XV Olympic Winter Games
The emblem is a stylized, pentagon-shaped, snowflake and/or maple leaf, made up of five large and five small letters of “C” to symbolize the country of Canada and the city of Calgary, above the Olympic rings.
Host city	Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Nations participating	57
Athletes participating	1423 (1122 men, 301 women)
Events	46 in 6 sports
Opening ceremony	February 13
Closing ceremony	February 28
Officially opened by	Governor General Jeanne Sauvé
Stadium	w:McMahon Stadium

The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known XV Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and was opened as per tradition by the Governor-General of Canada at the time, Jeanne Sauvé. 57 nations competed in 46 events divided into 6 sports.

Dominated primarily by the Soviet Union and East Germany, both countries that would dissolve before the next winter Olympics. The host country, Canada, failed to win any gold medals, something only accomplished once before by the French Olympic team at the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix.
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.

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 mens and woman's Super G alpine event made it's first Olympic appearance.
• For the first time long track speedskating took place indoors.
• For the first time alpine events took place on artificial snow.
• Winter Olympics were extended to 16 days for the first time in Olympic history.
• Unseasonably warm Chinook Winds treatened to cancel events, and sent a ski jumper flying into a camera tower.
• The opening and closing ceremonies took place in the same stadium for the first time.

Medals

1. Soviet Union 11 Gold, 9 Silver and 9 Bronze. 29 Total
2. German Democratic Republic (East Germany) 9 Gold, 10 Silver and 6 Bronze. 25 Total
3. Switzerland 5 Gold, 5 Silver and 5 Bronze. 15 Total
4. Austria 3 Gold, 5 Silver and 2 Bronze. 10 Total
5. Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) 2 Gold, 4 Silver and 2 Bronze. 8 Total
6. Finland 4 Gold, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze. 7 Total
7. Netherlands 3 Gold, 2 Silver and 2 Bronze. 7 Total
8. Sweden 4 Gold and 2 Bronze. 6 Total
9. United States of America 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 3 Bronze. 6 Total
10. Italy 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze. 5 Total
11. Norway 3 Silver and 2 Bronze. 5 Total
12. Canada 2 Silver and 3 Bronze. 5 Total
13. Yugoslavia 2 Silver and 1 Bronze. 3 Total
14. Czechoslovakia 1 Silver and 2 Bronze. 3 Total
15. France 1 Gold and 1 Bronze. 2 Total
16. Liechtenstein 1 Bronze. 1 Total
17. Japan 1 Bronze. 1 Total

Image Gallery

The Calgary 1988 olympic torch

A Calgary gold medal

Hidy and Howdy, the Olympic mascots.

A drawing of the mascots

Brian Orser carrying the Canadian flag in the opening ceremony

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See Also

• Logos - A collection of logos featuring this event.
• Mascots - The official mascots of this Olympics'.
• Torch - Information about this Olympics' torch.

Links