page_title: 1998 Winter Olympics
section_title: Snowboarding
hierarchical_section_title: 1998 Winter Olympics / Sports / Skiing / Snowboarding
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Nicola Thost beim VOX "Ewige Helden" Pressetermin, im Dezember 2015.
context_page_description: The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, and commonly known as Nagano 1998, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 7 to 22 February 1998 that were centered in Nagano, Japan. The Games also took place in the nearby mountain communities of Hakuba, Karuizawa, Nozawa Onsen, and Yamanouuchi. The city of Nagano had previously been a candidate to host the 1940 Winter Olympics, as well as the 1972 Winter Olympics, but each time Nagano was eliminated at the national level by Sapporo.
  The games hosted 2,176 athletes from 72 nations competing in 7 sports and 68 events. The number of athletes and participating nations were a record at the time. The Games saw the introduction of women's ice hockey, curling and snowboarding. National Hockey League players were allowed to participate in the men's ice hockey for the first time. Five countries, Azerbaijan, Kenya, Macedonia, Uruguay, and Venezuela made their debut at the Winter Olympics.
  The athlete who won the most medals at these games was the Russian cross-country skier Larisa Lazutina who won five medals, including three gold.
context_section_description: In the decade leading up the games, snowboarding had become popular in both North America and Europe, as well as Japan, and as a result, in August 1994, the NAOC received a request from the IOC president Samaranch to consider including snowboarding at the 1998 Winter Olympics. To reduce costs, NAOC asked the host community to cover a portion of the costs – the town Yamanouchi agreed – and FIS was expected to support financially as well. In November 1995, the NAOC executive board agreed to add snowboarding, and this was approved by the IOC at their December meeting the following month in Karuizawa. This was the first Winter Olympics with snowboarding events. The events took place at Mount Yakebitai and Kanbayashi Snowboard Park in Yamanouchi, Nagano, 30 kilometers northeast of Nagano City, from 8 to 12 February. In all, 125 athletes from 22 countries participated in the men's and women's Halfpipe and Giant slalom. Athletes from Germany won two medals, including one gold. Athletes from Switzerland, France, and Canada also won gold medals.
  In the men's giant slalom, the Canadian Jasey-Jay Anderson won the first race with a half-second lead ahead of Rebagliati. During the second race, the event was temporary delayed because of snow and fog. Ross Rebagliati finished with a combined time of 2:03.96, 0.02 seconds ahead of the Italian Thomas Prugger, and another 0.10 seconds ahead of the Swiss Ueli Kestenholz. Controversy occurred when three days after the men's Giant Slalom, the IOC determined that gold medalist Rebagliati from Canada, was disqualified after testing positive for marijuana. It was the first time in Olympic history that an athlete was disqualified for marijuana. The Canadian Olympic Committee lodged a protest and the case quickly went to the Court of Arbitration for Sport where it was ruled that because marijuana was not classified as a "banned" substance, the medal should be returned to the Canadian athlete. In the halfpipe, the gold medal went to the Swiss Gian Simmen, who had the highest score, 85.2, despite a heavy rain. The Norwegian Daniel Franck won the silver with a score of 82.4, and the American Ross Powers won the bronze with a score of 82.1.
  The women's giant slalom was delayed one day because of a snowstorm. The big favorite, the Frenchwoman Karine Ruby won the first race with almost two seconds ahead of her compatriot Isabelle Blanc. Ruby won the second race, with Blanc missing the last gate and falling. Ruby's combined time was 2:17.34. The German Heidi Renoth won the silver with a time of 2:19.17, and the Austrian Brigitte Köck won the bronze with a time of 2:19.42. In the halfpipe, the Norwegian Stine Brun Kjeldaas won the qualification round. However, in the finals, the German Nicola Thost, a former gymnast, finished second in both legs, scored 74.6 points, which was enough for the gold medal. Stine Brun Kjeldaas finished fourth in the first leg and first in second, winning the silver with 74.2 points. The American Shannon Dunn-Downing won the first leg, but finished seventh in the second leg, leaving her with the bronze with a score of 72.8.
caption: Nicola Thost, seen here in 2015, won the gold medal in women's halfpipe.
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