Turkey sent a delegation to compete at 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 ...

in Nagano,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

from 7–22 February 1998. This was Turkey's 12th time appearing at a Winter Olympic Games. The Turkish delegation to Nagano consisted of a single alpine skier, Arif Alaftargil. In the men's slalom, he finished in 29th place.

Background

The Turkish Olympic Committee was recognized by the International Olympic Committee on 1 January 1911. They have participated in almost every

Summer Olympic Games 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 ...

since, except for

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

, and the boycotted

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

. Since their first Winter Olympics participation at the

1936 Winter Olympics The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games (german: IV. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936 ( bar, Garmasch-Partakurch 1936), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 ...

, Turkey has only missed three editions of the Winter Games, the

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

, and the

1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Lake Placid was elected ...

. Nagano was Turkey's 12th appearance at a Winter Olympics. The 1998 Winter Olympics were held from 7–22 February 1998; a total of 2,176 athletes took part, representing 72 National Olympic Committees. The Turkish delegation to Nagano consisted of a single alpine skier, Arif Alaftargil. He was chosen as the flag bearer for the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

Alpine skiing

Arif Alaftargil was 24 years old at the time of the Nagano Olympics, and was making his Olympic debut. In the two-run men's slalom, held on 21 February, he finished the first run in a time of 1 minute and 12.36 seconds. He completed the second run in a similar time of 1 minute and 12.73 seconds, making his combined time 2 minutes and 25.09 seconds. This placed him 29th, out of 31 skiers who finished both legs of the race; however over 30 skiers failed to finish both runs. The gold medal was won in 1 minute and 49.31 seconds by

Hans Petter Buraas Hans Petter Buraas (born 20 March 1975 in Bærum) is a Norwegian Alpine skier. He won the slalom gold medal at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano. He has raced 10 seasons in the World Cup (per 2005), and he obtained one victory in a World Cup ...

of Norway, the silver by fellow Norwegian

Ole Kristian Furuseth Ole Kristian Furuseth (born 7 January 1967) is a retired Norwegian Alpine skiing, alpine skier. He scored his first Alpine Skiing World Cup, World Cup victory in Furano Ski Resort, Furano in 1989 and his final World Cup victory in Bormio in 2000, ...

, and the bronze was taken by

Thomas Sykora Thomas Sykora (born 18 May 1968) is a former alpine skier from Austria. Biography Thomas comes from a sporting family: his father Ernst Sykora was a ski instructor, and his aunts Liese Prokop and Maria Sykora were both successful athletes. ...

of Austria.

References

{{country at games navbox, Turkey, Olympics Nations at the 1998 Winter Olympics

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

1998 in Turkish sport