Sports
For casual fans to hardcore athletes. All about Sports.
1972 Olympics
The 1972 Winter Olympics, also known as the XI Olympic Winter Games, is a multi-sport winter event held in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan from February 3rd to February 13th, 1972. This became the first Winter Games to be hosted outside of Europe and North America, and after Melbourne and Tokyo only the third game became contested in those areas. Originally Sapporo secured the right to host the 1940 Winter Olympics but after his 1937 occupation of China, Japan resigned as host of the Games. In the end the games of 1940 were abandoned. Until then, the games have been organised by all the cities which granted games that were postponed due to war. Banff, Lahti, and Salt rivalled Sapporo The Games were debated at the 64th IOC Conference on April 26, 1966, held in Rome, Italy. The Japanese designed new large-scale buildings at Sapporo in anticipation, and held a trial run a full year ahead of the Olympics. An foreign sport week was arranged in February 1971 to assess the goals of the city as well as test its public mettle and hospitality, and this effort was recognised as "total success" by Olympic observers. Developing new facilities has proved to be a big boost for the Sapporo economy: by the time of the Games, the regional government had spent some $500 million in upgrading The Games organisers themselves made a respectable profit in part because they set a record of $8.47 million in broadcast rights. American Barbara Ann Cochran, one of three U.S. brothers on the Women's Alpine Skiing Team, shocked the world and became the first American woman to win a Gold Medal on Skiing when Andrea Mead Lawrence put first in the Slalom with an impressive first run followed by an even better second. Swiss almost obscure Marie-Thérès Nadig won both downhill and giant slalom competitions in alpine skiing. Norway's Magnar Solberg became the first repeat winner of the individual 20 km biathlon event, having placed first in Grenoble. Spain won first slalom skier Francisco Fernández Ochoa gold cup. American speedskaters Anne Henning and Dianne Holum made the greatest Winter Games triumph for the United States, winning two gold, one silver and one bronze respectively. Controversy over amateur status erupted three days before the Olympics, when IOC president Avery Brundage threatened to disqualify 40 funded alpine skiers and other deals. As an example, Austrian skier Karl Schranz, who earned more than $50,000 per annum from ski manufacturers, was disqualified. Meanwhile, Canada has declined to send an ice hockey team, claiming that the Communist nations 'top ice hockey teams are free to participate without restriction. Such Games are, as a historical fact, the last at which a skier has captured the gold medal using all-wooden skis. At the moment, top-level cross-country skiers used skis mostly made from synthetic fibreglass. All three women's cross-country ski contests were claimed by Galina Kulakova, who is based in the USSR. In speed skating the Dutch skater Ard Schenk has won three gold medals. Luge had his only tie in the history of the men's doubles event in Winter Olympics. The 1972 Winter Olympics featured 35 countries. The Republic of China and the Philippines were participating in their first Olympic Winters. American skater Janet Lynn won not only a bronze medal at the women's skating event, but also a huge reputation among Japanese audiences due to her free artistic programme when she featured on the cover of picture books released in Japan by "Olympic Winter Games, Sapporo 1972" and also on Japanese Television. Japan had earned a gold medal at the Winter Olympics until those events. Fans of Sapporo's host nation were excited when three Japanese competitors, led by Yukio Kasaya, swept the 70-meter gold, silver, and bronze ski jumping event; these will also be Japan's only medals to earn at these Olympics.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
1976 Olympics
The 1976 Winter Olympics, also known as the XII Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport festival that took place in Innsbruck, Austria from 4–15 February 1976. The Tyrolean city hosted the Games which were awarded to Innsbruck for the second time since Denver, the first host city, withdrew in 1972. The 1976 Winter Olympic season selection process consisted of four bids, with Denver, USA, being selected ahead of Sion, Switzerland; Tampere, Finland; and Vancouver, British Columbia. The selection was made on 12 May 1970, at the 70th IOC Session in Amsterdam. In a national referendum on November 7, 1972, Colorado voters rejected support for the games, and a area that won the Games first lost them. On November 15, Denver formally resigned and instead the IOC awarded the games to Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, but refused after the referendum due to a constitutional amendment. Whistler will continue to be a participant in the successful bid for the 2010 games by neighbouring Vancouver. Salt Lake City agreed to host the games but the IOC, already reeling from Denver's rejection, refused and picked Innsbruck on 5 February 1973 to host the 1976 Winter Olympics which had hosted twelve years earlier the 1964 Winter Olympics. Then, Salt Lake City will host the 2002 Winter Olympics. Denver, Colorado, USA; Sion, Switzerland; Tampere, Finland; and Sports bids were made by Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; the table below shows the number of votes cast for the 69th IOC Conference on 12 May 1970 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Schneemann a snowman, in a red Tyrolean hat, was the mascot of the 1976 Winter Olympics. Crafted by Walter Pötsch, Schneeman was said to reflect the "Games of Simplicity" of 1976. This was often considered a symbol of good luck to avert the snow dearth that had marred the Innsbruck Winter Olympics of 1964. First Games presided by Michael Morris, 3rd Austrian favourite Baron Killanin Franz Klammer won the men's downhill alpine skiing event at 1:45.73, gaining immense support from his country and reigning Swiss champion Bernhard Russi. The gold caught by US Dorothy Hamill in figure Skating and influenced the iconic "wedge" haircut. John Curry, an exquisite British figure skater has adapted his style to suit Olympic jurors, earning gold. U.S. skater Terry Kubicka attempted a risky spinning backflip, only stopped it. West Germany's Rosi Mittermaier almost swept away the alpine women's skiing competitions, winning two golds and one silver, missing the third gold by 0.13 seconds. The soviet speed skater Tatiana Averina won four prizes. The East German team won one of three consecutive titles in the 4-man bobsled. The USSR won its fourth straight gold medal in ice hockey; for the second consecutive Olympics, Canada refused to send a team, rejecting the laws that permitted the USSR to sell professional players while restricting Canada to amateurs. Sweden had joined the campaign, as well. Sport innovations have arisen in the form of innovative perforated skis in alpine skiing, speed skating and ski jumping, lightweight hooded garments and minimalist helmets, making headlines in Innsbruck. A second Cauldron was designed to represent the 1976 Olympic flame games. It was lit up like the cauldron from the 1964 match. For the very first time Bobsleigh and luge were running on the same course. Galina Kulakova of the Soviet Union finished 3rd at the 5 km women's ski event, but was disqualified as a result of a positive test for banned drug ephedrine. She said it was the result of using things from the nasal spray. The FIS and the IOC also qualified her to compete in the 10 km and 45 km relay. That was the first gold to be stripped off at the Winter Olympics. At the opening, at the closing ceremony, the victory ceremony, and the handover ceremony, the Austrian anthem was played three times to remember the song's three verses. 37 Athletic events took place in 6 different disciplines. In 1976 37 countries competed in the Olympic Winter Games.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
1992 Olympics
The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games, were a multi-sport, ice festival that was played from 8 to 23 February 1992 in Albertville, France. They were the last Winter Games that took place in the same year as the Summer Olympics, and the first at the same arena where the Winter Paralympics were held. Albertville was chosen as host in 1986, and defeated Sofia, Falun, Lillehammer, Cortina d'Ampezzo, Anchorage and Berchtesgaden. The games were the 3rd Winter Olympics in France, after Chamonix in 1924 and Grenoble in 1968 and the 5th Olympics overall in the area. In Albertville only some of the skating and opening and closing ceremonies took place while the other competitions took place in the villages of Courchevel, La Plagne, Les Arcs, Les Menuires, Les Saisies, Méribel, Pralognan-de-Vanoise, Tignes and Val d'Isère. Sixty-four nations and the Joint Team of former non-Baltic Soviet republics played in the games. Upon reunification in 1990, Germany returned as a single body after five newly independent European countries, along with six 'warm-weather' states, appeared. Short track sprint cycling, women's and mogul biathlon mark their debut as an Olympic event. The competitions became the first Winter Games to feature exhibition activities up to 2014, consisting of curling, aerials, dance skiing, and sprint skiing. Outdoor speed skating arena was the last Games to have. The 1992 Winter Paralympics were followed by the Olympics from March 25 to April 1. Norwegians won every male ski race in the cross country, picking up three golds from both Bjørn Dæhlie and Vegard Ulvang. Ski jumper Toni Nieminen, 16, became the youngest male gold medallist at an Olympic Winter event. Petra Kronberger won both the mixed race and the slalom, with Bonnie Blair winning both the 500-meter and 1000-meter speed skating events and Gunda Niemann taking the fastest heats. In all men's short-track events Kim Kihoon won gold medals. In the Winter Olympics, China's Ye Qiaobo won first prize, a women's speed skating silver in 500 metres. New Zealand's Annelise Coberger has won the first Winter Olympic gold in the southern hemisphere — a silver in women's slalom. During one training session Nicolas Bochatay has been killed. Germany has won most the more gold medals. Following a six-Olympic stint with the American Broadcasting Corporation, CBS became the telecast network for the USA's Winter Games. The 1992 Olympic Winter Games marked the last time that the same year's Winter and Summer games were held. Indirect building costs for road, rail or airport facilities, hotel renovations or other industry improvements are not considered for the Games preparation and are not specifically linked to the Games. The budget and investment shortfall for Albertville 1992 were equal to a deficit of US$ 2.5 billion and a cost overrun of 13 per cent for Vancouver 2010, and a cost overrun of US$ 51 billion and 289 per cent for Sochi 2014, the latter becoming the most expensive Olympics to date. Winter Games 'total loss since 1960 has been US$ 3.1 billion, and the average cost savings is 142 per cent. The Games of 1992 still mark the final time that France hosted the Olympics. France is scheduled to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The Oxford Olympics Report projected the construction expense of the Albertville 1992 Winter Olympics in 2015-dollars at US$ 2.0 billion and a real-life revenue surplus at 137 per cent. This contains only sport-related expenditure, i.e. logistical expenditure incurred by the organising committee for the purposes of hosting the Games, e.g. expenditure on travel, logistics, staff, infrastructure, lodging, ceremonies and medical facilities, and direct capital expenditure incurred by the host city and government or private donors to build, e.g. competition stadiums.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
1992 Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympics, officially known as the XXV Olympic Games, was an multi-sport event and was held in Barcelona, Spain from 25 July to 9 August 1992.Established in 1994, the International Olympic Committee has decided to organise the Summer and Winter Olympics in consecutive, even-numbered years. The 1992 Summer Olympics was the final time that the Summer and Winter Games will be held the same year. This Olympiad was the first since the Cold War began, and was spared from boycotts for the first time since the 1972 Olympiad. The Unified Team has outperformed the tally of trophies, winning 45 gold medals and 112 overall. At the opening ceremony the Greek mezzo-soprano Agnes Balsa sang "Romiossini," as the Olympic flag was paraded in the stadium. The Olympic Hymn was also sung by Alfredo Krause’s the flag was hoisted in Spanish, Catalan, and French. The Olympic cauldron, lit by the Olympic torch flame, was set on fire with a flaming spear. This was launched by the Paralympic archer Antonio Rebollo, who attempted to set off the gas with the projectile above, which exploded into the cauldron. The room was where the arrow detonated. This innovative method of lighting the cauldron was meant to eliminate the possibility of stadium arrow falling when Rebollo missed its target. 1960Summer Olympics, after being expelled for their apartheid practises South Africa entered the Summer Olympics. The The Women's 10,000-meterrace has been widely discussed. The White South African athlete Elana Meyer and the Black Ethiopian athlete Derartu Tulu have marched hand in hand during a victory parade. Germany sent a new squad to the 1964 Summer Olympics, having defeated the last of those teams in 1990.In 1991, when the Soviet Union was dissolved, the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania organised their own teams for the first time since 1936.The other former Soviet republics as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan's Solidarity Squad voted to join. The World States finished fourth in the medal table and beat the USA. The split in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has led to the Olympic debuts for Serbia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Thanks to UN limitations, teams from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia were not permitted to play for their own team. Nevertheless, any single competitor competed as individual Olympic athletes under the Olympic banner. The participation of NBA players in basketball has helped to build the "Dream Team “of the United States, including Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and other NBA stars. It had allowed only European and South American stars to compete before 1992, when the Americans had college teams. The Dream Team received the gold trophy in 2010, and has-been inducted as a team into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Tatiana Guts has won gold in the All-Around division edging Shannon Miller in the US for women's artistic gymnastics. Russian swimmers dominated the men's freestyle events, with both Alexander Popov and Yevgeny Sadovyi winning two titles a piece. Sadovyi had won the relays too. Evelyn Ashford won her fourth Olympic gold medal in the 4,100-meter relay, making her one of four woman athletes in history to do so. Krisztina Egerszegi, a Hungarian student, has won three individual gold medals while swimming. At 14 and 6, Japan's Kyoko Iwasaki earned a gold medal in a breaststroke of200 metres for women making her the youngest ever gold medalist in Olympic swimming competitions. Algerian runner Hassiba Boulmerka, who was regularly targeted by Muslim groups in Algeria who appeared to have revealed so much of her body in cycling, faced death threats and was forced to flee to Europe, won the 1,500 metres, while holding the African women's record at this time. Baseball was officially an Olympic sport at six previous Olympic Summer Games. The Olympic schedule was concluded by Badminton and the female judo, while slalom canoeing returned to the Olympics following a 20-year absence. Hockey, Basque pelota, and taekwondo's both showed up at the 1992 Summer Olympics Rolling.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
1932 Olympics
The 1932 Summer Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Games, was an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games took place largely in the aftermath of the Great Depression and many nations were unable to pay for the travel to Los Angeles; 37 nations were participating in Amsterdam, equal to 46 at the 1928 Summer Olympics; US President Herbert Hoover was not present at the Games, either. The organising committee did not announce the Games ' financial reports but contemporary newspapers claimed that the Games yielded a profit of $1 million. In 1923 the selection of host city for the 1932 Summer Olympics was decided at the 23rd IOC Conference in Rome, Italy. Remarkably the selection process consisted of a single bid from Los Angeles, and because there were no bids from any other country, Los Angeles was selected by default to host the 1932 Games. Originally established in Baldwin Hills, an Olympic Village has become a destination for male-inhabited amateur athletes. Women’s clubs are operated by Chapman Park Lounge on Wilshire Boulevard. We used the table for triumph for the second time too. In 1932, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was called The Olympic Arena. Tenth Street, a major Los Angeles thoroughfare, was called Olympic Boulevard to commemorate the 10th Olympic Games. Babe Didrikson won two Gold Medals in the javelin and hurdles event. She has also played in a face-off for the high jump for a victory. Her failed jump-off has been ruled illegal, leaving Didrikson in secondi had disqualified Paavo Nurmi from the competition for alleged amateur rules violations. Finns accused the Swedish authorities of using devious tactics in their fight against Nurmi's amateur status and severed all sporting relations with Sweden’s Kitamura won the gold medal at the freestyle swimming event for the men of 1500 metres. He’s the first male swimmer ever to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games and he continues to do so. Dunc Gray won Australia's first gold medal on cycling; he seta world record in the 1000-time trial at 1 m 13s.The Dunc Gray Velodrome that was built in Sydney for the 2000 Olympic Games was named after him. The 3,000-m steeplechase went down for 3,460 almost a whole course, due to an official's mistake. In 1932 the Olympic Schedule featured 117events in 20 disciplines plus 14 others. Any of the two Jumping Equestrian competitions won no trophies. Scandals on the track and in the newspapers a year earlier had led Finland to withdraw from the Finnish-Swedish rivalry. Not until 1939, after Nurmi was fired, Finland consented to the condition return. In field hockey only three countries had participated. The host nation lost both matches, 1-24 matches against India and 2-9 matches against Japan but also won a bronze medal. Stanislaw Alexievich from Poland won the 100 m gold medal for women; in the event, four years ago, she would also win the silver medal. Eddie Tolan has previously won 100metre and 200 metre sprint events. Romeo Nery has won3 Gold Medals in gymnastics. Helene Madison won three gold medals in swimming as the Japanese dominated men's events and claimed all but one title. Takeichi Nishi and his horse Uranus were the gold medallist on the equestrian show jumping individual event. Nishi's gold medal has been Japan's only gold medal in equestrian sport to date. Nishi would later die in 1945 as an officer fighting in defence of the island of Iwo Jima and as such is a central character in Clint Eastwood's film, Letters from Iwo Jima.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
2002 Olympics
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002, was a multi-sport winter event that took place from 8 to 24 February 2002 at and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. 2,399 athletes from 78 nations participated in 78 sports in 15 disciplines over 165 sporting activities. The 2002 Winter Olympics and the 2002 Paralympic Games were both organised by the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, the first time a single body has co-ordinated both events in Olympic and Paralympic history. Utah became the sixth state of the United States to host the Olympic Games, following Florida, New York, California and Georgia. The 2002 Winter Games were the final games held in the United States until the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. They were the first Olympic Games to be held by Jacques Rogge under IOC presidency. The opening ceremony took place on 8 February 2002, and sporting events were held prior to the closing ceremony on 24 February 2002. Seven Nielsen scheduled production for the two ceremonies, and for both ceremonies, Mark Watters arranged the music. Although the number of the two potential host cities was lower, Salt Lake City was the most heavily inhabited city ever to host the Winter Olympics. The 2002 Olympic Winter Games were much better as a theme than the previous Winter Games, boasting 10 more events than the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Norway won the most gold medals while Germany won the most. The Salt Lake Games had faced a dispute over the bribes and some local opposition during the auction. Nevertheless, from a sports and industry viewpoint, this was one of the most popular Winter Olympiads in history; records were achieved in both TV and commercial programmes. About 13 billion spectator-hours were watched by about 2 billion people. The Games proved financially successful, generating more funds from fewer donors than the previous Olympic Games, leaving SLOC with a surplus of $40million. The surplus was used to found the Utah Athletic Foundation which has managed which operated all of the new Olympic stadiums. NBC became the telecast network for the US Winter Games later on following a three-Olympics run for CBS from 1992–1998. The Oxford Olympics Survey measured the manufacturing costs of the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics at US$ 2.5 billion in 2015-dollars and 24 per cent of actual time excess expenditures. That mainly includes sport-related expenditures, i.e. administrative costs borne by the organising committee for the purposes of hosting the Games, e.g. spending on transportation, transport, personnel, administration, accommodation, ceremonies and medical services, and direct construction costs borne by the host city and country or private donors to build, e.g. competition stadiums; Indirect building costs for bridge, rail or airport infrastructure, hotel upgrades or other Games ready commercial developments are not included, nor are they directly related to the Games. The budget and expense overrun for Salt Lake City 2002 are compared with a deficit of US$ 2.5 billion and a cost overrun of 13 per cent for Vancouver 2010, and a cost overrun of US$ 51 billion and 289 per cent for Sochi 2014, which has been the most expensive Olympics to date. The estimated cost of Winter Games since 1960 is US$ 3.1 billion, with a gross production reduction of 142 per cent. The grass was removed inside the stadium before the ceremony, and a giant, geometrically shaped ice rink, designed by Seven Nielsen, was constructed, covering a significant portion of the Venue. Performers then put ice skates on, rather than boots. An American flag rescued on September 11 from the World Trade Center Site was carried into the stadium by an official American athlete guard and brought in by NYPD firefighters and police, Port Authority police and FDNY. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, dressed in white sweaters, sung The Star Spangled Banner, the U.S. national anthem, as it raised the flag.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
2006 Olympics
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games and simply known as Turin 2006 or Torino 2006, was a multi-sport winter event that was held in Turin, Piedmont, Italy from 10 to 26 February 2006. This was the second time Italy had hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the 1956 Winter Olympics at Cortina d'Ampezzo. Italy also hosted the Summer Olympics in Rome in 1960. Turin was selected as host city for the Olympics in June 1999. The official motto of the XX Olympic Winter Games was: "Passion lives here." The official logo displays the stylised profile of the Mole Antonelliana building, made in crystals of white and blue ice, signifying the snow and the stars. The crystal network was also meant to reflect the new technology climate, and the Olympic spirit of the world. Neve, a female snowball, became the Games ' Olympic mascots, and Gliz, a male ice cube. Italy will host the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo twenty years after those games. On 19 June 1999, Turin was announced as host of the Olympics at the 109th IOC Meeting in Seoul, South Korea. It came after the IOC's adopted revised voting procedures at the 108th Extraordinary IOC Session in the aftermath of the 1998 and 2002 controversy surrounding the Winter Olympic votes. The Oxford Olympics Report placed the development budget of the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics at US$ 4.4 billion in 2015-dollars and the actual spending reached 80%. It mainly includes sport-related expenditures, i.e. administrative costs borne by the organising committee for the purposes of hosting the Games, e.g. spending on transportation, transport, personnel, administration, accommodation, ceremonies and medical services, and direct construction costs borne by the host city and government or private donors to build, e.g. competition stadiums; Indirect building costs for bridge, rail or airport infrastructure, hotel upgrades or other Games ready commercial developments are not included, nor are they directly related to the Games. The budget and expense overrun for Torino 2006 are equal to the loss of US$ 2.5 billion and a cost overrun of 13 per cent for Vancouver 2010, and the expense of US$ 51 billion and a cost overrun of 289 per cent for Sochi 2014, the latter being the most expensive Olympics to date. The overall cost of Winter Games since 1960 is US$ 3.1 billion, and the gross cost reduction is 142 per cent. Winter Olympics 2006 held 84 medal events, including 15 disciplines, in seven sports. Stefania Belmondo, 10-time Olympic medalist in cross-country skiing, lit the Olympic Flame on 10 February at the opening ceremonies. Prior to that, the festival had honoured the best of Italy and Sport with a section celebrating the Alps. The opening and closing ceremonies of the 2006 XX Olympic Winter Games in Turin were created and produced by K-events of the FilmMaster Company. Product production Alfredo Accatino, Executive Producer Marco Balich, Art Direction Lida Castelli. Monica Maimone of Studio Festi directed the section From the Renaissance to the Baroque, part of the opening ceremonies Olympic games were conducted mainly in Turin but other activities took place in outlying mountain areas for obvious purposes. A historically unprecedented 80 National Olympic Committees entered athletes at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games. At the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, that was a two-plus increase from the 78. The number in parentheses indicates how many NOC attendees have applied. This was their first visit to Albania, to Ethiopia and Madagascar. This was the first appearance in the Winter Olympics for Serbia and Montenegro, coming after their change of name in 2003 and the independence vote in May.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
1998 Olympics
The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially the XVIII Olympic Winter Games and simply known as Nagano 1998, was a multi-sport winter festival held from 7th to 22nd February 1998 in Nagano, Japan. The games also took place in nearby mountain villages Hakuba, Karuizawa, Nozawa Onsen and Yamanouuchi. Nagano City had previously been a candidate to host the 1940 Winter Olympics, as well as the 1972 Winter Olympics, but Sapporo each time eliminated Nagano at the national level. The games hosted 2,176 athletes from 72 countries taking part in 7 disciplines and 68 events. Around the moment a benchmark was the number of entrants and nations participating. The sports saw the inclusion of female field hockey, curling, and snowboarding. National Hockey League teams were first allowed to play for the children of ice hockey. Five continents have made their Winter Olympic debuts including Belarus, Kenya, Macedonia, Uruguay and Venezuela. The athlete winning the most medals at these competitions was Russian cross-country skier Larisa Lazutina who won five medals including three gold medals. The Norwegian cross- skier Bjørn Dæhlie has won four medals, including three gold medals, taking his overall Olympic medal to 12, including eight gold medals, which is a record for Winter Olympics. Czech men's ice hockey team also won the gold cup. Kazuyoshi Funaki has won two gold medals for host Japan in Ski Jumping and one silver medal. The American Figure Skater Tara Lipinski has been the youngest Olympic champion in history at the age of 15 years and 255 days. Germany topped the Medal table with 29 medals with 12 gold. Norway and Russia led Germany, each receiving 25 and 18, respectively. Canada, who finished fourth with six gold medals at the 15-medal table, has had the most successful Winter Olympics to date. The host was chosen over Salt Lake City, Östersund, Jaca, and Aosta on 15 June 1991. It was the third Olympic and second Olympic Winter to be held in Japan, after the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics and 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics. The games were followed by the 1998 Winter Paralympics from March 5 to 14. These were the last Winter Olympic Games organised by Juan Antonio Samaranch under the IOC presidency. The staging of the games improved the transport networks between Tokyo and Nagano Station, between Takasaki and Miya, by constructing the high-speed Shinkansen, the Nagano Shinkansen, now the Shinkansen Hokuriku. Furthermore, new highways were built, including the Nagano Expressway and the Jōshin-etsu Expressway, and upgrades were made to existing highways. The Olympic stadiums ' construction and property costs totalled 106.6 billion dollars, approximately USD 914 million. The federal government of Japan has invested $51.1 billion for this, the prefectural government of Nagano has spent $29.6 billion, and Nagano cities and towns $23.4 billion; Hakuba $1 billion; and Nozawa Onsen $1.1 billion; the remaining $25.5 billion is divided. M-Wave became the most lavish facility to host events for long-distance speed skating. It has saved $34.8billion. All the ice hockey arenas, Big Hat and Aqua Wing Arena, cost 19.1 and 9.1 billion, respectively. The White Ring, which contained racing figures and short-track speed racing, cost 14.2 billion, cost 10.1 billion for the Loop, which hosted bobsleigh, luge, which skeleton. About $8.6 billion has been invested in the Hakuba Ski Jumping Arena, $7 billion has been invested in Snow Harp – the cross-country skiing venue, and $3 billion has been spent on the biathlon location at Nozawa Onsen Snow Resort. Nagano is situated in a mountainous region of Japan, where there are major snowfalls. Both combined to create a big barrier for the planning committee to fly too. In comparison, the Olympic Village was a 7 kilometre distance from the city centre, and sporting events were spread across five local regions.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
