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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[]

Snowlets

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[]

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[]

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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 Gold Silver Bronze 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
Olympic Games
Summer Olympic Games
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Winter Olympic Games
Chamonix 1924St. Moritz 1928Lake Placid 1932Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936St. Moritz 1948Oslo 1952Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956Squaw Valley 1960Innsbruck 1964Grenoble 1968Sapporo 1972Innsbruck 1976Lake Placid 1980Sarajevo 1984Calgary 1988Albertville 1992Lillehammer 1994Nagano 1998Salt Lake City 2002Torino 2006Vancouver 2010Sochi 2014Pyeongchang 2018Beijing 2022Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo 2026
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