Editing Winter Olympic Games (section)

===1984 to 1998===
[[File:Alberto Tomba Zagreb 2009.jpg|upright|thumb|right|alt=Alberto Tomba in hat and ski clothes|[[Alberto Tomba]], winner of five Olympic medals in Calgary, Albertville and Lillehammer]]
[[Sapporo]], Japan, and [[Gothenburg]], Sweden, were front-runners to host the [[1984 Winter Olympics]]. It was therefore a surprise when [[Sarajevo]], Yugoslavia, was selected as host.<ref name=sarajevosurprise>{{cite news|title=1984 Sarajevo|website=CNN/SI |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/olympics/2002/coldwars/popups/change/1984.html|access-date=18 March 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040718104258/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/olympics/2002/coldwars/popups/change/1984.html|archive-date=18 July 2004 }}</ref> The Games were well-organised and not affected by the run-up to the [[Bosnian War|war]] that engulfed the country eight years later.<ref name=Games1984/> A total of 49 nations and 1,272 athletes participated in 39 events. Host nation Yugoslavia won its first Olympic medal when alpine skier [[Jure Franko]] won silver in the giant slalom. Another sporting highlight was the free dance performance of [[Great Britain at the 1984 Winter Olympics|British]] ice dancers [[Jayne Torvill]] and [[Christopher Dean]]; their ''[[Boléro]]'' routine received unanimous perfect scores for artistic impression, earning them the gold medal.<ref name=Games1984/>

[[File:Olympic Torch Calgary 1988.jpg|thumb|upright=0.55|The Olympic Torch from the [[1988 Winter Olympic Games]] in [[Calgary]]]]
In 1988, the Canadian city of [[Calgary]] hosted the [[1988 Winter Olympics|first Winter Olympics]] to span three weekends, lasting for a total of 16 days.<ref name=Games1988/> New events were added in ski-jumping and speed skating, while future Olympic sports curling, [[short track speed skating]] and [[freestyle skiing]] made their debut appearance as demonstration sports. The speed skating events were held indoors for the first time, on the [[Olympic Oval]]. Dutch skater [[Yvonne van Gennip]] won three gold medals and set two world records, beating skaters from the favoured [[East Germany at the 1988 Winter Olympics|East German team]] in every race.<ref>{{cite web|title=Yvonne van Gennip|publisher=The Beijing Organising Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad|url=http://en.beijing2008.cn/spirit/pastgames/halloffame/v/n214046870.shtml|access-date=20 March 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203211718/http://en.beijing2008.cn/spirit/pastgames/halloffame/v/n214046870.shtml|archive-date=3 February 2009}}</ref>

Her medal total was equalled by [[Finland at the 1988 Winter Olympics|Finnish]] ski jumper [[Matti Nykänen]], who won all three events in his sport. [[Alberto Tomba]], [[Italy at the 1988 Winter Olympics|an Italian]] skier, made his Olympic debut by winning both the giant slalom and slalom. East German [[Christa Luding-Rothenburger|Christa Rothenburger]] won the women's 1,000&nbsp;metre speed skating event. Seven months later she would earn a silver in track cycling at the [[1988 Summer Olympics|Summer Games]] in [[Seoul]], to become the only athlete to win medals in both a Summer and Winter Olympics in the same year.<ref name=Games1988/> The 1988 games are well remembered in popular culture from two films based on its events: [[Cool Runnings]] about the Jamaican bobsled team; and [[Eddie the Eagle (film)|Eddie the Eagle]] about British ski jumper [[Eddie the Eagle|Michael Edwards]],  who finished last but set a British record of 73.5 metres.

The [[1992 Winter Olympics|1992 Winter Games]] were the last to be held in the same year as the [[1992 Summer Olympics|Summer Games]].<ref name=Games1992/> They were hosted in the French [[Savoie]] region, with 18 events held in the city of [[Albertville]] and the remaining events spread out over the Savoie.<ref name=Games1992/> Political changes of the time were reflected in the composition of the Olympic teams competing in France: this was the first Games to be held after the [[fall of Communism]] and the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]], and Germany competed as a single nation for the first time since the 1964 Games.<ref name="Findling and Pelle 2004, p. 400">Findling and Pelle (2004), p. 400</ref>

Former [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavian]] republics [[Croatia at the 1992 Winter Olympics|Croatia]] and [[Slovenia at the 1992 Winter Olympics|Slovenia]] made their debuts as independent nations; most of the former [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] republics still competed as a single team known as the [[Unified Team at the 1992 Winter Olympics|Unified Team]], but the [[Baltic States]] made independent appearances for the first time since before World War II.<ref name="Findling and Pelle 2004, p. 400"/> At 16&nbsp;years old, [[Finland at the 1992 Winter Olympics|Finnish]] ski jumper [[Toni Nieminen]] made history by becoming the youngest male Winter Olympic champion.<ref>Findling and Pelle (2004), p. 402</ref> [[New Zealand at the 1992 Winter Olympics|New Zealand]] skier [[Annelise Coberger]] became the first Winter Olympic medallist from the southern hemisphere when she won a silver medal in the women's slalom.

The [[1994 Winter Olympics]], held in [[Lillehammer]], Norway, were the first Winter Games to be held in a different year from the Summer Games. This change resulted from the decision reached in the [[List of IOC meetings#IOC Sessions|91st IOC Session (1986)]] to separate the Summer and Winter Games and place them in alternating even-numbered years.<ref name=Games1994/> Lillehammer is the northernmost city to ever host the Winter Games. It was the second time the Games were held in Norway, after the [[1952 Winter Olympics]] in [[Oslo]], and the first time the [[Olympic Truce]] was observed. As a result, after the [[dissolution of Czechoslovakia]] in 1993, the [[Czech Republic at the 1994 Winter Olympics|Czech Republic]] and [[Slovakia at the 1994 Winter Olympics|Slovakia]] made their Olympic debuts.<ref>{{cite news|last=Araton|first=Harvey|title=Winter Olympics; In Politics and on ice, neighbors are apart|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=27 February 1994|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/27/sports/winter-olympics-in-politics-and-on-ice-neighbors-are-apart.html?n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics%2FSubjects%2FO%2FOlympic%20Games|access-date=20 March 2009}}</ref>

The women's figure skating competition drew media attention when [[United States at the 1994 Winter Olympics|American skater]] [[Nancy Kerrigan]] was injured on 6 January 1994, in an assault planned by the ex-husband of opponent [[Tonya Harding]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Harding-Kerrigan timeline|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/longterm/olympics1998/history/timeline/timeline.htm|access-date=20 March 2009|date=1 March 1999}}</ref> Both skaters competed in the Games, but the gold medal was narrowly won by [[Oksana Baiul]] who became [[Ukraine at the 1994 Winter Olympics|Ukraine]]'s first Olympic champion, while Kerrigan won the silver medal.<ref>{{cite news|last=Barshay|first=Jill J|title=Figure Skating; It's Stocks and Bouquets as Baiul returns to Ukraine|agency=[[Associated Press]]|newspaper=The New York Times|date=3 March 1994|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/03/sports/figure-skating-it-s-stocks-and-bouquets-as-baiul-returns-to-ukraine.html|access-date=20 March 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Phillips|first=Angus|title=Achievements still burn bright|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/longterm/olympics1998/history/1994/1994.htm|access-date=20 March 2009|date=1 March 1999}}</ref> [[Johann Olav Koss]] of [[Norway at the 1994 Winter Olympics|Norway]] won three gold medals, coming first in all of the distance speed skating events.<ref>{{cite web|title=Johann-Olav Koss|website=[[ESPN]]|url=http://espn.go.com/olympics/winter/2010/athletes/_/athlete/34390/johann-olav-koss|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100710191958/http://espn.go.com/olympics/winter/2010/athletes/_/athlete/34390/johann-olav-koss|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 July 2010|access-date=14 May 2010}}</ref>

13-year-old [[Kim Yun-Mi (speed skater)|Kim Yoon-Mi]] became the youngest-ever Olympic gold medallist when South Korea won the women's 3,000-metre speed skating relay. [[Bjørn Dæhli]] of Norway won a medal in four out of five cross-country events, becoming the most decorated Winter Olympian until then. [[Russia at the 1994 Winter Olympics|Russia]] won the most events, with eleven gold medals, while Norway achieved 26 podium finishes, collecting the most medals overall on home ground. [[Juan Antonio Samaranch]] described Lillehammer as "the best Olympic Winter Games ever" in his closing ceremony speech.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://library.la84.org/OlympicInformationCenter/OlympicReview/1994/ore317/ORE317i.pdf|title=Speech of the IOC President at the Closing Ceremony of the XVII Olympic Winter Games|website=[[LA84 Foundation]]|date=22 February 1998|access-date=25 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826051116/https://library.la84.org/OlympicInformationCenter/OlympicReview/1994/ore317/ORE317i.pdf|archive-date=26 August 2016|url-status=dead }}</ref>

The [[1998 Winter Olympics]] were held in the Japanese city of [[Nagano (city)|Nagano]] and were the first Games to host more than 2,000 athletes.<ref name=Games1998/> The [[National Hockey League]] allowed its players to participate in the men's [[Ice hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympics – Men's tournament|ice hockey tournament]] for the first time, and the [[Czech Republic men's national ice hockey team|Czech Republic]] won the tournament. Women's ice hockey made its debut, and the [[United States women's national ice hockey team|United States]] won the gold medal.<ref>Judd (2008), p. 126</ref> [[Bjørn Dæhlie]] of [[Norway at the 1998 Winter Olympics|Norway]] won three gold medals in Nordic skiing, becoming the most decorated Winter Olympic athlete, with eight gold medals and twelve medals overall.<ref name=Games1998/><ref>{{cite web|title=Ten Famous Olympic Skiers|url=http://www.allchalets.com/ski-news/2013/10/10-famous-olympic-skiers|website=allChalets|access-date=21 November 2021|date=29 October 2013}}</ref> [[Austria at the 1998 Winter Olympics|Austrian]] [[Hermann Maier]] survived a crash during the downhill competition and returned to win gold in the [[Alpine skiing at the 1998 Winter Olympics – Men's super-G|super-G]] and the giant slalom.<ref name=Games1998/> [[Tara Lipinski]] of the [[United States at the 1998 Winter Olympics|United States]], aged just 15, became the youngest ever female gold medallist in an individual event when she won the [[Figure skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics#Ladies|Ladies' Singles]], a record that had stood since [[Sonja Henie]] of [[Norway at the 1928 Winter Olympics|Norway]] won the same event, also aged 15, in [[1928 Winter Olympics|St. Moritz in 1928]]. New world records were set in [[Speed skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics|speed skating]] largely due to the introduction of the [[clap skate]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Nevius|first=C.W.|title="Clap" Skate draws boos from traditionalists|newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|date=5 February 1998|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1998/02/05/SP30664.DTL|access-date=20 March 2009}}</ref>