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The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games, were celebrated in 1994 in Lillehammer, Norway. Other candidate cities were Anchorage, Alaska, USA; Östersund/Åre, Sweden; and Sofia, Bulgaria. In 1986 the IOC voted to change the schedule of the Olympic Games so that the summer and winter games would be arranged in alternating even-numbered years. Lillehammer won the right to host the event in September 1988 in Seoul before the opening ceremony of the 1988 Summer Olympics. The Lillehammer Games were held in 1994, the only time the Winter Games have been staged two years after the preceding games.
The Lillehammer Olympics are still considered to this day by sport specialists and Olympic officials as one of the greatest Winter Games ever, and it ranks among the greatest sporting events in history. *
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Highlights
For the first time, the Winter Olympics were not held in the same year as the Summer Games of the Olympiad.
The Olympic flame was brought into the stadium by ski jumper Stein Gruben. Former World Champion Ole Gunnar Fidjestøl was supposed to do this jump, but he got injured on one of the training jumps a few days before the opening ceremony.
After repeated Olympic frustration since 1988, American speed skater Dan Jansen finally won a gold medal, setting a world record in the men's 1000 m (1:12.43) in his last Winter Olympic race.
A massive Norwegian crowd saw their relay team being beaten by the Italians in the final metres of the cross country skiing relay. The crowd fell silent, but only briefly.
The logo of the Games was aurora and indeed some could be seen from Lillehammer during the Games.
The Olympics were broadcast in the USA by television network CBS
In his address at the closing ceremony, Juan Antonio Samaranch, president of the IOC, named the Lillehammer games “the best winter games ever”, a characterization that has yet to be repeated concerning any winter games. In his address at the opening ceremony, Samaranch recalled Sarajevo and its 1984 Winter Olympic Games, at the time in the midst of Yugoslav war of 1991-1995, with an emotive message: "Our message is stronger than ever: Please stop the fighting. Stop the killing. Drop your guns." The composition of the Bosnia and Herzegovina four-man bob team was one Croatian, two Bosniaks and a Serbian, mirroring the ethnic diversity of the country.
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Medals awarded
See the medal winners, ordered by sport:
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Venues
Hafjell - Women's Giant Slalom, Slalom & Combined, Men's Slalom & Giant Slalom & Combined
Kvitfjell - Men's Super G, Downhill, Women's Super G and Downhill
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Medal count
(Host nation is highlighted.)
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Participating nations
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See also
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