The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVIII Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Nagano 1998, was 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.
The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the XI Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Sapporo 1972, was a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside Europe and North America.
The 1998 Winter Paralympics, the seventh Paralympic Winter Games, were held alongside the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan from 5 to 14 March 1998. They were the first Paralympic Winter Games to be held outside Europe. 571 athletes competed in Nagano; as 2022 it remains the highest number of athletes competing at any Winter Paralympics.
The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event held in Nagano, Japan, from 7 to 22 February 1998. Twenty-four nations earned medals at these Games, and fifteen won at least one gold medal; forty-eight countries left the Olympics without winning a medal. Competitors from Germany earned the highest number of gold medals (12) and the most overall medals (29). With 10 gold medals and 25 overall medals, Norway finished second in both categories. Denmark won its first – and as of 2018 only – Winter Olympics medal, while Bulgaria and the Czech Republic won their first Winter Games gold medals. Azerbaijan, Kenya, Macedonia, Uruguay, and Venezuela competed for the first time, but none of them won a medal.
The Swedish women's national ice hockey team or Damkronorna represents Sweden at the International Ice Hockey Federation's IIHF World Women's Championships. The women's national team is organized by the Swedish Ice Hockey Association. Sweden had 3,425 female players registered with the IIHF in 2011.
Canada competed at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Canada has competed at every Winter Olympic Games.
The Big Hat is an indoor ice hockey arena in Nagano, Japan with a capacity of 10,104 seated spectators. Its official name is the Nagano Wakasato Tamokuteki Sports Arena. The arena was completed and officially opened on December 10, 1995.
Aqua Wing Arena is an indoor aquatics arena in Nagano, Japan. The arena is located in the Yoshida area of the city of Nagano, in Nagano Sports Park, 5 km northeast of Nagano Station. The closest station is Asahi Station on the Nagano Electric Railway, a distance of 1 km.
Nagano Olympic Memorial Arena, or M-Wave, is a covered speed skating oval in the city of Nagano, Japan. M-Wave, which opened in November, 1996, was constructed for the speed skating events at the 1998 Winter Olympics. It was Japan's first International Skating Union (ISU) standard indoor 400m double-track, and only second indoor track speed skating in Japan. The other, Meiji Hokkaido-Tokachi Oval, is located in Obihiro, Hokkaido.
Olympic Hockey '98 is an ice hockey game for the Nintendo 64 that was released in 1998. It is a re-release of Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey '98, but this time not endorsed by Wayne Gretzky and featuring the license for the 1998 Winter Olympics that were celebrated in Nagano, Japan. It was the video game developer debut of Treyarch. Besides the box art, in-game titles, and some minor graphic changes, every single aspect of the game is practically identical to Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey '98. Due to this fact, it received highly negative reviews, with IGN rating Olympic Hockey Nagano '98 a zero.
The Japanese Olympic Committee is the National Olympic Committee in Japan for the Olympic Games movement, based in Tokyo, Japan. It is a non-profit organisation that selects teams and raises funds to send Japanese competitors to Olympic events organised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The 1998 Olympic women's ice hockey tournament was the first year that featured women in ice hockey competition. It was anticipated that the women's gold medal match would feature Canada versus the United States. Canada was favored to come out on top as they had won all the competitions in previous years in women's hockey, with the United States perpetually finishing second, while no other national teams could match their level of play. However, the United States beat Canada in the final and became the first country to win gold in women's ice hockey at the Olympics.
The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, was the 19th Olympic Championship. The Czech Republic, which emerged from the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993, won its first winter gold medal, becoming only the seventh nation to win Olympic ice hockey gold. The tournament, held from February 7 to February 22, was played at the Big Hat and Aqua Wing arenas.
Asahi Station is a railway station on the Nagano Line in the northeastern part of the city of Nagano, Japan. It is owned and operated by the private railway operating company Nagano Electric Railway. Asahi Station is the closest railroad station to the Aqua Wing Arena which was the B-Arena for ice hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympics. Aqua Wing, today, is a public pool located in Nagano Sports Park.
Randi Heesoo Griffin is an ice hockey player who competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics as part of the Unified Korea women's national team, scoring its first goal on February 14. In 2018, she was listed as one of BBC's 100 Women.
Nagano Sports Park is a park located in the Yoshida area of the city of Nagano, Nagano, Japan, approximately 5 km northeast of Nagano Station. The facilities are owned by Nagano Prefecture and by the Nagano municipal government.
Isao Kataoka was a Japanese ice hockey administrator. He served as the executive director and the vice-president of the Japan Ice Hockey Federation and was president of the Hokkaido Ice Hockey Federation. He worked with the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) in the planning and hosting of its tournaments in Japan, including the 1972 Winter Olympics and the 1998 Winter Olympics. He received the Paul Loicq Award in 2001 for contributions to the IIHF and promoting international ice hockey.
