A look back at Calgary 1988

Feb 13, 2008

This year Calgary is celebrating its 20th anniversary of hosting the 1988 Olympic Winter Games.  

Although the city’s warm Chinook winds had melted the snow, Calgary organizers were well prepared to turn on the snow makers, pull up their sleeves and ensure that the Games were a success.  

Over 16 days, Calgary’s Games hosted 57 nations and staged six sports. The alpine skiing super-G and super combined events made their Olympic debut, and team events were added to the sports of ski jumping and Nordic combined. Calgary also hosted the demonstration sports of curling, freestyle skiing and short track speed skating.

Among the most successful athletes of the Calgary 1988 Games were: Finland’s Matti Nykänen, who won three gold medals in ski jumping; Dutch speed skater Yvonne van Gennip, who won three gold medals and set two world records; and Italian alpine skier Alberto Tomba, won two gold medals. Calgary’s Games was also a stage for the battle of the Brians — Brian Boitano edged out Brian Orser in an extremely close decision for the gold medal in figure skating. 

Some athletes new to the Winter Games scene —British ski jumper Eddie 'the Eagle' Edwards and the Jamaican Bobsled Team whose remarkable story has since been immortalized in the 1993 Disney comedy movie Cool Runnings — also appeared for the first time. Calgary also introduced some new faces to the world, including two friendly country and western polar bear mascots named Hidy and Howdy, while the Closing Ceremony brought global attention to the talents of k.d. lang, the now internationally renowned Alberta singer, and Ralph Klein, Calgary’s mayor at the time, who went on to become Premier of Alberta, a role he held for 14 years.

The Games were a financial success that left many legacies, including the Canada Olympic Park and a surplus of funding for Canadian athletes through the Calgary Olympic Development Association (CODA). Twenty years later, the beneficial impacts of Calgary’s Games are still thriving today.