Venues of the 1988 Winter Olympics

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Scotiabank (then Pengrowth) Saddledome in July 2005. This venue, which hosted the figure skating and ice hockey finals for the 1988 Winter Olympics, was under construction in 1981 when Calgary was awarded the 1988 Games. PengrowthSaddledome.jpg
Scotiabank (then Pengrowth) Saddledome in July 2005. This venue, which hosted the figure skating and ice hockey finals for the 1988 Winter Olympics, was under construction in 1981 when Calgary was awarded the 1988 Games.

For the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, a total of nine sports venues were used. Calgary tried twice to host the Winter Olympics in the 1960s without success before finally winning the 1988 Winter Games in 1981. Stampede Corral was built in 1950 while McMahon Stadium was built in 1960. When the National Hockey League (NHL) Flames franchise was relocated from Atlanta, Georgia in the United States during the summer of 1980, a new arena was needed. The Saddledome construction was underway in late 1981 when Calgary was awarded the 1988 Games. Completed in 1983, the Olympic (Scotiabank since October 2010) Saddledome has played host to the Flames ever since, including three Stanley Cup Finals (championship in 1989) and the NHL All-Star Game in 1985. An innovation for the games was the first indoor long-track speed skating venue which has served as a model for future Olympics. The bobsleigh and luge track was the first combination track in North America and was noted for the Jamaican bobsleigh team crash during the four-man event. Both the Oval and the bobsleigh/luge (now bobsleigh/luge/skeleton) track continue to host the World Championships in their respective sports since the 1988 Winter Olympics.

Contents

Venues

VenueSportsCapacityRef.
Canada Olympic Park (includes bobsleigh/luge track) Bobsleigh, Luge 25,000 [1]
Freestyle skiing (demonstration)15,000
Nordic combined, Ski jumping 35,000
Canmore Nordic Centre Biathlon, Cross-country skiing, Nordic combined (cross-country skiing)Not listed. [2]
Father David Bauer Olympic Arena Figure skating, Men's & Women's Compulsories. Ice hockey 2,000 [3]
Max Bell Arena Curling (demonstration), Short track speed skating (demonstration)3,200 [4]
McMahon Stadium Ceremonies (opening/closing)60,000 [5]
Nakiska Alpine skiing, Freestyle skiing (demonstration)Not listed. [6]
Olympic Oval Speed skating 4,000 [7]
Olympic Saddledome Figure skating: Men's Free Skate, Women's Short Program & Free Skate, Pairs Free Skate, Ice Dancing Original Program & Free Skate.
Ice hockey (finals)
16,605 [8]
Stampede Corral Figure skating: Men's Short Program, Pairs Short Program, Ice Dancing Compulsories.
Ice hockey
6,475 [9]

Before the Olympics

Olympic Oval in 2006. The venue hosted the speed skating events for the 1988 Winter Olympics. It was one of the first indoor speed skating venues in the world. Olympic Oval.jpg
Olympic Oval in 2006. The venue hosted the speed skating events for the 1988 Winter Olympics. It was one of the first indoor speed skating venues in the world.

Stampede Corral was constructed in 1950, hosting the Calgary Stampeders ice hockey team from 1950 until they went out of business in 1972, then played again in 1978–79 under five different minor hockey leagues. [9] [10] Following the 1979–80 National Hockey League (NHL) season, the Flames franchise moved from their original founding at Atlanta in the United States to Calgary. [11] The first place the Flames relocated to in Calgary as a venue was Stampede Corral which they used from the 1980–81 to the 1982–83 NHL seasons. [12] [13] After that, the Flames moved to the Olympic Saddledome (Scotiabank Saddledome since October 2010) for the 1983–84 NHL season where they remain as of 2019. [14] [15] The Corral hosted the World Figure Skating Championships in 1972 and continues to be of use for the annual Calgary Stampede rodeo events. [16] [17]

The Canadian Football League (CFL) Calgary Stampeders moved into McMahon Stadium in 1960. [5] [18] In 1975, McMahon Stadium hosted the Grey Cup where the Edmonton Eskimos defeated the Montreal Alouettes 9–8. [19]

Calgary first bid for the Winter Olympics was in 1959 for the 1964 Games, losing to Innsbruck. Their second Winter Olympic bid attempt was for the 1968 Winter Olympics, losing to Grenoble by three votes in 1964. The third time was the charm for Calgary in 1981 when they were awarded the 1988 Winter Olympics over Falun, Sweden and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. [20]

It was Bill Pratt, the former contractor who took over as Calgary Organizing Committee president in 1983, and who supervised the enormous construction project. Says Donald Jacques, general manager of the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede: “Because of him, everything was built on time and on budget.” But Pratt rubbed many colleagues the wrong way. As a former co-worker predicted in 1983: “He will get everything built. There may not be many left around to enjoy it, but he’ll get it done.” [21]

The Saddledome was under construction in 1981 when Calgary was awarded the 1988 Games. [8] [22] At its 1983 completion, the first sporting event held was on 15 October against the Edmonton Oilers. [14] [22] The 1985 NHL All-Star Game took place at the Saddledome. [23] The Flames lost the 1986 Stanley Cup Finals to the Montreal Canadiens in five games of which three were played at the Saddledome while two were played at the Montreal Forum, a 1976 Summer Olympic venue. [24] [25]

Canmore's construction ran from 1983 to 1986. [2] Canada Olympic Park was constructed between 1984 and 1986. [1] The Olympic Oval's construction was modeled on the Olympic Oval used for the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York in the United States. [7] There would be one exception with this being domed, a first for speed skating provided Olympic organizers received approval from the International Skating Union (ISU). [7] The ISU approved this and construction of the first indoor long-track speed skating venue ran from 1985 to 1987. [7] Father David Bauer Arena was constructed between 1985 and 1987. [3] Naskiska was constructed between 1983 and 1987. [6] Max Bell Arena had its facilities renovated for the 1988 Winter Olympics though no stated timeframe was given in the official Olympic report. [4]

Prior to being selected by the Canadian Olympic Committee as Canada's official bid, CODA sought to put the bobsled track in Spray Valley Provincial Park, however when consulted former Canadian gold medalist Vic Emery noted the spot was too steep. The conversation took place during a September 1979 site investigation by COC while at the mountain, and Frank King CODA's chairman quickly selected a gentler hill next to the original location. [26]

During the Olympics

At the Oval, every speed skating event had an Olympic Record and all but three of those events had World Records set during those games. [27] At the bobsleigh and luge track, East German bobsledder Wolfgang Hoppe complained about the track's condition during the two-man event, stating that it was like "running on sandpaper", especially during the event's second run. [28] The bobsleigh four-man event was highlighted during the third run when the Jamaican bobsleigh team crashed after exiting the Kriesel turn, sliding all the way down the rest of the track. [29] Jamaica did not compete in the fourth run as a result. [30] In women's singles luge, the final two runs were delayed a day to heavy winds. [31]

Weather delays forced the individual Nordic combined event to be held on a single day on the last day of the Winter Olympics. [32] East German biathlete Jürgen Wirth had test fired in windy conditions before the start of the 4 × 7.5 km relay. [33] At the time of the relay, leadoff skier Wirth had not adjusted his rifle sight to the winds having died down. [33] He missed three of his first five shots, dropping the East German team to 12th place with a deficit of almost two minutes after the first exchange. [33] East Germany would win the silver medal in the event, finishing 1:07.4 behind the Soviet Union. [33]

After the Olympics

The Saddledome continue to play host the Flames, and witnessed two more Stanley Cup Finals with a win over Montreal in 1989 and a loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning fifteen years later. [34] [35] In 1995, the Saddledome underwent renovations in time to reopen for the 1995–96 NHL season. [22] Reba McEntire gave the first concert held at the Saddledome later that year following the renovations. [22]

The Oval has played host for the World Speed Skating Championships on eleven occasions since the Games. This included the Allround in 1990 (women), 1992 (men), 2006, 2011, and 2015; the Sprint in 1994, 1999, 2003, 2012, and 2017; and the Single Distance in 1998. [36] [37] [38]

The bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track (Skeleton was added in the early 1990s) have hosted the FIBT World Championships in 1992 (skeleton), 1996 (skeleton), 2001 (women's bobsleigh, men's and women's skeleton), and 2005. [39] [40] [41] [42] It hosted the FIL World Luge Championships in 1990, 1993, and 2001. [43]

Ski jumping has taken place at Canada Olympic Park though the last recorded competition was in 2003. [44] Freestyle skiing took place in 1989 and 1990, but was restarted in 2009 and 2010. [45] Nordic combined's last event in the Calgary area took place in 2002 and it was a mass start event. [46] Canmore Nordic Centre has hosted cross-country skiing events since 1995, including the last cross-country events before the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver the weekend before those Games began. [47] [48] The last biathlon events that took place at Canmore was in February 2016.

McMahon Stadium hosted the Grey Cup in 1993, 2000, 2009, and 2019 [49] [50] [51] [52]

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Olympic Sliding Centre Innsbruck

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For the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland, a total of five sports venues were used. The main stadium hosted the figure skating, ice hockey, and speed skating events. Skeleton was first held at the Cresta Run. Bobsleigh was held at the bob run. St. Moritz itself served as cross-country skiing venue and the cross-country part of the Nordic combined event. Weather gave two events run at these games problems, creating the largest margin of victory in Olympic history for one and the cancellation of the other.

For the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, a total of eight sports venues were used. Luge made its debut at these games, but were marred by the death of a British slider two weeks prior to the Games. A second ski jumping event debuted and the best two out of three jumps were used in both events for the only time in the history of the Winter Olympics. All eight venues would be used again when the Winter Games returned to Innsbruck twelve years later though the venues would undergo renovations in time for the 1976 Games.

For the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France, a total of ten sports venues were used. Most venues were constructed between the 1964 Winter Games in Innsbruck and the 1968 Games. Thawing was an issue for the four-man bobsleigh run. They were limited to only two runs. Thawing also affected the men's 500 m speed skating event. Electronic timing in alpine skiing affected the results of the women's giant slalom event. It gave Canada's Nancy Greene a headache for two days despite her gold medal in the event.

For the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan, a total of twelve sports venues were used. A thirteenth venue which was a reserved luge course was constructed, but never used in actual competition. Construction on all but of the venues used took place between 1968 and early 1971 in time for the test events. The Tsuskisamu Indoor Skating Rink was not completed until late 1971 or early 1972 because the number of teams scheduled to compete at the 1972 Games was not known. At the actual luge venue used, a malfunctioning starting gate during the first run led to the results being cancelled and rerun being ordered. The results of this event led to the only tie in Olympic luge history. The ski jumps at Miyanomori and Okurayama served as host venues for the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships thirty-five years later.

Venues of the 1976 Winter Olympics

For the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, a total of eight sports venues were used. The games were originally awarded to Denver, Colorado in the United States in 1970, but they withdrew in the wake of Colorado residents voting against it for environmental and cost reasons in November 1972. This led to the International Olympic Committee opening up the bids for the games again, eventually awarding them to Innsbruck in February 1973. The Austrian city, having hosted the Winter Olympics in 1964, was in the process of having the venues used for those Games before Denver's with clear cutting of the alpine skiing venues, lessening of the amount of cross-country skiing routes, upgrading the ski jumps, adding lighting in the indoor sports arena to accommodate color television, and the construction of a combination bobsleigh and luge track. After the 1976 Games, the venues have remained in use, hosting events in Nordic skiing and the sliding sports. They hosted some of the events for the Winter Universiade in 2005 and seven of the eight venues served as host for the first Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2012.

Venues of the 1980 Winter Olympics

For the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, United States, a total of seven sports venues were used. All five of the venues used for the 1932 Winter Olympics were also used at the 1980 Winter Games with adjustments. These adjustments included electronic scoreboards, increased refrigeration, and the addition of a separate luge track. This was the last Winter Olympics where there were separate bobsleigh and luge tracks. The closest finish in Olympic history in cross-country skiing led skiing officials to time future events in hundredths of a second rather than tenths of a second. This would also apply to biathlon events. Eric Heiden won five gold medals at the speed skating oval while the "Miracle on Ice" took place between Americans and Soviets at the Olympic Center. In the late 1990s, the luge track was demolished and a new combination track was constructed in time for the only Winter Goodwill Games held. The sliding venue was named to the American National Register of Historical Places in February 2010.

For the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, a total of nine sports venues were used. The idea for the Games came around from a 1968 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development study on promoting winter tourism in Yugoslavia. After Sarajevo was awarded the 1984 Games in 1978, venue construction and renovation took place between 1979 and 1983. Weather postponed the men's downhill alpine skiing event three times before it was finally run. The men's cross-country skiing 30 km event was run during a blizzard. After the games, all but one of the venues were damaged during the Bosnian War and the siege of Sarajevo. After the war, Zetra Ice Hall was rebuilt and is in use as of 2010.

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.

Venues of the 1998 Winter Olympics

For the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, a total of fifteen sports venues were used. Nagano had attempted twice to host the Winter Olympics, losing out to Sapporo, host of the 1972 Winter Olympics. The third time, in 1991, Nagano edged out Salt Lake City to host the 1998 Games. The biathlon venue was adjusted in accordance with the Washington Convention over endangered species. The biggest venue controversy was at Happo'one resort on the length of the men's downhill and the battle that ensued to the point where skiing officials threatened to pull the event entirely before a compromise was reached three months before the Olympics. M-Wave has hosted three World Speed Skating Championships since the Olympics, while the Spiral has hosted a couple of world championships in bobsleigh, luge and skeleton.

Venues of the 2006 Winter Olympics

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Works cited

Further reading