1992 Winter Olympics
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| XVI Olympic Winter Games | |
 The emblem is the Olympic flame |
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| Host city | Albertville, France |
|---|---|
| Nations participating | 64 |
| Athletes participating | 1801 (1313 men, 488 women) |
| Events | 57 in 7 sports |
| Opening ceremony | February 8 |
| Closing ceremony | February 23 |
| Officially opened by | President François Mitterrand |
| Athlete's Oath | Surya Bonaly |
| Judge's Oath | Pierre Bornat |
| Olympic Torch | Michel Platini and François-Cyrille Grange |
| Stadium | Théâtre des Cérémonies |
The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was staged in 1992 in Albertville, France. Other candidate cities were Anchorage, Alaska, USA; Berchtesgaden, Germany; Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy; Lillehammer, Norway; Falun, Sweden; and Sofia, Bulgaria.
In 1986, the International Olympic Committee voted to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same year since 1924, and place them in alternating even-numbered years, beginning in 1994. The 1992 Winter Games were the last to be staged in the same year as the Summer Games.[1] They were also the first Games where the Winter Paralympics and the Winter Olympics were held at the same site. The opening and closing ceremonies were choregraphed by Philippe Decouflé and were a show in themselves. The information below comes from the International Olympic Committee Vote History web page.
| 1992 Winter Olympics Bidding Results | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City | NOC Name | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 (Runoff) |
Round 6 |
| Albertville |  France |
19 | 26 | 29 | 42 | - | 51 |
| Sofia |  Bulgaria |
25 | 25 | 28 | 24 | - | 25 |
| Falun |  Sweden |
10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 41 | 9 |
| Lillehammer |  Norway |
10 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 40 | - |
| Cortina d'Ampezzo |  Italy |
7 | 6 | 7 | - | - | - |
| Anchorage, Alaska |  United States |
7 | 5 | - | - | - | - |
| Berchtesgaden |  Germany |
6 | - | - | - | - | - |
Contents |
[edit] Athletic highlights
- Freestyle skiing event of moguls and short-track speedskating made their debuts as medal disciplines, as did women's biathlon.
- Norwegian skiers won every male cross-country skiing race. Bjørn Dæhlie and Vegard Ulvang each won three gold medals.
- Speedskater Bonnie Blair won both the 500 and 1,000 m events; Gunda Niemann took both of the longest races.
- Ski jumper Toni Nieminen, 16, became the youngest male gold medalist of a Winter Olympic event.
- Italian alpine skier Alberto Tomba won the Giant Slalom for the second time in a row.
- Austrian alpine skier Petra Kronberger won both the combined event and the slalom.
- Kim Kihoon earned gold medals in both men's short-track events.
- Annelise Coberger of New Zealand wins the southern hemisphere's first Winter Olympic medal—a silver in the women's slalom.
- Kristi Yamaguchi and Midori Ito of the United States and Japan respectively, became the first persons of Asian descent to win Olympic medals in figure skating.
[edit] Medals awarded
See the medal winners, ordered by sport:
[edit] Demonstration sports
- Curling - Competed for the first time since 1924. It became a regular discipline in 1998.
- Freestyle skiing - While moguls skiing was an official discipline, aerials and ski ballet were still considered as demonstration events.
- Speed skiing - The sport has not made a return to the Winter Olympics program. A death occurred during a training session.
[edit] Participating nations
A total of 64 nations sent athletes to compete in these Games. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, six states formed a Unified Team, while the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania had their own teams. Croatia and Slovenia, who were making their first appearance at the Winter Olympics, competed as independent nations after leaving Yugoslavia. The UN sanctions against Yugoslavia that saw them miss the 1992 Summer Olympics had yet to come into effect. The German team won most medals in the games, with a total of 10 gold medals, 10 silver and 6 bronze. It was the first time since the 1936 Winter Olympics that Germany competed with a unified team after the reunification.
Making their debuts were Algeria, Bermuda, Brazil, Honduras, Ireland and Swaziland. It would also be the only appearance for both Honduras and Swaziland in Winter Olympics to date.
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[edit] Venues
The 1992 Games were as of today the last ones where the speed skating venue was outdoors.
- Albertville
- Halle Olympique - Figure Skating and Short Track
- Anneau de vitesse - Speed skating
- Théâtre des Cérémonies - Opening and Closing Ceremonies
- Les Arcs - Speed skiing
- Courchevel - Ski jumping and Nordic combined
- Les Ménuires - Slalom men
- Méribel - Alpine Skiing Women
- Méribel Ice Palace - Hockey
- La Plagne - Luge and Bobsled
- Pralognan-la-Vanoise - Curling
- Les Saisies - Nordic skiing and biathlon
- Tignes - Freestyle skiing
- Val d'Isère - Giant, Super G, downhill, combined men
[edit] Medal count
(Host nation is highlighted.)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Germany |
10 | 10 | 6 | 26 |
| 2 |  Unified Team¹ |
9 | 6 | 8 | 23 |
| 3 | Norway |
9 | 6 | 5 | 20 |
| 4 |  Austria |
6 | 7 | 8 | 21 |
| 5 | United States |
5 | 4 | 2 | 11 |
| 6 | Italy |
4 | 6 | 4 | 14 |
| 7 | France |
3 | 5 | 1 | 9 |
| 8 |  Finland |
3 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| 9 |  Canada |
2 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| 10 |  South Korea |
2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
(¹ combined team with athletes from 6 nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States; team only appeared in these Winter Olympics)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Albertville 1992". www.olympic.org. http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/index_uk.asp?OLGT=2&OLGY=1992. Retrieved on 2008-09-12.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: 1992 Winter Olympics |
- IOC Site on 1992 Winter Olympics
- Olympic Review - Official Results
- Pins collection on Albertville 1992 Olympic Winter Games
- The program of the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics
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