the 50 km. Lillehammer Olympic Bobsleigh and Luge Track is located at Hunderfossen. It had a capacity for 10,000 spectators and is the only bobsleigh and luge track in the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; literal translation, lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmar ...

. Ice hockey was played at two venues, in

Håkons Hall Håkons Hall, sometimes anglicized as Håkon Hall and Haakons Hall, is an arena located at Stampesletta in Lillehammer, Norway. With a spectator capacity of 11,500 people, it is the largest handball and ice hockey venue in the country. Håkons ...

in Lillehammer and

Gjøvik Olympic Cavern Hall Gjøvik Olympic Cavern Hall ( no, Gjøvik Olympiske Fjellhall or ) is an ice hockey rink located within a mountain hall in Gjøvik, Norway. With a capacity for 5,500 spectators, the hall also features a 25-meter swimming pool and telecommunicati ...

in Gjøvik. Håkons Hall has a capacity for 10,500 spectators, and also features the

Norwegian Olympic Museum Norwegian Olympic Museum (''Norges Olympiske Museum'') is located at Maihaugen in Lillehammer, Norway. The Norwegian Olympic Museum shows the history of the Olympic Games in ancient and modern times, with a focus on the 1952 Winter Olympics ...

. The Cavern Hall is built as a man-made cave and had a capacity for 5,300 spectators. Skating events took place at two venues in Hamar. Vikingskipet had a capacity for 10,600 spectators and featured speed skating events, while figure skating and short-track speed skating were held at Hamar Olympic Amphitheatre. Alpine skiing was split between two ski resorts:

Hafjell Hafjell is a village and a ski resort in Norway, in the Øyer municipality in the county of Oppland. Hafjell hosted the alpine skiing technical events ( giant slalom and slalom) at the 1994 Winter Olympics; the speed events were held at Kvitfje ...

in Øyer and Kvitfjell in Ringebu. The former was used for the slalom and giant slalom, while the latter hosted downhill and super-G. Spectators relied heavily on the use of buses and trains for transportation. Downtown Lillehammer and the axis between Lillehammer and Oslo were the most limiting areas, and the

Norwegian State Railways Vygruppen, branded as Vy, is a government-owned railway company which operates most passenger train services and many bus services in Norway. The company is owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Transport. Its sub-brands include Vy Buss coach se ...

ran up to 22 trains per day between Oslo and Lillehammer. Trains were also used northwards towards Trondheim, while other areas were served by bus. All the venues were located along railway lines, making use of spectators walking from the stations to the venues to limit road congestion, although special services were available for disabled people. Shuttle buses were established between venues and also connected to park and ride facilities.

Participating National Olympic Committees

A record 67 nations participated in the 1994 Winter Olympics. These Games were the first to implement stricter qualifying standards that prevented low-performing athletes from competing without meeting minimum requirements. As a consequence, eleven "warm-weather countries" that signed up to take part in the Games were mostly absent because very few of their athletes succeeded in qualifying; the number of African athletes fell from nineteen in 1992 to three in 1994. These rules were, however, not applied to bobsled events, enabling the

U.S. Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory ...

, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica to compete in that sport. On 25 October 1993, the United Nations General Assembly urged its members to observe the Olympic truce, lasting from seven days before the start of the Games until seven days after the close, making the Lillehammer Olympics the first to observe the truce. The IOC appealed for a truce in the ongoing

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

and the Siege of Sarajevo, the city that had hosted the

. The former Soviet republics of Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Ukraine and Uzbekistan participated as independent nations. This was the first time since the

that Russia competed independently at the Olympic Games. Athletes of these countries previously competed in the Winter Olympics as part of the Soviet Union team until 1991. The Czech Republic and Slovakia participated for the first time, after the break-up of Czechoslovakia in 1993. Bosnia and Herzegovina made their Olympic debut, following their independence from Yugoslavia in 1992; the composition of their four-man bob team was one Croat, two Bosniaks and a Serb, mirroring the ethnic diversity of the country. This was also Israel's first appearance at the Winter Olympics and a member of the European Olympic Committees. American Samoa participated for the first time, as did Trinidad and Tobago. 1994 Winter Olympics participants

Calendar

:''All dates are in Central European Time ( UTC+1)''

Medal table

Russia won the most golds, while Norway won the most medals overall. The following table presents the top ten nations, sorted by gold medals, with the host nation highlighted.

Podium sweeps

Notes

References

External links

* *
The program of the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics
* * * * * {{Portal bar, 1990s, Olympics, Norway Winter Olympics, 1994 Olympic Games in Norway Winter Olympics, 1994 Winter Olympics by year Sport in Lillehammer Winter multi-sport events in Norway February 1994 sports events in Europe