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, 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 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 snowboarding competition of the 1998 Winter Olympics was held at Mount Yakebitai and Kanbayashi Snowboard Park. The competition took place between 8 and 12 February 1998 and featured four events: Men's and Women's giant slalom and halfpipe.
Australia competed at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. A total number of 24 athletes competed, participating in alpine skiing, biathlon, bobsleigh, cross-country skiing, figure skating, freestyle skiing, short track speed skating, and snowboarding, which appeared for the first time at the Olympics. Freestyle skiers Kirstie Marshall and Jacqui Cooper were some of Australia's best gold medal hopes, but both missed the aerials finals. Zali Steggall won Australia's first individual Winter Olympics medal, gaining bronze in slalom.
Snowboarding is a sport at the Winter Olympic Games. It was first included in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Snowboarding was one of five new sports or disciplines added to the Winter Olympic program between 1992 and 2002, and was the only one not to have been a previous medal or demonstration event. In 1998, four events, two for men and two for women, were held in two specialities: the giant slalom, a downhill event similar to giant slalom skiing; and the half-pipe, in which competitors perform tricks while going from one side of a semi-circular ditch to the other. Canadian Ross Rebagliati won the men's giant slalom and became the first athlete to win a gold medal in snowboarding. Rebagliati was briefly stripped of his medal by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after testing positive for marijuana. However, the IOC's decision was reverted following an appeal from the Canadian Olympic Association. For the 2002 Winter Olympics, giant slalom was expanded to add head-to-head racing and was renamed parallel giant slalom. In 2006, a third event, the snowboard cross, was held for the first time. In this event, competitors race against each other down a course with jumps, beams and other obstacles. On July 11, 2011, the International Olympic Committee's Executive Board approved the addition of Ski and Snowboard Slopestyle to the Winter Olympics roster of events, effective in 2014. The decision was announced via press conference from the IOC's meeting in Durban, South Africa. A fifth event, parallel slalom, was added only for 2014. Big air was added for 2018.
Jasey-Jay Anderson is a Canadian snowboarder and Olympic gold medallist, who competed in the 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, Winter Olympics. Anderson currently resides in Mont-Tremblant outside of Montreal.
Nagano Winter Olympics '98, known in Japan as Hyper Olympics in Nagano, is a multi-event sports game from Konami. It is based on the 1998 Winter Olympics and features 10 Olympic events including skating, skiing, luge, bobsleigh, slalom, curling, halfpipe and snowboarding. The game is part of the Track & Field/Hyper Sports series and would be the last licensed Olympic video game released on a Nintendo home console until Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games about nine years later.
Cyprus sent a delegation to compete at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan from 7–22 February 1998. This was Cyprus' sixth appearance at a Winter Olympics. Their delegation to Nagano consisted of a single alpine skier, Andreas Vasili. In the men's slalom competition on the penultimate day of the games, he failed to finish his first run and was eliminated.
The men's parallel giant slalom event in snowboarding at the 2006 Winter Olympics was held in Bardonecchia, a village in the Province of Turin, Italy. The competition took place on 22 February 2006.
Karine Ruby was a French snowboarder and Olympic champion. She won two medals at the Winter Olympics, with a gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, and a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. She also earned six gold medals and four silver medals at the FIS Snowboard World Championships, and 67 wins and 122 podiums at the FIS Snowboard World Cup, which earned her the description by The New York Times as "the most decorated female snowboarder in the world".
The women's parallel giant slalom event in snowboarding at the 2006 Winter Olympics was held in Bardonecchia, a village in the Province of Turin, Italy. The competition took place on 23 February 2006.
Azerbaijan sent a delegation to compete at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from 12–28 February 2010. This was Azerbaijan's fourth Olympic Winter Games, having appeared in each Winter Games since 1998 in Nagano. The Azerbaijani delegation consisted of two alpine skiers, Gaia Bassani Antivari and Jedrij Notz. The nation's best finish was by Antivari, 57th place in the women's giant slalom.
Andorra sent a delegation to compete in the 2010 Winter Olympics held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, from 12 to 28 February 2010. Andorra has never won an Olympic medal, despite appearing at every Winter and Summer Games since 1976. The Andorran delegation to these Olympics consisted of six athletes, four in alpine skiing, one in cross-country skiing, and one in snowboarding, the last being Lluís Marin Tarroch, the first snowboarder to represent Andorra at the Olympics. He placed 34th in his only event, and failed to advance to the quarterfinals as a result. Francesc Soulié, the first Andorran cross-country skier to compete at the Games, made his second Olympics appearance, achieving a 47th place finish in the best of his three events. The four alpine skiers that competed recorded six DNFs in their thirteen combined events, though Mireia Gutiérrez recorded a team-high 24th-place result in her best event.
The men's parallel giant slalom event in snowboarding at the 2002 Winter Olympics was held in Park City, United States. The qualification runs were held on 14 February and the final rounds on 15 February.
The Men's giant slalom competition of the Nagano 1998 Olympics was held at Shiga Kogen.
The Women's giant slalom competition of the Nagano 1998 Olympics was held at Shiga Kogen.
The women's giant slalom competition of the Nagano 1998 Olympics was held at Mount Yakebitai on 10 February.
Mike Jacoby is an American snowboarder who competed in the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics.
