The '1992
Winter Olympics', officially known as the 'XVI Olympic Winter Games,' were celebrated in
1992 in
Albertville,
France. Other candidate cities were
Anchorage,
USA;
Berchtesgaden,
Germany;
Cortina d'Ampezzo,
Italy;
Lillehammer,
Norway;
Falun,
Sweden; and
Sofia,
Bulgaria.
These were the last Winter Games to be staged in the same year as the Summer Games. They were also the first Games where the
Winter Paralympics and the Winter Olympics were held at the same site.
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.
★
Mark Kirchner became the first biathlete to win medals in all three biathlon events.
★ Alpine skier
Petra Kronberger won both the combined event and the slalom.
★
Kim Kihoon earned gold medals in both men's short-track events.
★
Curling was the demo sport;
Freestyle skiing and
Speed skiing, demo disciplines
★
Annelise Coberger of
New Zealand wins the southern hemisphere's first Winter Olympic medal—a silver in the women's slalom.
★ The German team won most medals in the games, with a total of 10 gold medals, 10 silver and 6 bronze.
★
Kristi Yamaguchi of the United States became the first Asian to medal in figure skating.
Medals awarded
See the medal winners, ordered by sport:
Demonstration sports
★
Curling
★
Freestyle skiing (aerials and ballet)
★
Speed skiing
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.
Germany also entered a combined team for the first time since the
1936 Winter Olympics following the
1990 reunification
Also making their debuts were
Algeria,
Bermuda,
Brazil,
Honduras,
Ireland and
Swaziland. It would also be the only appearance for both Honduras and Swaziland.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (Host country) ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
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
Medal count
(''Host nation is highlighted, greatest number of medals in each category is in 'bold'.'')
| 1 | | '10' | '10' | 6 | '26' |
| 2 | ¹ | 9 | 6 | '8' | 23 |
| 3 | | 9 | 6 | 5 | 20 |
| 4 | | 6 | 7 | '8' | 21 |
| 5 | | 5 | 4 | 2 | 11 |
| 6 | | 4 | 6 | 4 | 14 |
| 7 | | 3 | 5 | 1 | 9 |
| 8 | | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| 9 | | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| 10 | | 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)
See also
★
1992 Winter Paralympics
★
Olympic Games
★
Winter Olympic Games
★
International Olympic Committee
External links
★
IOC Site on 1992 Winter Olympics
★
''Olympic Review'' - Official Results
★
Pins collection on Albertville 1992 Olympic Winter Games