The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVIII Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Nagano 1998, were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events taking place in the nearby mountain communities of Hakuba, Karuizawa, Nozawa Onsen, and Yamanouchi. The city of Nagano had previously been a candidate to host the 1940 Winter Olympics, as well as the 1972 Winter Olympics, but had been eliminated at the national level by Sapporo on both occasions.
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.
Kenya sent a delegation to compete at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, from 10–26 February 2006. This was Kenya's third time participating in a Winter Olympic Games. The Kenyan delegation consisted of one athlete, cross-country skier and three-time Olympian Philip Boit. In his only event, he finished 91st in the men's 15 kilometre classical.
Philip Kimely Boit is a cross-country skier and the first Kenyan to participate in the Winter Olympics. His first name is sometimes spelled as "Phillip".
Vladimir Mikhaylovich Smirnov is a Kazakh former cross-country skier of Russian descent who raced from the 1982 until 1991 for the USSR and, later, for Kazakhstan. He is the first Olympic champion from independent Kazakhstan and the most decorated Olympian in history of Kazakhstan. He is also a vice president of the International Biathlon Union. Smirnov is a former member of International Olympic Committee.
Niklas Jonsson is a Swedish cross-country skier who competed from 1990 to 2002. He won the silver medal in the 50 km at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano. At that event, Jonsson started 30 seconds ahead of the gold medal favourite Bjørn Dæhlie. Soon Dæhlie caught up Jonsson, and they were skiing together for most of the distance. Shortly before the finish line, Jonsson escaped, but Dæhlie still finished 20 seconds behind, which was good enough for the gold medal. Jonsson finished second.
Kenya sent a delegation to compete at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, United States from 8–24 February 2002. The delegation consisted of one cross-country skier, Philip Boit, who was appearing in his second Olympics, and was, at the time, Kenya's only Winter Olympian in history. His best performance was 65th place in the men's sprint.
Kenya competed in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. The country's participation at the Games marked its Winter Olympics debut, although it had competed in the Summer Olympics since 1956. The delegation consisted of a single cross-country skier, Philip Boit. He had been trained as part of a scheme created by American sportswear company Nike, Inc. Although Boit did not win a medal, his efforts received worldwide attention after gold medallist Bjørn Dæhlie of Norway waited for him at the finish line as Boit completed the race in difficult conditions in last place.
The men's 4 × 10 kilometre relay cross-country skiing competition at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, was held on 19 February at Pragelato.
The men's 50 kilometre classical cross-country skiing competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada was held on 28 February at Whistler Olympic Park in Whistler, British Columbia at 09:30 PST. on the final day of the Games.
The men's 4 × 10 km relay, a part of the cross-country skiing at the 1994 Winter Olympics, took place on 22 February at Birkebeineren Ski Stadium in Lillehammer, Norway. The race saw Italy beat Norway by 0.4 seconds on the finish line, with Finland finishing third. The three had followed each other closely through the first three rounds, but in the fourth heat, Silvio Fauner and Bjørn Dæhlie managed to break with Jari Isometsä. The event was the best attended of any in the games, with an estimated 100,000 spectators at the stadium and along the tracks. About 203,000 people applied for the 31,000 seats at the stadium, and some 75,000 ultimately watched from the track-side.
The Men's 50 kilometre classical cross-country skiing competition at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, United States, was held on 23 February at Soldier Hollow.
The Women's 30 kilometre classical interval start cross-country skiing competition at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, United States, was held on 24 February at Soldier Hollow. This was the final women's event of the 2002 Olympics cross-country program.
The men's 15 kilometre freestyle pursuit cross-country skiing competition at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, was held on 19 February at Birkebeineren Ski Stadium in Lillehammer. The Norwegian Bjørn Dæhlie was the 1993 World champion and the 1992 Olympic champion.
The men's 15 kilometre freestyle pursuit cross-country skiing competition at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, was held on 14 February at Snow Harp.
The men's 4 × 10 kilometre relay cross-country skiing competition at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, was held on 18 February at Snow Harp.
The men's 50 kilometre classical cross-country skiing competition at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, was held on 27 February at Birkebeineren Ski Stadium in Lillehammer.
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.
