The 1998 Winter Olympics (officially the XVIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Nagano 1998) were an international winter multi-sport event held between 7 and 22 February 1998 in and around Nagano, Japan. 72 nations competed in seven sports split into 68 events.
Bidding[]
Voting[]
| Voting results for the 1998 Winter Olympic Games | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City | Country | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | |
| Nagano | Japan | 21 | 30 | 36 | 46 | |
| Salt Lake City | United States | 15 | 59 | 27 | 29 | 42 |
| Östersund | Sweden | 18 | 25 | 23 | ||
| Jaca | Spain | 19 | 5 | |||
| Aosta | Italy | 15 | 29 | |||
Mascots[]
Sukki, Nokki, Lekki, and Tsukki (also known together as the Snowlets) and Parabbit were the mascots of the 1998 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games in Nagano, Japan. Originally, a weasel named Snowple was going to be the mascot but it was scrapped early on. The 4 represent the 4 elements (Sukki represents fire, Nokki represents air, Lekki represents earth, and Tsukki represents water) and the 4 major islands of Japan: Hokkaido, Kyushu, Honshu, and Shikoku. The Snowlets were named because "snow" means of the snow in the Winter Olympics, and "lets" refer to "let's", an invitation to join the celebration of the Games. They were owls because owls are known as "the wisdom of the woods". Also, in Greek mythology, the goddess Athena is the goddess of wisdom, and owls are associated with her. They were made by Landor Associates, who also designed Atlanta 1996's torch, and helped design Powder, Copper, and Coal, the mascots of Salt Lake City 2002. The 4 mascots also references that the Olympics take place every 4 years. The mascots were also chosen out of over 47,000 submissions.
Parabbit[]
Parrabit is a rabbit with a blue suit and has 1 ear that is green, while the other is red, and also has skis. Parabbit also appears on the Paralympic Games logo.
Torch[]
The torch used for the Nagano 1998 was modelled after a traditional Japanese torch, and the hexagonal silver form is intended to represent snow crystals.
Historic Events[]
- Curling returned as an Olympic sport for the first time since Chamonix 1924. To which Switzerland got the men's gold and Canada got the woman's gold.
- Snowboarding debuted as an Olympic sport.
- Women's ice hockey appeared for the first time, with the United States winning the gold medal.
- Players from the National Hockey League were able to compete because of a three-week suspension of the NHL season.
- Denmark won its first-ever Olympic medal, a silver in curling.
- Australia won their first individual Winter Olympic medal when Zali Steggall won bronze in the women's slalom.
- Azerbaijan, Kenya, the Republic of Macedonia, Uruguay, and Venezuela made their first appearances at the Olympic Winter Games.
Medal table[]
| Rank | Country | 
|
|
|
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Germany | 12 | 9 | 8 | 29 |
| 2 | Norway | 10 | 10 | 5 | 25 |
| 3 | Russia | 9 | 6 | 3 | 18 |
| 4 | Canada | 6 | 5 | 4 | 15 |
| 5 | United States | 6 | 3 | 4 | 13 |
| 6 | Netherlands | 5 | 4 | 2 | 11 |
| 7 | Japan | 5 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| 8 | Austria | 3 | 5 | 9 | 17 |
| 9 | South Korea | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 10 | Italy | 2 | 6 | 2 | 10 |
| 11 | Finland | 2 | 4 | 6 | 12 |
| 12 | Switzerland | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| 13 | France | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8 |
| 14 | Czech Republic | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 15 | Bulgaria | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 | China | 0 | 6 | 2 | 8 |
| 17 | Sweden | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 18 | Denmark | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 18 | Ukraine | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 20 | Belarus | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 20 | Kazakhstan | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 22 | Australia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 22 | Belgium | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 22 | Great Britain | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Gallery[]
See also[]
- Torch - Information about this Olympics' torch.
Links[]
| Preceded by Atlanta 1996 |
Olympics 1998 |
Succeeded by Sydney 2000 |
| Preceded by Lillehammer 1994 |
Winter Olympics 1998 |
Succeeded by Salt Lake City 2002 |