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 A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of interna ...

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 munic ...

, 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 ...

Albertville Albertville (; Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile'') is a subprefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. It is best known for hosting the 1992 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. In 2018, the commune had ...

in France, Lillehammer was awarded the 1994 Winter Games on 15 September 1988, at the 94th IOC Session in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

, South Korea. This was the only

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

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 ina ...

. 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 19 ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

— 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 Swe ...

, 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, b ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

, 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 ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, Finland. Lillehammer is the northernmost city ever to host the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

. This was the last of three consecutive Olympics held in Europe, with Albertville and

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

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 Hamar is a town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the traditional region of Hedmarken. The town is located on the shores of Mjøsa, Norway's largest lak ...

, some

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

matches were played in

Gjøvik is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Toten Toten is a traditional district in Innlandet county in the eastern part of Norway. It consists of the municipalities Østre Toten and Vestre ...

, 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 ...

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 ...

. Sixty-seven National Olympic Committees and 1,737 athletes participated in six

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

and sixty-one events. Fourteen countries made their Winter Olympic debuts, of which nine were former

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

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 Short-track speed skating is a form of competitive ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters (typically between four and six) skate on an oval ice track with a length of . The rink itself is long by wide, which is the same size as ...

and aerials, while

speed skating Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skati ...

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 Paral ...

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 recreatio ...

, taking five and four medals for

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

respectively. A crowd of more than 100,000 saw Italy beat

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

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 Nancy Ann Kerrigan (born October 13, 1969) is an American figure skater and actress. She won bronze medals at the 1991 World Championships and the 1992 Winter Olympics, silver medals at the 1992 World Championships and the 1994 Winter Olympi ...

won silver in ladies' singles, despite being attacked a few weeks before the Games by

Tonya Harding Tonya Maxene Price (née Harding; born November 12, 1970) is an American former figure skater, retired boxer and a reality television personality. Born in Portland, Oregon, Harding was raised primarily by her mother, who enrolled her in ice s ...

's associate Shane Stant; 16-year-old

Oksana Baiul , altname= Oksana Baiul-Farina , birth_date= , birth_place=Dnipro, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union , residence= , height= , formercoach= Galina Zmievskaya Valentyn Nikolayev Stanislav Koritek , formerchoreographer= Sarah Kawahara , formertra ...

edged Kerrigan to win the gold medal, marking the first time the Ukrainian national anthem was played at the Olympics.

Johann Olav Koss Johann Olav Koss, (born 29 October 1968) is a former speed skater from Norway. He won four Olympic gold medals, including three at the 1994 Winter Olympics in his home country. Biography Johann Olav Koss was born in Drammen, Buskerud County, N ...

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 countries, Nordic c ...

defeated

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

in a dramatic

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

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 Falun () is a city and the seat of Falun Municipality in Dalarna County, Sweden, with 37,291 inhabitants in 2010. It is also the capital of Dalarna County. Falun forms, together with Borlänge, a metropolitan area with just over 100,000 inhabitan ...

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, maki ...

. 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 th ...

, 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

, France. In 1985, the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...

(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 ...

(United States),

Östersund Östersund (; sma, Staare) is an urban area (city) in Jämtland in the middle of Sweden. It is the seat of Östersund Municipality and the capital of Jämtland County. Östersund is located at the shores of Sweden's fifth-largest lake, Storsjön, ...

(Sweden), and

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

(Bulgaria). Lillehammer was elected to host the 1994 Winter Games at the 94th IOC Session, held in

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 A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

, 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 i ...

.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 larges ...

(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 service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who are members of the C ...

(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 , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

in Japan, CTV in Canada, the

Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU or APBU), formed in 1964, is a non-profit, professional association of broadcasting organisations. It currently has over 287 members in 57 countries and regions, reaching a potential audience of about 3 bil ...

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 , commonly known as Seiko ( , ), is a Japanese maker of watches, clocks, electronic devices, semiconductors, jewelry, and optical products. Founded in 1881 by Kintarō Hattori in Tokyo, Seiko introduced one of the first quartz watches and the ...

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 worldwi ...

, 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 Lysgårdsbakken, officially known as Lysgårdsbakkene Ski Jumping Arena ( no, Lysgårdsbakkene hoppanlegg), is a ski jumping hill in Lillehammer, Norway. It consists of a large hill, with a K-point of 123 and a hill size of 138, and a small hill ...

. Artistic content was made to present a range of Norwegian culture, included

Sami Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...

joik A joik or yoik (anglicised, where the latter spelling in English conforms with the pronunciation; also named , , , or in the Sámi languages) is a traditional form of song in Sámi music performed by the Sámi people of Sapmi in Northern Europ ...

Telemark skiing Telemark skiing is a skiing technique that combines elements of Alpine and Nordic skiing, using the rear foot to keep balance while pushing on the front foot to create a carving turn on downhill skis with toe-only bindings. Telemark skiing is n ...

, 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 per ...

. After speeches by Heiberg and IOC president

Juan Antonio Samaranch Juan Antonio Samaranch y Torelló, 1st Marquess of Samaranch (Catalan: ''Joan Antoni Samaranch i Torelló'', ; 17 July 1920 – 21 April 2010) was a Spanish sports administrator under the Franco regime (1973–1977) who served as the seventh P ...

, the games were officially declared opened by King Harald V. The

Olympic Flame The Olympic flame is a symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. Several months before the Olympic Games, the Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece. This ceremony starts the Olymp ...

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 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 wi ...

, 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 Au ...

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 fami ...

. The Olympic oaths were issued by

Vegard Ulvang Vegard Ulvang (born 10 October 1963, in Kirkenes) is a Norwegian cross-country skier who won three Olympic gold medals, two silver, and one bronze. He has retired from international and Olympic competition. At the opening ceremony of the 1994 W ...

for the athletes and

Kari Kåring Kari Elida Kåring (born 3 December 1948) is a Norway, Norwegian speed skater and sports official. She was born in Lillehammer, and represented the club Lillehammer SK (skating), Lillehammer SK. She participated in the 1968 Winter Olympics, placin ...

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 Super giant slalom, or super-G, is a racing discipline of alpine skiing. Along with the faster downhill, it is regarded as a "speed" event, in contrast to the technical events giant slalom and slalom. It debuted as an official World Cup event d ...

. 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 th ...

and super-G, finishing ahead of the United States's Tommy Moe on the super-G. Moe won the downhill ahead of Norway's

Kjetil André Aamodt Kjetil André Aamodt (born 2 September 1971) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Norway, a champion in the Olympics, World Championships, and World Cup. He is one of the most successful alpine ski racers from Norway. Biography Born in ...

, 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, 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 Champions ...

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 combined 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 Olymp ...

, who took a third place in both downhill and

. The downhill was won by Germany's

Katja Seizinger Katja Seizinger (; born 10 May 1972) is a former World Cup alpine ski racing champion, Germany's most successful alpine skier. Biography Born in Datteln, North Rhine-Westphalia, Seizinger won three Olympic gold and two bronze medals, and won ...

, 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. Forest ...

, and the combined by Sweden's

Pernilla Wiberg Pernilla Wiberg (born 15 October 1970) is a Swedish former alpine ski racer and businesswoman. She competed on the World Cup circuit between 1990 and 2002, where she became one of the few all-event winners. Having won two Olympic gold medals, ...

Biathlon

Russia and Germany split all the individual men's medals. In the 10 km sprint, Russia's

Sergei Tchepikov Sergei Vladimirovich Tchepikov (russian: Серге́й Влади́мирович Че́пиков; born 30 January 1967) is a Russian politician and a former Soviet- Russian biathlete and cross-country skier who competed at six Winter Olympics, ...

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 w ...

, 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 Myriam Bédard, (born December 22, 1969) is a Canadian retired biathlete. She represented Canada at two Winter Olympics winning gold medals, and a bronze medal. As of 2022, Bédard is the only Canadian biathlete, male or female, ever to win an ...

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 199 ...

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 s ...

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,

Donat Acklin Donat Acklin (born 6 June 1965 in Herznach) is a Swiss 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, 1994), one silver (Four-man: 1994), and one br ...

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 co ...

and Guido Acklin, who were again 0.15 seconds ahead of Italy's

Günther Huber Günther Huber (born 28 October 1965) is an Italian bobsledder who competed in the 1990s. Before taking up bobsledding, he had originally started his sporting career in luge, with his most notable result being a third place in doubles in the 1982 ...

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 ...

, 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, Karste ...

, 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 Olymp ...

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 th ...

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 stu ...

won the 30 km, while Finland's

Mika Myllylä Mika Kristian Myllylä (12 September 1969 – 5 July 2011) was a Finnish cross-country skier who competed from 1992 to 2005. He won six medals at the Winter Olympics, earning one gold (1998: 30 km), one silver (1994: 50 km), and four b ...

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. 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,

'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 The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in Col ...

initiated proceedings to remove her from the Olympic team, but Harding retained her place after threatening legal action. In the ladies' singles, Ukraine's

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 Elvis Stojko, (born March 22, 1972) is a Canadian figure skater. He was a three-time World champion (1994, 1995, 1997), two-time Olympic silver medallist (1994, 1998), and seven-time Canadian champion (1994, 1996–2000, and 2002). Personal ...

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, 199 ...

. 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 ...

rules led to several former stars returning, such as

ice dancing Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. A ...

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 ...

, 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 dancer. With Alexander Zhulin, she is a two-time Olympic medalist ( 1994 silver, 1992 bronze), the 1993 World champion, ...

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 f ...

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 ...

. 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 in Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in ...

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 Leagu ...

, 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 Danish national ice hockey team. Jonsson was drafted by the New York Islanders in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft in t ...

, Håkan Loob and Mats Näslund becoming the first three members of the

Triple Gold Club The Triple Gold Club is the group of ice hockey players and coaches who have won an Olympic Games gold medal, a World Championship gold medal, and the Stanley Cup, the championship trophy of the National Hockey League (NHL). The International Ice ...

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 (2002) ...

and Italy's

Armin Zöggeler Armin Zöggeler OMRI (born 4 January 1974) is a retired Italian luger and double Olympic champion. He is one of the most successful men in the sport, nicknamed ''Il Cannibale'' ("The Cannibal"), for his notable series of victories, or ''The Iceb ...

. In the

doubles Men's doubles, Women's doubles or Mixed doubles are sports having two players per side, including; * Beach volleyball * Doubles badminton * Doubles curling * Footvolley * Doubles pickleball * Doubles squash * Doubles table tennis * Doubles te ...

, 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 Lilleham ...

winning ahead of

Hansjörg Raffl Hansjörg Raffl (born 29 January 1958 in Olang) is an Italian former luger who competed from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s. Competing in five Winter Olympics, he won two medals in the men's doubles event with a silver i ...

and

Norbert Huber Norbert Huber (born 3 September 1964) is an Italian former luger who competed from the early 1980s to the late 1990s. Huber was born in Bruneck, South Tyrol. Competing in four Winter Olympics, ...

. 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 Oly ...

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 (born 20 December 1969) is a Japanese politician and former Nordic combined skier who won several medals at the Winter Olympics, the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, and the Holmenkollen ski festival. He won gold medals in the Nordic combi ...

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 (born March 7, 1969) is a former Japanese nordic combined skier who competed during the 1990s, winning at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, the Winter Olympics, and the Holmenkollen ski festival. Kono won three medals at the Winter Olympi ...

, Norway's

Bjarte Engen Vik Bjarte Engen Vik (born 3 March 1971 in Tromsø) is a Norwegian former nordic combined athlete. He won the FIS World Cup overall twice, in 1997/98 and 1998/99 with a total of 24 wins. He also has eight medals from the FIS Nordic World Ski Champi ...

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 South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, 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 ...

won the men's 500 meters, while taking silver on the 1000 meters behind countryman

Kim Ki-Hoon Kim Ki-hoon (born July 14, 1967) is a retired short-track speed skater and the first gold medalist in the Winter Olympics for South Korea. Kim is a three-time Olympic Champion and 1992 Overall World Champion. Career Kim first garnered atte ...

, who defended his 1992 gold. The bronze was won by Canada's Marc Gagnon, who won the B final. In the A final, countryman Derrick Campbell 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 Ro ...

, 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 country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. 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 and South Korea's

Chun Lee-Kyung Chun Lee-kyung ( Hangul: 전이경, Hanja: 全利卿; born January 6, 1976, in Okcheon, Chungcheongbuk-do) is a retired South Korean short track speed skater. She is a four-time Olympic Champion and three-time Overall World Champion for 199 ...

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 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 succ ...

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 w ...

. In the large hill, Germany's

Jens Weißflog Jens Weißflog (, ; born 21 July 1964) is a German former ski jumper. He is one of the best and most successful ski jumpers in the history of the sport. Only Finns Matti Nykänen and Janne Ahonen, Poles Adam Małysz and Kamil Stoch and Austrian ...

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 (born 9 May 1968) is a Japanese former ski jumper. He is best remembered for a meltdown at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, which cost the Japanese national team a victory, and his subsequent redemption at the 1998 Winter Olympics in N ...

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

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 ...

. The men's 500 meters was won by Russia's Aleksandr Golubev ahead of fellow countryman Sergey Klevchenya, while the men's 1000 meters was won by American

Dan Jansen Daniel Erwin Jansen (born June 17, 1965) is a retired American speed skater. A multiple world champion in sprint and perennial favorite at the Winter Olympics, he broke a ten-year Olympic jinx when he won a gold medal in his final race, which ...

. For women, American

Bonnie Blair Bonnie Kathleen Blair (born March 18, 1964) is a retired American speed skater. She is one of the top skaters of her era, and one of the most decorated athletes in Olympic history. Blair competed for the United States in four Olympics, winning ...

defended her two 1992 golds in 500 meters and 1000 meters. 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 Athleti ...

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 Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann (née Kleemann, born 7 September 1966) is a German former speed skater. She is a three-time Olympic gold medallist, winning the 3000 metres in 1992 and 1998 and the 5000 metres in 1992. She won a total of eight Olympic m ...

. 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 fema ...

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 иг� ...

which was at worst moment of the Yugoslavian Civil War,the

Siege of Sarajevo The Siege of Sarajevo ( sh, Opsada Sarajeva) was a prolonged blockade of Sarajevo, the capital of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War. After it was initially besieged by the forces of the Yugoslav ...

. 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 Thor Heyerdahl KStJ (; 6 October 1914 – 18 April 2002) was a Norwegian adventurer and ethnographer with a background in zoology, botany and geography. Heyerdahl is notable for his ''Kon-Tiki'' expedition in 1947, in which he sailed 8,000& ...

, 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 (n ...

,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 th ...

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 The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not time ...

and

; the games also introduced

ice sledge hockey Sledge hockey, also known as Sled hockey in American English, and Para ice hockey in international competition, is an adaptation of ice hockey for players who have a physical disability. The sport was invented in the early 1960s at a rehabilitat ...

. 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 ...

Geilo is a centre in the municipality of Hol in Viken county, Norway. Geilo is primarily a ski resort town, with around 2,500 inhabitants. It is situated in the valley of Hallingdal, 250 km from Oslo and 260 km from Bergen. The Bergen Line ...

. 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 func ...

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 A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

in two

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Oppland Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The c ...

and Hedmark.

, with 25,000 inhabitants, and

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 Gudbrandsdalen (; en, Gudbrand Valley) is a valley and traditional district in the Norwegian county of Innlandet (formerly Oppland). The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer and the lake of Mjøsa, extending tow ...

. Lillehammer had four venues, Hamar had two venues, while Hunderfossen, Gjøvik, Øyer and Ringebu had one venue each. In Lillehammer,

features twin

ski jumping hill A ski jumping hill is a sports venue used for ski jumping. They vary in size from temporary handmade snow structures to permanent competition venues. At the top is an in-run where the jumper runs down to generate sufficient speed, before reaching ...

s. 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 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 Lillehammer Olympic Bobsleigh and Luge Track ( no, Lillehammer Olympiske Bob- og Akebane) is a bobsleigh, luge and skeleton track located at Hunderfossen in Lillehammer, Norway, north of the town center of Lillehammer. It was completed in 1992 ...

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''; 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 Sw ...

. 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 CC Amfi, also known as Nordlyshallen ("The Northern Light Hall"), is an indoor sports arena in Hamar, Norway. It is mostly used for ice hockey and is the home arena of Storhamar Hockey. It has also been used for short track speed skating, figur ...

. 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 Kvitfjel ...

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 ...

ran up to 22 trains per day between Oslo and Lillehammer. Trains were also used northwards towards

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, an ...

, 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 A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system ( ...

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,

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

and

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

to compete in that sport. On 25 October 1993, the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

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

, the city that had hosted the

. The former Soviet republics of

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistri ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

and

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

participated as independent nations. This was the first time since the

that

competed independently at the Olympic Games. Athletes of these countries previously competed in the Winter Olympics as part of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

team until 1991. The

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

and

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

participated for the first time, after the break-up of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

in 1993.

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...

made their Olympic debut, following their independence from

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

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 Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

's first appearance at the Winter Olympics and a member of the European Olympic Committees.

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the Internatio ...

participated for the first time, as did Trinidad and Tobago. 1994 Winter Olympics participants

Calendar

:''All dates are in

Central European Time Central European Time (CET) is a standard time which is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The time offset from UTC can be written as UTC+01:00. It is used in most parts of Europe and in a few North African countries. CE ...

(

UTC+1 UTC+01:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +01:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2019-02-07T23:28:34+01:00. This time is used in: *Central European Time *West Africa Time *Western European Summer Time **B ...

)''

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