1988 Winter Olympics

The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games, were celebrated in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and opened by Governor General Jeanne Sauvé. The Olympics were highly successful financially as they brought in million-dollar profits. The games left a lasting impression on the host city and gave it a new identity from a cowtown to a large commercial sector of the country.

1988 was also the last year that the Paralympic Games and the Winter Olympics were held in separate cities; all subsequent games have been hosted by the same city or a city nearby.

As at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, the Canadian team failed to win a gold medal, matching only Yugoslavia in the dubious distinction of not having won a winter gold medal on home soil.

History

Background

Calgary first tried for the Olympics in 1964, and again in 1968.

Calgary won the Olympic Games on September 30 1981 beating out Falun, Sweden and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. The vote held by the IOC in Baden-Baden West Germany saw Calgary had the lead in the first round of voting, the second round saw it officially win with a vote of 35 to 25 over the city of Falun.

All levels of government helped to fund the games. The federal government provided $225 million (note all figures listed in CDN funds, not adjusted for inflation), the province of Alberta paid $125 million and the city of Calgary with $50 million. The American host network, ABC paid a then record $398 million, with the Canadian CTV television network paying domestic rights for $45 million. A further $90 million was raised by sponsorships and licenses.

Concern was raised almost from the beginning about the suitability of Calgary weather for hosting the winter Olympics. The area of the province frequently and unpredictably is plagued with chinook winds which are periods where the weather becomes extremely unseasonably mild (in the plus Celsius range). A year prior to the event the Whit Fraser report hinted that there was a possibility that mild winter weather could cause major problems for the games. There were indeed minor problems--for example, a bobsled run had to be re-run.

The Olympic Torch Relay (marked as 'Share the Flame') was the longest relay in Olympic history. In 88 days the torch modeled after the Calgary Tower was carried by famous and ordinary citizens in a run across Canada. Citzens won the chance to run a 1km distance by entering a contest lottery sponsored by Petro Canada.

Highlights

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Brian Orser carrying the Canadian flag at the opening ceremony

The Games were opened by The Right Honourable Jeanne Sauvé, Governor General of Canada, on behalf of the Queen of Canada, Elizabeth II at McMahon Stadium. The opening ceremonies took place outdoors in a football stadium.

Matti Nykänen from Finland dominated ski jumping events, winning three gold medals.
Dutch speed skater Yvonne van Gennip won three gold medals, setting two world records.
Alberto Tomba from Italy won two gold medals in alpine skiing.
Two competitors, Eddie 'the Eagle' Edwards in ski jumping and the Jamaican Bobsled Team, entered their respective competitions with little experience and less chance of winning any medals. However, the determination of these novices to compete in spite of being outmatched by their competitors won the affection of the spectators which overshadowed the actual winners. They were hailed as demonstrating the true Olympic spirit as playing for the simple thrill of competition. The story of the bobsledding team was made into a Disney film called Cool Runnings.
The Super G alpine skiing event for both men and women made its Olympic debut.
Curling, Freestyle skiing, short track speed skating and paralympic skiing were demonstration events.
For the first time, the Winter Olympics were extended to 16 days, the speed skating events were held indoors on a covered rink, the alpine events took place on artificial snow, and warm Chinook winds not only threatened to cancel events, but sent a ski jumper flying into a camera tower.
For the first time, the Closing Ceremony was held in the same main Olympic stadium as the Opening Ceremony.

Legacy

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Canada Olympic Park as it is today.

The games are notable for turning a profit. A surplus of between $90-$150 million was made, with the money going to fund the various Olympic venues in Calgary. Ever mindful of the financial disaster of the 1976 Summer Olympics, Calgary was financially successful, erasing the spectre of a second Canadian games at a loss. Its use of the profits for the future Canada Olympic Park and the funding of Canadian athletes through the Calgary Olympic Development Association (CODA) gave Calgary a lasting legacy and impact on the Canadian sports scene.

It also provided funds for the maintenance and upgrading of athletic facilities in Calgary, Banff, and Lake Louise. Well after the Olympics ended, CODA has continued to use its resources to develop resources for Olympic athletes in the city, which includes supporting Canada's first high school designed for Olympic calibre athletes, in a partnership with the Calgary Board of Education.

Not only was there a profound economic impact, there was a substantial social one as well. From the unprecedented volunteer involvement in staging the games, to a program where ordinary Calgarians could purchase, for $19.88 in the summer of 1986, a brick at the medal presentation plaza with their name laser-engraved on it, the involvement of ordinary Calgarians was evident. This was of paramount importance to the organizing committee, OCO'88, as it kept the games from appearing distant and "out of reach".

In 1999, a bribery scandal hit the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) for the 2002 Winter Olympics. There was talk of stripping the rights of hosting the games away from the city. Calgary then offered to step in and host the 2002 Winter Olympics, if Salt Lake City was unable to host the games.

Calgary tried again for the Winter Olympic Games in 2010, but lost out when the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) chose Vancouver as the city that would represent the Canadian bid. Eventually, Vancouver was chosen to host the 2010 Winter Olympics over PyeongChang, Korea, and Salzburg, Austria in July 2003.

Unfortunately, like in Montreal, the host Canadian team again failed to obtain a gold medal. The Canadian Olympic Committee has pledged to change this at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver with a program called Own the Podium - 2010, and the Olympic team's success in Turin 2006 made that seem like a distinct possibility.

In the continuing legacy of the 1988 Winter Olympics, the Alberta provincial government, with Premier Ed Stelmach, on August 30, 2007, committed $69-million CDN, of the Calgary Olympic Development Association (CODA) $276-million CDN overall project cost, to construct Canada's first Centre of Sport Excellence. This announcement included the unveiling of a new facility design for Canada Olympic Park (COP) called the Athletic and Ice Complex. It has already given funds recently to upgrade and/or maintain existing Olympic winter venues in Calgary and Canmore, Alberta. $25.6-million CDN was provided to renovate the Canmore Nordic Centre Provincial Park area, in time for the 2005 Alberta Centennial FIS World Cup event. $600,000 CDN was spent in maintaining the ski jumping venue at Canada Olympic Park. Premier Stelmach Delivers First Phase of Funding to Push Forward Construction of CODA's Centre of Sport Excellence On October 5, 2007, the Canadian federal government promised an additional CDN$40-million toward the project, according to the article written by the CBC: the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Feds Chip In $40 Million For Calgary Sports Paradise

Medals awarded

See the medal winners, ordered by sport:

Demonstration sports

Venues

When awarded the games, Calgary had very little in the way of sports infrastructure to host such an event. The following is a list of venues built for the games (see venues below for complete list of all facilities used for the games):

Olympic Oval - for speed skating, which was the first time in Olympic history where the event took place indoors under climate controlled conditions. This, along with the high altitude of the city resulted in virtually every world record in the sport being broken during the games.
Olympic Saddledome - Indoor arena for figure skating and ice hockey competitions (construction had already begun prior to the Games being awarded to Calgary). The Calgary Flames moved into the Saddledome for the 1983-84 NHL season.
Canada Olympic Park - Ski jumping, bobsleigh, luge, Nordic combined, freestyle skiing (aerials and ballet), disabled alpine skiing
Canmore Nordic Centre Provincial Park - Cross-country skiing, biathlon, Nordic combined, blind cross-country skiing
Max Bell Centre - Curling and short-track speed skating
McMahon Stadium - opening and closing ceremonies
Nakiska - Alpine skiing, freestyle moguls skiing
Stampede Corral - Figure skating and ice hockey (secondary venue)
Father David Bauer Olympic Arena - Ice hockey (secondary venue)

Medal count

1	Soviet Union (URS)	11	9	9	29
2	East Germany (GDR)	9	10	6	25
3	Switzerland (SUI)	5	5	5	15
4	Finland (FIN)	4	1	2	7
5	Sweden (SWE)	4	0	2	6
6	Austria (AUT)	3	5	2	10
7	Netherlands (NED)	3	2	2	7
8	West Germany (FRG)	2	4	2	8
9	United States (USA)	2	1	3	6
10	Italy (ITA)	2	1	2	5

Facts and Figures

The instrumental theme song ("Can't You Feel It?") was composed and performed by Canadian musician David Foster.

Mascots

The official mascots of the games were two western-attired polar bears named Hidy and Howdy. The names were chosen from a field of 7,000 names through a contest sponsored by the Calgary Zoo. They were designed by Sheila Scott of Great Scott Productions, and produced by International Mascot.