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 Games were the last year the Winter Olympics were 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.
Annecy is the prefecture and largest city of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy, 35 kilometres (22 mi) south of Geneva, Switzerland. Nicknamed the "Pearl of French Alps" in Raoul Blanchard's monograph describing its location between lake and mountains, the city controls the northern entrance to the lake gorge. Due to a lack of available building land between the lake and the protected Semnoz mountain, its population has remained stagnant, around 50,000 inhabitants, since 1950. However, the 2017 merger with several ex-communes extended the city population to 126,924 inhabitants and 170,753 for its urban area, placing Annecy seventh in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event held in Albertville, France, from February 8 to February 23. A total of 1,801 athletes representing 64 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in 57 events from 12 different sports and disciplines. In a break from tradition, the medals were primarily made of crystal rather than metal: gold, silver, or bronze was used only on the border.
Alpine Skiing at the 1992 Winter Olympics at Albertville, France, consisted of ten alpine skiing events, held 9–22 February. The men's races were held at Val d’Isère, except for the slalom, which was at Les Menuires. All five women's events were conducted at Méribel.
The Nordic combined event at the 1992 Winter Olympics consisted of two athletic disciplines, held from 11 February to 17 February. The ski jumping portion and the 15 km cross-country portion of the Nordic Combined event were both held at Courchevel-le Praz. A temporary cross-country stadium was constructed in a field directly adjacent (east) to the Tremplin du Praz ski jump outrun. All other cross-country and Biathlon competitions were held at Les Saisies.
Bobsleigh at the 1992 Winter Olympics consisted of two events, at La Plagne. The competition took place between February 15 and February 22, 1992.
Jean-Luc Crétier is a retired French World Cup alpine ski racer. He was one of the four members of the "Top Guns" team, created and trained by Serge Guillaume outwith the mainstream of the French Alpine Ski Federation, along with Luc Alphand, Franck Piccard, and Denis Rey.
Luxembourg sent a delegation to compete at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France from 8–23 February 1992. This was Luxembourg's fourth appearance at a Winter Olympic Games. The Luxembourgian delegation to Albertville consisted of a single athlete, alpine skier Marc Girardelli. He won two silver medals at these Olympics, which placed Luxembourg 17th on the medal table.
The Philippines sent a delegation to compete at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France from 8–23 February 1992. This was the nation's third appearance at the Winter Olympic Games. The delegation consisted of a single athlete, alpine skier Michael Teruel. He competed in both the giant slalom, where he finished in 71st, and in the slalom, in which he finished in 49th.
Swaziland competed in the Winter Olympic Games for the first time at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France from 8–23 February 1992. The Swazi delegation consisted of a single competitor, the alpine skier Keith Fraser, who competed in the slalom, where he failed to finish the first run; in the giant slalom, where he came 63rd; and in the Super-G, finishing 79th.
Jana Vápeníková is a former Czech biathlete. She won the gold medal on the relay at the Biathlon World Championships 1993 in Borovetz together with Eva Háková, Iveta Roubíčková and Jiřina Pelčová. At the Winter Olympics her best individual placing was 43rd at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville.
The La Plagne bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track is a bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track located in La Plagne, France. The track was the venue for the bobsleigh and luge competitions for the 1992 Winter Olympics whose host city was neighboring Albertville.
Olivier Allamand is a French freestyle skier and Olympic medalist. He won the silver medal at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville. He also competed at the 1994 Winter Olympics.
Sergey Borisovich Shupletsov was a Russian freestyle skier and Olympic medalist. He received a silver medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, in moguls. Jean-Luc Brassard won gold, and Edgar Grospiron got bronze.
Yelizaveta Aleksandrovna Kozhevnikova is a Russian freestyle skier and Olympic medalist.
Three cities applied with bids to host the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in October 2009. The International Olympic Committee, under the leadership of Jacques Rogge, received three bids on October 15, 2009. The cities of Annecy, France, in the French Alps, Munich, Germany, and Pyeongchang, South Korea, a two-time previous bidder, competed for the hosting rights to the event. This was the lowest number of bidding cities since the 1988 Summer Olympics, coincidentally also won by South Korea. The winning bid was announced on July 6, 2011, at the 123rd IOC Session in Durban, South Africa by IOC President Jacques Rogge at 5.22 pm local time Pyeongchang beat Munich and Annecy in the first round of votes with 63 of the 95 total votes.
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.
Annecy 2018 was an unsuccessful bid by Annecy, France for the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Raphaëlle Monod is a French freestyle skier. She was born in Annecy. She competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, and at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, where she placed fourth in women's moguls.
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