The 1988 Winter Olympics (officially the XV Olympic Winter Games and also known as Calgary 1988) were an international winter multi-sport event held between February 13 and 28, 1988 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Games were opened as per tradition by Governor-General Jeanne Sauvé. 57 nations competed in 46 events divided into six sports.
The Games were dominated primarily by the Soviet Union and East Germany, both countries that would dissolve before the next Winter Olympic Games. Canada failed to win any gold medals in an official medal event on home soil, something only accomplished once before by the French Olympic team at the 1924 Winter Olympics in Paris.
Bidding[]
Voting[]
Canada hosted only the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Montreal before this, and would go on to host the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.
| Voting results for the 1988 Winter Olympic Games | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City | Country | Round 1 | Round 2 | |||
| Calgary | Canada | 35 | 48 | |||
| Falun | Sweden | 25 | 31 | |||
| Cortina d'Ampezzo | Italy | 18 | ||||
Mascots[]
Hidy and Howdy were the mascots of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta. They were named after western Canadian hospitality. They were last featured on "Welcome to Calgary" signs all over the city before those signs were "respectfully transported" to Canada Olympic Park, a training ground and general recreation area on the outskirts of Calgary. They were the first mascot couple in the Olympics. They were made by Shelia Scott and Great Scott Productions. The names were decided by a vote in the Calgary Zoo. Over 7,000 name ideas were submitted. Originally, a brown bear was considered, but it was already used for the mascot for the Moscow 1980 Winter Olympics. It was eventually decided to use a polar bear; it does not hibernate and is active in the winter, and also illustrates the cold season. They made a brief cameo in the 1993 film Cool Runnings, as it is based on the 1988 Winter Olympics.
Hidy[]
Hidy is a female polar bear. She is supposed to be Howdy's sister. She is dressed in a blue skirt with a bow around her neck and a cowboy hat. She is named after an extension of "hi".
Howdy[]
Howdy is a male polar bear. He is supposed to be Hidy's brother. He is dressed in a western style outfit, also with a bow around his neck, and a cowboy hat on his head. His name derives from a shortened version of "how do you do", a typical greeting in North America.
Historic Moments[]
- Dutch speed skater Yvonne van Gennip set two world records and won three golds.
- For the first time, Jamaica entered a 4-man bobsled team. They did not finish (due to mechanical failure), but the media and spectators fell in love with their spirit despite being against much more skilled teams.
- The men's and woman's Super G alpine event made its first Olympic appearance.
- For the first time, long track speedskating took place indoors.
- For the first time, alpine events took place on artificial snow.
- For the first time, ski jumpers competed in teams.
- Winter Olympics were extended to 16 days for the first time in Olympic history.
- Unseasonably warm Chinook Winds threatened to cancel events and sent a ski jumper flying into a camera tower.
- Michael Edwards, aka Eddie the Eagle, competed on behalf of GBR, winning the hearts and imagination of many spectators.
- The opening and closing ceremonies took place in the same stadium for the first time.
Medal table[]
| Rank | Country | 
|
|
|
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Soviet Union | 11 | 9 | 9 | 29 |
| 2 | East Germany | 9 | 10 | 6 | 25 |
| 3 | Switzerland | 5 | 5 | 5 | 15 |
| 4 | Finland | 4 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| 5 | Sweden | 4 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 6 | Austria | 3 | 5 | 2 | 10 |
| 7 | Netherlands | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| 8 | West Germany | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 |
| 9 | United States | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 10 | Italy | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 11 | France | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 12 | Norway | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 13 | Canada | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 14 | Yugoslavia | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 15 | Czechoslovakia | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 16 | Japan | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 16 | Liechtenstein | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Image Gallery[]
See Also[]
- Logos - A collection of logos featuring this event.
- Torch - Information about this Olympics' torch.
Links[]
| Preceded by Los Angeles 1984 |
Olympics 1988 |
Succeeded by Seoul 1988 |
| Preceded by Sarajevo 1984 |
Winter Olympics 1988 |
Succeeded by Albertville 1992 |