The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, were an international winter multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Having lost the bid for the 1992 Winter Olympics to Albertville in France, Lillehammer was awarded the 1994 Winter Games on 15 September 1988, two days before the 1988 Summer Olympics opening ceremonies at the 94th IOC Session in Seoul, South Korea. Due to the calendar changes made in 1986, this was the only time that the Winter Olympics took place two years after the previous Winter Games, and the first to be held in a different year from the Summer Olympics. This was also the first Winter Olympics to be held during the Commonwealth Games and FIFA World Cup year. This was the second Olympic Games of any type hosted in Norway — the first being the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo — and the fourth Olympics overall to be held in a Nordic country, after the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, and the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. Lillehammer is the northernmost city ever to host the Olympic Games.
The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Albertville '92, were a winter multi-sport event held from 8 to 23 February 1992 in and around Albertville, France. Albertville won the bid to host the Winter Olympics in 1986, beating Sofia, Falun, Lillehammer, Cortina d'Ampezzo, Anchorage, and Berchtesgaden. The 1992 Winter Olympics were the last winter games held in the same year as the Summer Olympics. The Games were the fifth Olympic Games held in France and the country's third Winter Olympics, after the 1924 Winter Games in Chamonix and the 1968 Winter Games in Grenoble. This games was the first of two consecutive Olympic games to be held in Western Europe, preceding the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.
The 1992 Paralympic Winter Games were the fifth Winter Paralympics. They were the first Winter Paralympics to be celebrated with the International Olympic Committee cooperation. They were also the first ever Paralympics or a Winter Parasports event held in France. They were held at the resort of Tignes as a support venue of the main host city Albertville, France, from 25 March to 1 April 1992. For the first time, demonstration events in Alpine and Nordic Skiing for athletes with an intellectual disability and Biathlon for athletes with a visual impairment were held.
Bjørn Erlend Dæhlie is a Norwegian businessman and retired cross-country skier. From 1992 to 1999, Dæhlie won the Nordic World Cup six times, finishing second in 1994 and 1998. Dæhlie won a total of 29 medals in the Olympics and World Championships between 1991 and 1999, making him the most successful male cross-country skier in history.
The Unified Team at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville was a joint team consisting of five of the fifteen former Soviet republics: Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Uzbekistan that made a decision to collaborate and created a united team. The Unified Team's only other appearance was at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. It competed under the IOC country code EUN.
France was the host nation for the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville. It was the third time that France had hosted the Winter Olympic Games, and the fifth time overall.
Norway competed at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France.
Austria competed at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France.
Switzerland competed at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. Nicolas Bochatay, a member of the delegation, was to represent the country in the speed skiing finals, but he was killed in an accident on the morning of the day of the competition he was to compete in.
Finland competed at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France.
Germany competed at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. It was the first time that the nation had competed at the Olympic Games following reunification in 1990 and for the first time as a single nation since 1936. Previously, West Germany and East Germany had sent independent teams to the Games.
Japan competed at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, from February 8 to February 23, 1992. As many as 63 athletes competed accompanied by 42 officers. Japanese athletes compete in all disciplines except ice hockey.
Honduras competed in the Winter Olympic Games for the first time at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France.
For the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, a total of thirteen sports venues were used. Val-d'Isère has been part of the Alpine Skiing World Cup since the late 1960s while Tignes served as host of the first Freestyle World Ski Championships in 1986. Most of the venues used were constructed between 1987 and mid 1990 with the test events taking place in late 1990 and early 1991. It was the last Winter Olympics with an outdoor speed skating rink which led to weather issues for three of the ten events. Three cross-country skiing events were run in snowstorms while the men's 20 km biathlon was found to be 0.563 km (0.350 mi) too short. The downhill events in alpine skiing were criticized for being too steep. Freestyle skiing made its official debut at these games with the men's winner being stormed after his win while the women's winner won her event in a snow storm. La Plagne hosted the skeleton World Championships in 1993 while Val-d'Isère hosted the Alpine World Ski Championships in 2009.Some of the venues will be used again during the 2030 Winter Olympics,when the main host city will be Nice.
Jon Kreamelmeyer is an American cross-country skiing coach and a member of the Paralympic Hall of Fame.
The women's 10 kilometre freestyle pursuit cross-country skiing competition at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, was held on 17 February at Birkebeineren Ski Stadium in Lillehammer. The Italian Stefania Belmondo was the 1993 World champion and Russian Lyubov Yegorova was the defending champion from the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France.
The women's 10 kilometre freestyle pursuit cross-country skiing competition at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, was held on Saturday 15 February at Les Saisies. This was the first time a pursuit race was held in cross-country skiing at the Winter Olympics.
The women's 15 kilometre classical cross-country skiing competition at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, was held on Sunday 9 February at Les Saisies.
The men's 15 kilometre freestyle pursuit cross-country skiing competition at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, was held on Saturday 15 February at Les Saisies. This was the first time a pursuit race was held in cross-country skiing at the Winter Olympics.
