page_title: Venues of the 1988 Winter Olympics
section_title: Before the Olympics
hierarchical_section_title: Venues of the 1988 Winter Olympics / Before the Olympics
caption_attribution_description: The Olympic Oval, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
context_page_description: 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 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 Saddledome has played host to the Flames ever since, including three Stanley Cup Finals 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 track continue to host the World Championships in their respective sports since the 1988 Winter Olympics.
context_section_description: 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. 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. 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. 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. The Corral hosted the World Figure Skating Championships in 1972 and continues to be of use for the annual Calgary Stampede rodeo events.
  The Canadian Football League (CFL) Calgary Stampeders moved into McMahon Stadium in 1960. In 1975, McMahon Stadium hosted the Grey Cup where the Edmonton Eskimos defeated the Montreal Alouettes 9–8.
  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.
  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.” 
  The Saddledome was under construction in 1981 when Calgary was awarded the 1988 Games. At its 1983 completion, the first sporting event held was on 15 October against the Edmonton Oilers. The 1985 NHL All-Star Game took place at the Saddledome. 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.
  Canmore's construction ran from 1983 to 1986. Canada Olympic Park was constructed between 1984 and 1986. 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. 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). The ISU approved this and construction of the first indoor long-track speed skating venue ran from 1985 to 1987. Father David Bauer Arena was constructed between 1985 and 1987. Naskiska was constructed between 1983 and 1987. Max Bell Arena had its facilities renovated for the 1988 Winter Olympics though no stated timeframe was given in the official Olympic report.
caption: 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.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot A520", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2006:12:21 21:27:52", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "196", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "180", "Thumbnail YResolution": "180", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "2548", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5474", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/60", "EXIF FNumber": "13/5", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2006:12:21 21:27:52", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2006:12:21 21:27:52", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "189/32", "EXIF ApertureValue": "11/4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "11/4", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, auto mode, red-eye reduction mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "93/16", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2272", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1704", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "2272", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "1704", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1860", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "71000/7", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "71000/7", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}