1994 Winter Olympics

Olympics infobox|1994|Winter
Name = XVII Olympic Winter Games

Size = 200
Optional caption = The emblem is a stylized aurora borealis (Northern lights)
and snow crystals. Below are the Olympic rings
and the title "Lillehammer '94".
Host city = Lillehammer, Norway
Nations participating = 67
Athletes participating = 1737 (1215 men, 522 women)
Events = 61 in 6 sports
Opening ceremony = February 12, 1994
Closing ceremony = February 27, 1994
Officially opened by = King Harald V of Norway
Athlete's Oath = Vegard Ulvang
Judge's Oath = Kari Karing
Olympic Torch = HRH The Crown Prince, Haakon
Stadium = Lysgårdsbakkene
The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1994 in Lillehammer, Norway. 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. [citeweb|url=http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/index_uk.asp?OLGT=2&OLGY=1994|title=Lillehammer 1994|publisher=www.olympic.org|accessdate=2008-09-12]

Host Selection

Lillehammer was selected as host over bids from Anchorage, Alaska, U.S.; Östersund/Åre, Sweden; and Sofia, Bulgaria. The Lillehammer Olympics are notable for being the last Winter Olympic Games to date to be held in a small town (Lillehammer's population is 25,000).

The information below comes from [http://www.aldaver.com/votes.html the International Olympic Committee Vote History] web page.

Participating nations

The 1994 Winter Games were the first following the implementation of stricter qualifying standards, which prevented representatives of developing countries from competing without meeting minimum standards. As a consequence, eleven "mostly warm-weather countries" signed up to participate in the Games, but were ultimately absent as none of their athletes succeeded in qualifying. The number of African athletes fell from nineteen in 1992 to three in 1994: Lamine Guèye of Senegal and two short-track speed skaters from South Africa. These rules were, however, not applied to bobsled events, enabling the United States Virgin Islands, Monaco, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica to compete in that sport. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A07E7D81638F934A35751C0A962958260 "WINTER OLYMPICS; The Tourist Athlete Gets Snowed Out of These Games"] , "New York Times", February 7, 1994]

See also

*1994 Winter Paralympics
*International Olympic Committee
*IOC country codes
*Norwegian Olympic Museum

References

External links

* [http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/index_uk.asp?OLGT=2&OLGY=1994 IOC Site on 1994 Winter Olympics]
* [http://www.aafla.org/OlympicInformationCenter/OlympicReview/1994/ore317/ORE317g.pdf "Olympic Review" 1994 - Official results]
* [http://www.oslo.net/historie/OL/meldinger/1028.html]
* [http://www.ol.museum.no]
* [http://www.marcolympics.org/jeux/1994-1996/winter/index.php The program of the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics]