Figure Skating - Winter Olympic Sports Home > Events > Olympics > Winter > Sports > Figure Skating Figure Skating Figure skating was included in the 1908 Summer Olympics in London and the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp , prior to the introduction of the Winter Olympics. It has been on the program of all Winter Olympic Games. 2014 Events Figure skating events include Men's singles, Ladies' singles, Pairs, Mixed Team Event and Ice Dancing. The Figure skating team event was a new event added in 2014. See more information about Ice Dancing . Trivia Another figure skating event, Men's special figures, was on the program only once, at the 1908 Summer Games. At the St Moritz Winter Olympics in 1928, Gillis Grafström of Sweden won the last of his three consecutive gold medals in figure skating. He also became the first person to win a medal in the same event in Summer and Winter Olympics, winning figure skating golds at the 1920 Olympics and in the same event at the first Winter Olympics in 1924.

Norwegian Sonja Henie was only 11 years old when she first skated in the Olympics in 1924 in the figure skating event, placing last in the eight-woman field. She would equal the feat of Gillis Grafström, winning the first of her three consecutive gold medals in figure skating at the 1928 Games at the age of 15. In Sapporo in 1972, Ondrej Nepala of Czechoslovakia, who had competed at the 1964 Olympics as a 13-year-old, won the men's figure skating title. America's Dorothy Hamill and Britain's John Curry won golds in figure skating in Innsbruck 1976. The first black athlete to win a Winter Olympic medal was Debi Thomas of the United States, finishing third in figure skating at the 1988 Games in Calgary. The 1994 figure-skating competition was dominated by the events of Tonya and Nancy. In the end Nancy Kerrigan won the silver behind Ukraine's Oksana Baiul.

In Nagano in 1998, 15-year-old American figure skater Tara Lipinski became the youngest athlete to win a gold medal at the Winter Games. In 2014, Russian Yulia Lipnitskaya won gold when she was 6 days younger. In 2002, there was a huge scandal over judging in the figure-skating when the Russian pair of Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze were awarded gold on a 5-4 verdict ahead of Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, who by all other accounts were the best performers. Eventually, the IOC awarded a second gold to the Canadians. A team event was added to the figure skating program in 2014, requiring the competition to start a day before the Opening ceremony. This was the first time in the history of the Winter Olympics that competitions will be held before the Opening ceremony. In the 2014 figure skating event was won by teenage Yuzuru Hanyu from Japan. He was the first Japanese man to ever win a gold medal in figure skating, and his score of 101.45 points set a world record.

Share: The A-to-Z of the Winter Olympics | Sport | The Guardian Winter Olympics 2006 The A-to-Z of the Winter Olympics The Games begin today. Stephen Moss offers a guide to curling, Klammer and careering downhill on a biscuit tin Bob de Jong of the Netherlands Olympic speed skating team works out at the Oval Lingotto in Turin. Photograph: Jasper Juinen/AP Friday 10 February 2006 10.58 EST First published on Friday 10 February 2006 10.58 EST Close A A is for Alain Baxter, the Scottish skier who came third in the slalom at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City but was disqualified because he tested positive for methamphetamine. Sounds sinister but the probable source was a nasal spray Baxter was taking for a cold. Baxter will be seeking redemption in Turin, competing alongside his younger brother Noel. Unfortunately, since Salt Lake City, Baxter Senior's career has gone downhill. A is also for Jeanette Altwegg, who won figure skating gold for Britain in Oslo in 1952.

Altwegg was also an excellent tennis player, and reached the Wimbledon junior final in 1947. B B is for Bolero, an extremely irritating orchestral piece by Maurice Ravel (founder of the eponymous chain of shoe shops). As well as being the music that Torvill and Dean danced to in their famous gold medal-winning performance in Sarajevo in 1984, it was also used by Bo Derek to seduce Dudley Moore in the film 10. B is also for the Brians - the American Brian Boitano and the Canadian Brian Orser - who fought an epic battle for skating gold in the 1988 Games in Calgary. But only Winter Olympics anoraks will be interested in that. And Canadians, of course. C C is for curling, in which Britain (well, Scotland actually - all the team were from north of the border) grabbed a dramatic gold at Salt Lake City in 2002. The sport is magnificently loopy: one team member launches a giant "stone" weighing 42lb along the ice while his - or in this case her - team-mates sweep the ice with brushes to speed its progress towards the "house".

Like bowls but without the edge-of-the-seat excitement. C is also for Curry and Cousins. John Curry won the figure skating gold for Britain in the 1976 Games in Innsbruck. Robin Cousins followed suit - a rather natty, tight-fitting one - four years later at Lake Placid in New York state. Both won BBC Sports Personality of the Year. This was the golden age of British ice skating. Now we have to make do with former soap stars making fools of themselves on ITV's Dancing on Ice. C is also for Chamonix, where the first Winter Olympics were held in 1924. D D is for death and destruction, which ensured that the ill-fated 1940 Winter Games did not take place. They had originally been due to be held in Sapporo, but that plan was abandoned when Japan invaded China. Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, the venue in 1936, was then asked to act as host again, but Germany invaded Poland. That was it until St Moritz in 1948. D is also for downhill skiing, a rather ridiculous name since it presupposes that there is uphill skiing.

E E is for Eddie "the Eagle" Edwards, Britain's most famous Olympic ski jumper. In fact, Britain's only Olympic ski jumper. He competed at Calgary in 1988, coming 56th out of 57 entrants. (The 57th was disqualified.) The 24-year-old plasterer with the dumpy frame and thick, owlish spectacles was a curiosity beside the sleek Finns and angular Austrians. The French called him "Le Benny Hill du ski", an Italian journalist called him a "ski-dropper" rather than a ski-jumper, and his jump of 71 metres was about half the length of the Finn who won. But the public adored him, and Eddie (his real name is Michael) became a media sensation - easily the most famous athlete at the Calgary Games. His single, Fly Eddie Fly, was a top 50 hit in the UK, Mun Nimeni on Eetu (My Name is Eddie) reached number two in the Finnish charts, and he wrote a book called Eddie on the Piste. The International Olympic Committee didn't share the joke.

In 1990, it changed the qualification rules in an attempt to ensure that no one quite as bad as Eddie could ever compete again. It seems to have worked, because he has failed in all his subsequent attempts at qualification. F F is for Florence (usually called Madge) Syers, the Brit who won the first ever figure skating gold, at the London Games in 1908 (the Winter Olympics had yet to be hived off as a separate event). Figure skating then was quite different from its modern (rather carnal) incarnation. Photographs of Syers show her competing in long skirt, large hat and billowing blouse. It's unlikely that any triple lutzes were attempted. G G is for global warming, which must be a bit of a worry for the organisers of the Winter Olympics. The Games of 2106, which will have to be held at the Amundsen-Scott Station in Antarctica, are likely to be an intimate gathering. G is also for Lord Glentoran, the Eton-educated Tory peer who, as Robin Dixon (more properly, Thomas Robin Valerian Dixon), won gold in the two-man bobsleigh at Innsbruck in 1964.

Actually, this being the two-man bob, it wasn't just him. He was partnered by RAF man Tony Nash. H H is for Sonja Henie, the Norwegian who is generally regarded as the greatest figure skater of all time. She won gold at the Winter Olympics of 1928, 1932 and 1936, before quitting the sport to become a star of ice carnivals and movies. Her films, which include Thin Ice, Happy Landing and Wintertime, would not win high marks for artistic impression. H is also for high security. Italy was a prominent supporter of the Iraq war and, fearing reprisals, Turin is on terrorism alert, with police snipers on duty at all venues, watching out for suspicious men on skis carrying rucksacks. I I is for ice hockey, a ludicrous sport in which men and women in padded outfits hurtle round the ice knocking each other over and trying to smash a small disc into a tiny goal guarded by a huge goalkeeper with a face mask. Very big in Canada. Amazingly, Britain won the ice hockey gold in 1936, beating the Canadians (who had won the previous four Olympic titles) in the final.

Ten of the 12 British players were based in Canada. J J is for Jamaica, whose bobsleigh team won the hearts of spectators at the 1988 Calgary Olympics (at least those that weren't already devoted to Eddie the Eagle). Their exploits at the Calgary Games - mainly a catalogue of crashes - were retold in the movie Cool Runnings, and the team became an institution at subsequent Winter Olympics. Sadly, the Jamaicans failed to qualify for Turin. K K is for Kristan Bromley (aka Dr Ice), Britain's best hope of a medal this year, in the skeleton bobsleigh - a sled about the same size and shape as a biscuit tin. Called Dr Ice because he has an an engineering PhD - in bob-skeleton design, handily. May even win gold if all goes well. K is also for John and Sinead Kerr, the Scottish brother and sister team who have hopes (albeit more remote than Dr Ice's) of an ice dancing medal. John likes to dress in a kilt. Though not while he's competing, obviously.

K is also for Franz Klammer and Jean-Claude Killy, both legendary skiers but, sadly for them, not British, and therefore skated over rather quickly here. L L is for Sir Arnold Lunn, who invented Alpine skiing and successfully lobbied for its introduction at the Games of 1936. Until then, skiing at the Olympics had been of the dull Nordic variety, with lots of ultra-fit Norwegians skiing for miles across country and no hair-raising (and highly televisual) thrills and spills. One of these ultra-fit Norwegians complained that a Brit altering the rules of skiing was like an Eskimo rewriting the laws of cricket. We are also about as successful at skiing as the Eskimos XI is at cricket. L is also for luge, a tiny sled similar to the skeleton bobsleigh. The main difference is that competitors hurtle downhill feet first on the luge and head first on the skeleton bob (or is it the other way round?) Crazy and very dangerous however you do it. The Germans always win the luge. But that has to be better than them invading Poland.

M M is for McDonald's, a "Worldwide Olympic Partner" which is using the Games in Turin to launch "a major global initiative to promote a balanced, active lifestyle". See also Olympic torch, attacks on. N N is for nightmare scenario, which predicts that Turin will grind to a halt during the 17 days of the Olympics because of lack of planning and poor transport. "My biggest fear is that there is going to be traffic chaos on the road up to the mountains," says one IOC official. Surprisingly, the Italians are behind schedule in their preparations, with one of the Olympic villages still not quite fin... O O is for Olympic torch, the internationally recognised symbol of love, peace, universal brotherhood and the mass immolation of doves. Unfortunately, the Italians don't seem to have got the message, because wherever the torch has been taken in Italy it has been assailed by demonstrators. Anti-globalisation protesters, opponents of a proposed high-speed rail link, and people angry at the commercialisation of the Games have all blocked its progress. It was also held up by heavy snow in northern Italy. P P is for piste, a slope prepared for skiing.

Key word for punning sub-editors and writers of sporting autobiographies (see Eddie "the Eagle" Edwards). Q Q is for queues. See nightmare scenario. R R is for Rhona Martin, captain of the women's curling team that won gold for Britain in 2002. She will again carry a proud nation's hopes on her shoulders in Turin. (Important note: it's women curlers; not women in curlers.) S S is for Squaw Valley, an obscure skiing resort in California that hosted the 1960 Games, despite the fact that, when it was chosen five years earlier, it had just one 50-room hotel and a single chairlift. S is also for snowboarding, the hippest discipline (sic) at the Winter Olympics. Snowboarding joined the Olympic "family" in 1998, as a sort of rebellious, long-haired younger son. The winner of the first snowboarding gold, Ross Rebagliati, was disqualified when a routine drug test found traces of cannabis. Many aficionados of the sport argued that snowboarders should only be disqualified if they hadn't been taking cannabis.

T T is for Turin, which was chosen as host of the 20th Winter Olympics in 1999, beating Helsinki, Klagenfurt, Zakopane, Sion and Poprad-Tatry to the prize. The Games include 84 events; 252 medals are up for grabs; there are 2,600 athletes from 82 countries, 2,500 officials, and 10,000 journalists. (Lucky the Games aren't being held at Squaw Valley.) T is also for Torvill and Dean, who are to ice dancing what Pearl and Dean were to cinema advertising. At the Sarajevo games in 1984, T&D won gold with an unforgettable performance watched by an estimated 24 million people in the UK.

They gained maximum marks from all the judges (even the dodgy east European ones) for artistic impression, the Queen sent a message of congratulation, and Jayne Torvill found the words to crown a magical occasion - "I just want to say hello and thank the people of Nottingham." T is also for Italian skiing superstar Alberto Tomba (nicknamed "Tomba la Bomba"), the tubby, charismatic playboy who won three golds at the Games of 1988 and 1992. U U is for the USSR, which was top nation in 1956, 1960, 1964, 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1988, but doesn't seem to have done much recently. V V is for vertigo, which is what the compulsive television watcher is likely to suffer over the next 17 days. W W is for Katarina Witt, the elegant East German figure skater who won consecutive golds in 1984 and 1988. Used to infuriate officials by skating in outrageously skimpy outfits and, after her retirement, posed nude for Playboy.

A lot more fun to google than Eddie "the Eagle" Edwards. (Note to Guardian technology support team: I really did view AskMen.com and retroCRUSH: the barely legal pleasure palace, in the interests of research.) X X is for X-certificate. See Katarina Witt above. Y Y is for Yemen, which is sending a crack team of skiiers to the Games. OK, that was a feeble attempt at humour - they're not sending anyone. But look out for Mathieu Razanakolona from Madagascar in the giant slalom, Sarah Ben Mansour from Morocco in the Alpine skiing, and Noureddine Maurice Bentoumi of Algeria in the cross-country skiing. Who said the Winter Olympics weren't a global event? Z Z is for, yes you guessed it, Zzzzzzzzzz, which is what today's four-hour opening ceremony is likely to induce. Z is also for Sarka Zahrobska, the Czech skier who carries with her the best wishes of all compilers of alphabetical guides to the Winter Olympics.

Figure Skating at the 1976 Innsbruck Winter Games: Women's Singles | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com Figure Skating at the 1976 Innsbruck Winter Games: Women's Singles Venue(s): Olympic Ice Stadium, Innsbruck Date Started: February 10, 1976 Date Finished: February 13, 1976 Format: Each judge ranked each skater by Ordinal Placement from first through last place. The Ordinal Placement for each judge was based on Total Points awarded by that judge to the skaters. The points were based on 30% for Compulsory Figures, 20% for the Short Program, and 50% for Free Skating, with the tiebreaker for each judge being the Free Skating score. Final placement was determined by a Majority Placement rule. Thus, if a skater was ranked first by a majority of the judges, that skater was placed first overall, and the process was repeated for each place.

Ties were broken by a Subsequent Majority rule, i.e., if the skaters were ranked for the same position by the same number of judges, Majority Placement for the next higher position for each skater determined who was ranked higher. The tiebreakers were then 1) Number of Majority Placements, 2) Total Ordinals of Majority, 3) Total Ordinals, 4) Total Points. Gold: Christine Errath Summary The last two World Champions had been [Christine Errath] (GDR-1974) and [Dianne de Leeuw] (NED-1975). Errath had beaten de Leeuw both years at the Europeans, but de Leeuw won the 1976 Europeans shortly before the Olympics and was the favorite. Also expected to medal was America’s [Dorothy Hamill], second at the Worlds in both 1974 and 1975, who was coached by [Carlo Fassi], who also coached the 1976 men’s gold medalist, [John Curry]. Dianne de Leeuw was also an American from California, but early in her career had difficulty making US international squads.

With a Dutch mother and a father with US/Dutch dual citizenship, she used her Dutch citizenship to compete for the Netherlands. The lead after the compulsories was taken by West German [Isabel de Navarre], with Hamill second, de Leeuw third, and Errath fifth. Hamill then won the short program, which put her into the lead, with de Leeuw second and Errath fourth, following de Navarre. Hamill also won the free skate, which clinched her the gold medal over de Leeuw, who won silver, Errath moving up to the bronze medal. Hamill became quite famous in the United States for her pixie good looks and especially for her hairstyle, which many America women copied, giving it the name the Hamill Do. A Sports Reference Site : About SR/Olympics | Privacy Statement | Conditions & Terms of Service | Use of Data Data provided by OlyMADMen , led by Hilary Evans, Arild Gjerde, Jeroen Heijmans, and Bill Mallon.

Members: David Foster, Martin Frank, Jørn Jensen, Carl-Johan Johansson, Taavi Kalju, Martin Kellner, George Masin, Stein Opdahl, Wolf Reinhardt, Ralf Regnitter, Paul Tchir, Magne Teigen, Christian Tugnoli, Morten Aarlia Torp, and Ralf Schlüter. Sports Reference LLC and are not sponsored by or affiliated with the Olympics, the United States Olympic Committee or the International Olympic Committee. Trademarks featured or referred to on this website are the property of their respective trademark holders and not Sports Reference LLC or . Part of the Innsbruck 1976 Winter Olympics - results & video highlights Official Reports arrow Denver pulls out The 1976 Games had been awarded to Denver, but the people of the state of Colorado voted to prohibit public funds from being used to support the Games. Innsbruck offered to step in and its offer was accepted by the IOC Executive Board. The city had previously hosted the Winter Games 12 years earlier. Downhill drama The most memorable image of the Games was local hero Franz Klammer flying wildly down the downhill course, barely in control, on his way to a gold medal.

Rosi Mittermaier of West Germany won two of the three Alpine skiing events and almost became the first woman to win all three. But in the final race, Canada’s Kathy Kreiner beat her by 12 hundredths of a second. Debuts and firsts Ice dancing debuted as a full medal discipline and was dominated by the Russians. In figure skating, American Terry Kubicka performed a back flip - the first time in the history of figure skating this dangerous move had been successfully performed. Elegant and athletic British figure skater John Curry tended to emphasise grace and artistic expression over athleticism, an approach that had cost him points with the judges in the past. But in Innsbruck he combined his natural elegance with a series of stunning jumps and was rewarded with the highest points total in the history of men's figure skating. NOCs: 37 Athletes: 1,123 (231 women, 892 men) Events: 37 Media: n/a Denver's withdrawal The Games had been awarded to the city of Denver but the city withdrew on 15 November 1972 following a referendum which rejected the building of Olympic facilities for ecological reasons.

Innsbruck offered to step in. It was accepted by the IOC as host city of these Games on 4 February 1973. Two cauldrons This was the second time the Games had taken place in this city, the first being in 1964. For this reason, two Olympic cauldrons were lit. New on the programme Olympic debut for ice dancing. The first back flip For the first time in the history of figure skating, a competitor (Terry Kubicka, USA) attempted, and succeeded, a dangerous back flip. Ceremonies 4 February 1976: There were two Olympic cauldrons, to celebrate not only the present Games but also the previous time they had been held in Innsbruck, 1964. Official opening of the Games by: President Dr Rudolf Kirschschläger Lighting of the Olympic Flame by: Two cauldrons were lit as a symbol of Winter Games being held twice in Innsbruck. The cauldron of 1964 was lit by Christl Haas (Alpine skiing) and the 1976 cauldron was ignited by Josef Feistmantl (luge).

Olympic Oath by: Officials' Oath by: Willy Köstinger (Nordic combined) The emblem represents the coat of arms of the city of Innsbruck, showing the bridge on the Inn which gives the city its name. The bridge and the five Olympic rings symbolize the link between the various peoples and the ties of friendship binding the young athletes of all nations for whom Innsbruck was once again a meeting place in 1976. As was the case for the 1964 Innsbruck Games, the winners’ medal was created by the Viennese artist Martha Coufal-Hartl. The medals were produced by the Austrian mint in Vienna. The obverse depicts the emblem of the Games (the same as the 1964 Games), comprising the Olympic rings and the coat of arms of the city showing the bridge on the Inn which gives the city of Innsbruck its name. For centuries, this bridge has been the link between the old town and the Hötting district. It symbolizes friendship and the people of the world coming together.

Total distance: 1 618 km in Austria Countries crossed: Greece, Austria More info Guided by the principle of not showing one sporting discipline in particular, Arthur Zelger the designer of the poster created a neutral poster, showing a skate, a common feature of winter sports. This skate symbolizes all the disciplines found in the Winter Games: a ski run, a sledge or bobsleigh and the blade of a skate. The white rectangle on the tip makes the “I” of Innsbruck. On the right, in the background, the coloured peaks symbolize the Tyrolean mountains. Entitled “Final report”, the official report of the XII Olympic Winter Games, Innsbruck 1976, was the first one published in a trilingual version – French, English and German. Olympic Winter Games - The Canadian Encyclopedia MLA 7th Edition Marsh, James H.. "Olympic Winter Games". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Toronto: Historica Canada, 2011. Web. 24 Oct 2011. Marsh, James H.. "Olympic Winter Games". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Toronto: Historica Canada, 2011. Web.

24 Oct 2011. APA 6th Edition Marsh, J.H.. R. The Canadian Encyclopedia. (2011). Olympic winter games. Retrieved January 20, 2017 From Marsh, J.H.. R. The Canadian Encyclopedia. (2011). Olympic winter games. Retrieved January 20, 2017 From Chicago 16th Edition Marsh, James H.. "Olympic Winter Games." In The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada, 1985—. Article published October 24, 2011 Marsh, James H.. "Olympic Winter Games." In The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada, 1985—. Article published October 24, 2011 Turabian Marsh, James H.. 2011. Olympic Winter Games. The Canadian Encyclopedia (accessed January 20, 2017). Marsh, James H.. 2011. Olympic Winter Games. The Canadian Encyclopedia (accessed January 20, 2017).

While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. home Olympic Winter Games The idea of including winter sports in the Olympic Games dates back to 1900, when organizers planned to include figure skating as part of the 1900 Games in Paris. Canada at the Winter Olympic Games The idea of including winter sports in the Olympic Games dates back to 1900, when organizers planned to include figure skating as part of the 1900 Games in Paris. It did not happen then but figure skating exhibitions were held in October 1908 at the London summer games, won by Swedish skater Ulrich Salchow, originator of the jump that now bears his name. In 1911 an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member failed to persuade the Swedes to include winter sports in the Stockholm Games. The Swedes saw the idea as a threat to their own Nordic Games and rejected it. The Nordic Games dated back to 1901 and were held at different intervals until 1926.

They were pretty much a Swedish affair as only one event was hosted outside Sweden (in Oslo). Finally Nordic Games originator Viktor Gustav Balck himself successfully lobbied the IOC to include figure skating events in the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. Figure skating and ice hockey (won by the Winnipeg Falcons) were both included in the Summer Olympics held in Antwerp in 1920, though they were staged 10 weeks before the regular events, in the Antwerp ice palace. 1924 Winter Olympic Games: Chamonix, France (January 25-February 5) Finally, in 1921, over the objections of the founder of the modern Olympic movement Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who considered winter sports to be too closely associated with the upper classes, the IOC agreed to stage a separate "International Sports Week" during the winter in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The small town already had a ski jump and organizers added a bobsled run and ice stadium in the valley and ski trails. Of the 258 athletes from 16 nations who competed, 245 were men and 13 were women.

These Games were a great success and were retroactively named the first Olympic Winter Games. The first Winter Olympic gold medal was awarded to Charles Jewtraw of Lake Placid, New York, for the men's 500-m speed skating event. Norwegian figure skater Sonja Henie made her debut at the age of 11. An accomplished ballerina, Henie introduced a new style of skating to the event that caught the attention of many judges and spectators. The Canadian ice-hockey team, comprised of Granite Club players from Toronto, won all 5 of its matches, outscoring its opponents 110 to 3. The closest contest was the gold-medal game, in which Canada defeated the United States 6-1. Canada's Rank: 9th Gold: Men's Hockey (demonstration) 1928 Winter Olympic Games: St Moritz, Switzerland (February 11-February 19) The 1928 Winter Olympic Games at St Moritz, Switzerland, were the first to be held in a different country from the summer games (held in Amsterdam). Not for the last time, the Olympic site was blighted by rain and unseasonably warm weather.

A third of the competitors in the 50-km cross-country ski race quit in frustration over a course mired in slush. Skeleton, a luge-like event in which an athlete rides a sled down the course head-first, was first introduced. Norwegian figure skater Sonja Henie, now aged 15, was the sensation, winning gold. Canada was represented in ice hockey by the University of Toronto Grads. It was in fact a formidable team, having won the Allan Cup and being coached in Canada (though not at the Olympics) by Conn SMYTHE . The tournament organizers tried to arrange the tournament to provide some challenge to the Canadians, but the Grads still steamrolled the Swedes 11-0, Great Britain 14-0 and the host Swiss 13-0. After their gold medal performance the team toured Europe, introducing large crowds to their speedy play.

Canada's Rank: 6th Gold: Men's Hockey 1932: Winter Olympic Games: Lake Placid, New York (February 4-February 15) The first Olympics to be held outside Europe were opened at Lake Placid by then Governor of New York Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the future president of the United States. Sonja Henie defended her figure skating title. These Games marked a strong improvement by Canadian athletes as they came away with 13 performances in the top 6. Three Canadian speed skaters won a total of five medals and Montgomery WILSON took bronze in the men's figure skating. Rules for SPEED SKATING were altered dramatically to benefit North American skaters and the great champion Clas Thunberg of Finland refused to even make the trip. While the Americans spent extravagantly on a new stadium and other facilities, they neglected others, such as the cross-country course, where skiers got lost skiing through the woods on ill-marked courses. For the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, sled-dog racing was included in the schedule of demonstration events. Canada and the United States competed. Only 4 teams competed in ice hockey: Canada, the United States, Poland and Germany.

The Winnipeg Hockey Club represented Canada. The Americans proved a tough opponent and were ahead deep into the third period of the deciding game until Romeo Rivers scored the tying goal, to the great relief "of nine million Canadians" as The Winnipeg Free Press reported. At the end of the third overtime the officials called a halt to the game and awarded the gold to Canada on the basis of a previous narrow victory over the Americans. Canada's Rank: 3rd Gold: Men's Hockey Silver: Alexander Hurd, 1500-m speed skating Bronze: Montgomery Wilson, figure skating; Frank Stack, 10 000-m speed skating; William Logan, 1500-m and 5000-m speed skating; and Alexander Hurd, 500-m speed skating 1936 Winter Olympic Games: Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany (February 6-February 16) The Olympic flame first burned at the 1936 Games at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the Bavarian Alps, near the Austrian border. Some 500 000 spectators were bused to the events on the final day. Alpine events were held for the first time.

Attempts to organize a world-wide boycott against the Nazi government failed and the Games went on. These Games also marked the beginning of a decades-long dispute on where to draw the line between eligible amateurs and professionals. The Austrians and Swiss boycotted the alpine events after their best skiers (who earned livings as ski instructors) were disqualified for being professionals. Canadian skier Diana Gordon-Lennox struck a brave pose as she skied the course with one arm in a cast and only one pole (she finished 29th). Canada had some difficulty mustering a hockey team as most of the ALLAN CUP champion Halifax Wolves had turned professional. The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) organizers decided to send the runner-up Port Arthur Bear Cats but allowed 2 Canadian players, goalie James Foster and forward Alex Archer, to play for Great Britain, a team that already had many players who had been born in Britain but who had learned the game in Canada. The Canadians would regret this magnanimity when Foster stoned the Canadians in the first round. The Bear Cats were denied the opportunity to revenge the loss when Olympic organizers changed the format, meaning the one loss would give Great Britain the gold medal. Outraged Canadian official P.J.

Mulqueen called it "one of the worst manipulations in sporting history." Canada's Rank: 9th Silver: Men's Hockey 1948: Winter Olympic Games: St Moritz, Switzerland (January 30-February 8) Germany and Japan were barred from competing in the first Games held after the Second World War, again at St Moritz. For Canada the Games belonged to 19-year-old Canadian figure skater Barbara Ann SCOTT , who inherited Henie's crown as Olympic champion. On February 6, the biggest crowd since the 5th Winter Olympic Games opening ceremony packed the bleachers and perched on terraced cliffs to see Scott add the last great title to her skating honours. Skating on a surface chewed up by the hockey players, Scott won 7 of the 9 first-place votes and became the first North American woman to win gold in figure skating. In men's figure skating, American Dick Button performed the first double Axel in competition. Still smarting from its dispute with the IHF over the 1936 fiasco, Canada did not have a hockey team until just 100 days before the start of the Games. Finally the Royal Canadian Air Force volunteered their team.

The RCAF were not the favourites, but they prevailed over all, except the Czechs who held them to a 0-0 tie. In a final game against the home-town Swiss, even the local fans booed the biased refereeing. The ice conditions and the refereeing were so bad that at times the game threatened to develop into a farce. Nevertheless Canada survived, won the game 3-0 and took gold. Canada's Rank: 8th Gold: Barbara Ann Scott, figure skating; Men's Hockey Bronze: Suzanne Morrow Francis and Wallace Diestelmeyer, figure skating pairs 1952: Winter Olympic Games: Oslo, Norway (February 14-February 25) In the Games' return to Norway, the Olympic flame was ignited at Morgedal in the fireplace of skier Sondre Norheim, who is credited with the invention of the modern ski binding, and was conveyed by skiers to Oslo. Norwegian speed skater Hjallis Andersen was the star of these Games with 3 gold medals. It was the first time that cross-country ski events were held for women.

In hockey Canada was represented by the EDMONTON MERCURYS , who had won the world ice hockey championship in 1950. The Mercs won the first 3 games by a combined score of 39-4, but were challenged by the Czechs and the Swedes. A 3-3 tie with the United States (who had lost to Sweden) was good enough for gold. It was the end of the era of Canadian dominance in amateur hockey. The Canadians would not win hockey Olympic gold again for 50 years. Canada's Rank: 9th Bronze: Gordon Audley, 500-m speed skating 1956 Winter Olympic Games: Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy (January 26-February 5) The 1956 Cortina Games were the first to be partially televised. They were also the first Games to be heavily subsidized by sponsors providing "official" products, such as Fiat automobiles. They also marked the dramatic appearance of a team from the Soviet Union. The Soviets came prepared as their speed skaters won 3 of the 4 events and the Soviet team finished first in the medals.

Lucile WHEELER won Canada's first skiing medal with a bronze in the downhill race. Competition persevered despite lack of snow early in the Games, a later storm and then a major thaw. The Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen breezed through their preliminary round in the hockey competition but lost 4-1 in the medal round to the US. CBC broadcaster Thom Benson likened the atmosphere after the loss to a funeral. On 5 February, the Canadians were cut down by the Soviets 2-0 and had to settle for bronze. Hence began a long complaint about the hypocritical rules that barred Canadian professionals but overlooked the government support of Soviet players. Canada's Rank: 9th Silver: Norris Robert Bowden and Frances Dafoe, figure skating pairs Bronze: Men's Hockey; Lucile Wheeler, downhill skiing 1960 Winter Olympic Games: Squaw Valley, California (February 18-February 28) Squaw Valley, California, won the bid for the 1960 Games despite the fact that it barely existed. The area went on a binge of construction over the next few years, building hotels, bridges, the first Olympic village, ski lifts and the first skating track with refrigeration.

The organizers, however, refused to build a bobsled run, leaving these Games as the only ones not to include the sport. These were the first Games to use a computer to process results. Biathlon was added for the first time, as was women's speed skating. The flawless gold medal performance in pairs figure skating by Robert PAUL and Barbara WAGNER was highlighted by a breathtaking "death spiral" that won first-place votes from every judge. Anne HEGGTVEIT finished well ahead of her rivals to become the first Canadian to win gold in skiing. In ice hockey, the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen returned and despite beating the Soviets lost the opportunity for gold in a previous 2-1 defeat by the Americans. Canada's Rank: 8th Gold: Robert Paul and Barbara Wagner, figure skating pairs; Anne Heggtveit, slalom Silver: Men's Hockey Bronze: Donald JACKSON , figure skating 1964 Winter Olympic Games: Innsbruck, Austria (January 29-February 9) The 1964 Games at Innsbruck, Austria, were threatened by a serious lack of snow.

The Austrian army was pressed into service, carving out 20 000 ice blocks from a mountain and moving them to the bobsled and luge runs. Some 40 000 cubic metres of snow had to be carted to the site of the alpine skiing events. The debut of luge at the Olympics was also marred by the unfortunate death of a British athlete in a practice run. Soviet speed skater Lydia Skoblikova became the first athlete to win 4 gold medals at a single Winter Olympic Games. In figure skating the pair of Lyudmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov won the first of successive pairs titles, inaugurating a Soviet (or Russian) dominance of that event that continues to this day. The Canadian 4-man team won gold the first time that they competed in the BOBSLEIGH competition, setting a course record on their first run. In hockey the CAHA changed its approach and organized an OLYMPIC HOCKEY TEAM from the best university and senior players. In a medal round game against the Czechs, Canada was leading 1-0 when goalie Seth Martin was injured.

The Czechs put 3 goals past his replacement, went on to lose to the Soviets and reduced the Canadians to a 4th-place finish. Canada's Rank: 10th Gold: Doug Anakin, John Emery, Victor Emery and Peter Kirby, 4-man bobsleigh Bronze: Petra BURKA , figure skating; Guy Revell and Debbi Wilkes, figure skating pairs 1968 Winter Olympic Games: Grenoble, France (February 6-February 18) President Charles de Gaulle, a hatless figure towering above the crowd, opened the 10th Winter Olympic Games with the briefest of speeches ("I proclaim the opening of the 10th Winter Olympic Games at Grenoble."). In these dispersed Games, only the ice skating competition was held at Grenoble, with the other events farmed out to other villages up to 65 km away. The Games belonged to Jean-Claude Killy, who swept the men's alpine events. The victory was not without controversy as Killy's rival in one event was disqualified for missing gates when he saw a shadowy figure cross the slalom course. These were the first Games to include drug test and gender tests.

No one failed. For Canada, Nancy GREENE improved on her 2 previous Olympic finishes with gold in the giant slalom and silver in the slalom. She swept down the 1610-metre, 68-gate Chamrousse course in 1:51.97 to win by an incredible 2.64 seconds. The Canadian amateur hockey team lost to the Soviets and Finland and finished with bronze. Canada's perceived fall from grace in hockey prompted Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to commission a study on the gap that was opening between Canadian and international hockey--this despite the obvious explanation that Canada's best players were all professional and did not qualify for the Olympics. Canada's Rank: 14th Gold: Nancy Greene, giant slalom Silver: Nancy Greene, slalom Bronze: Men's Hockey 1972 Winter Olympic Games: Sapporo, Japan (February 3-February 13) The 1972 Games were the first to be held outside Europe or North America. The enduring controversy over professionalism ignited before the Games as IOC president Avery Brundage banned Austrian ski superstar Karl Schranz because he had accepted money from sponsors.

Meanwhile Brundage refused to apply the same standards to hockey players from the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia. Canada refused to take part in the hockey competition to protest this continued hypocrisy of the eligibility rules. The Japanese ski jumping team won that country's first-ever gold medals, led by new national hero Yukio Kasaya. Canada earned a single medal, a silver by Karen MAGNUSSEN in figure skating. Canada's Rank: 17th Silver: Karen Magnussen, figure skating 1976 Winter Olympic Games: Innsbruck, Austria (February 4-February 15) In 1976 the Winter Olympics were awarded to Denver, Colorado (to celebrate the American bicentennial), but in an unprecedented move the voters of Denver decided against the use of public funds for the Games. The Games were moved back to Innsbruck, Austria, which had maintained most of its facilities from the successful 1964 Winter Olympic Games. The Games were plagued by the vicissitudes of weather and a flu epidemic among the athletes. Eight-time Olympic medalist Galina Kulakova of the Soviet Union was disqualified from a race because she had used a nasal spray to fight off a cold.

Canada's Kathy KREINER won the giant slalom, a few hundredths of a second ahead of the great Rosi Mittermaier of Germany. The ice-dancing competition was held for the first time. Canada again boycotted the hockey competition, which was won by an increasingly proficient Soviet team. Canada's Rank: 11th Gold: Kathy Kreiner, giant slalom Silver: Catherine Priestner, 500-m speed skating Bronze: Toller CRANSTON , figure skating 1980 Winter Olympic Games: Lake Placid, New York (February 13-February 24) The 1980 Games in Lake Placid were an organizational disaster, with spectators stranded in the freezing weather when bus service failed, but they were a triumph for the home team. Eric Heiden won all 5 speed-skating events and the American hockey team, seeded 7th, won its "miracle on ice" by defeating the heavily favoured Soviet team and going on to win the gold medal. The Canadian team finished 6th. Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark, the most prolific World Cup winner in skiing history, won both the slalom and giant slalom.

Highlights for Canada included a bronze in downhill by Steve PODBORSKI and silver by Gaétan BOUCHER in speed skating. Canada's Rank: 13th Silver: Gaétan Boucher, 1000-m speed skating Bronze: Steve Podborski, downhill 1984 Winter Olympic Games: Sarajevo, Yugoslavia (February 8-February 19) The only time the Games were held in a socialist country took place in 1984, when they were hosted in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. The highlight was generally held to be the free-dance "Bolero" performance of the English ice dancers Torvil and Dean, who received 12 perfect scores. But the Games also saw a silver medal for the home country by skier Jure Franko in the giant slalom. By 1992 fighting during the civil war had reduced the Olympic site to ruin. For Canada, Brian ORSER won a silver medal, the best-ever showing by a Canadian male figure skater. Gaétan Boucher turned in Canada's finest winter Olympic performance with 2 gold medals and a bronze in speed skating.

Canada's Rank: 9th Gold: Gaétan Boucher, 1000-m speed skating and 1500-m speed skating Silver: Brian Orser, figure skating Bronze: Gaétan Boucher, 500-m speed skating 1988 Winter Olympic Games: Calgary, Alberta (February 13-February 28) The 1988 Calgary Olympics were popular among the athletes and spectators, though there were poor conditions at some of the venues. These Games were significantly expanded as alpine events added the super giant slalom (Super-G) and alpine combined. Nordic combined and ski jumping received their own team competitions. As at the Montreal Summer Olympics, Canada failed to win gold on its home turf, although the Canadian team finished with a record 19 top-eight finishes. The most deeply felt disappointment came when figure skater Brian Orser narrowly lost gold to American rival Brian Boitano. "I didn't win a gold medal in Canada at the Olympic Games," said Orser, who wept as he stepped atop the podium.

Elizabeth MANLEY also won silver in figure skating, with a brilliant freestyle performance that included 5 triple jumps, and Tracy Wilson and Robert McCall a bronze medal in ice dancing. The Canadian hockey team again finished out of the medals. In the closing, IOC head Juan Antonio Samaranch declared that Calgary had staged the best-organized Games in the history of the Winter Olympics. Canada's Rank: 12th Silver: Brian Orser, figure skating; Elizabeth Manley, figure skating Bronze: Robert McCall and Tracy Wilson, ice dancing; Karen Percy, Super-G skiing and downhill 1992 Winter Olympic Games: Albertville, France (February 8-February 23) The 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France, were followed only 2 years later in Lillehammer, Norway. The change of timing was made so that the winter and summer games would take place in different years. The Albertville Games saw the introduction of freestyle skiing, short-track skating and women's biathlon. The Canadian hockey team returned to the medals with silver. Kerrin LEE-GARTNER became the first Canadian ever to win an Olympic downhill gold, on the demanding course at Méribel.

The Canadian team also won medals in the demonstration sports of curling and freestyle aerials. Canada's Rank: 9th Gold: Angela Cutrone, Sylvie DAIGLE , Nathalie LAMBERT and Annie PERREAULT , 3000-m short-track skating relay; Kerrin Lee-Gartner, downhill Silver: Men's Hockey; Frédéric Blackburn, 1000-m short-track skating; Frédéric Blackburn, Laurent Daignault, Michel Daignault, Sylvain Gagnon and Mark Lackie, 5000-m short track skating relay Bronze: Myriam BÉDARD , 15-km biathlon; Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd EISLER , skating pairs 1994 Winter Olympic Games: Lillehammer, Norway (February 12-February 27) The extremely successful Lillehammer Games were marred only by the media frenzy over the sordid Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan scandal, in which Kerrigan was attacked before the Games but went on to win a silver medal. For the first time, former Soviet states such as Ukraine, Russia and Georgia competed as independent nations.

The Canadian team, in its finest performance, earned 13 medals, highlighted by Myriam Bédard's 2 gold medals in biathlon. Elvis STOJKO 's Olympic performances in Lillehammer that year were clearly superior to the competitors', but the judges had not yet warmed to his artistic style and he had to settle for the silver medal. The men's hockey team won Canada's final medal of the Games, losing an emotional gold medal game in a shootout against Sweden.

Canada's Rank: 6th Gold: Myriam Bédard, 15-km and 7.5-km biathlon; Jean-Luc BRASSARD , moguls Silver: Men's Hockey; Susan Auch, 500-m speed skating; Nathalie Lambert, 1000-m short-track skating; Christine Boudrias, Isabelle Charest, Sylvie Daigle and Nathalie Lambert, 3000-m short-track skating relay; Elvis Stojko, figure skating; Philippe Laroche, aerials Bronze: Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler, pairs skating; Marc GAGNON , 1000-m short-track skating; Edi Podivinsky, downhill; Lloyd Langlois, aerials 1998 Winter Olympic Games: Nagano, Japan (February 7-February 22) The weather wreaked havoc with the skiing events at the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan. These Games marked a dramatic change in the rules for hockey, as professionals (i.e., from the NHL) were allowed to participate and women's hockey was presented for the first time.

Despite this long-anticipated development, the CANADIAN MEN'S HOCKEY TEAM not only failed to dominate but finished out of the medals. Ross REBAGLIATI won the first-ever gold medal awarded for snowboarding, was disqualified for testing positive for marijuana but was reaffirmed on appeal. Canadian bobsledders Pierre LUEDERS and David MacEachern shared the first-ever tie for gold with an Italian pair.

Canada's Rank: 5th Gold: Pierre Lueders and David MacEachern, 2-man bobsleigh; Janice Betker, Marcia Gudereit, Atina Johnston, Joan Elizabeth McCusker and Sandra SCHMIRLER , curling; Catriona Le May DOAN , 500-m speed skating; Éric Bédard, Derrick Campbell, François Drolet and Marc Gagnon, 5000-m short track relay; Annie Perreault, 500-m short track; Ross Rebagliati, Giant Slalom snowboard Silver: Mike Harris, Richard Hart, George Karrys, Collin Mitchell and Paul Savage, curling; Susan Auch, 500-m speed skating; Jeremy WOTHERSPOON , 500-m speed skating; Elvis Stojko, figure skating Bronze: Catriona Le May Doan, 1000-m speed skating; Kevin Crockett, 500-m speed skating; Éric Bédard, 1000-m speed skating; Christine Boudrias, Isabelle Charest, Annie Perreault and Tania Vicent, 3000-m short-track relay

 2002 Winter Olympic Games: Salt Lake City (February 8-February 24) The awarding of the 2002 Games to Salt Lake City was marred by the biggest scandal in Olympic history, as it was revealed that several IOC members had sold their votes to the highest bidder.

For Canadian athletes, Salt Lake 2002 was the most successful Winter Games in Olympic history. Canada placed a record 4th in the medal standings behind Germany, the United States and Norway with a total of 17 medals. Canadian athletes won 7 gold, 3 silver and 7 bronze medals. The crowning achievement for Canada was the gold medal victories for both the WOMEN'S and men's hockey teams. The men's victory did not come easily as the TEAM , led by captain Mario Lemieux, got off to a poor start, losing to the Swedes 5-2 and tying the Czechs 3-3. In a close contest against the Americans, the Canadians prevailed 5-2 to win gold, 50 years to the day after the Edmonton Mercurys had last won gold. Pairs figure skaters Jamie Salé and David PELLETIER shared double gold medals with Russian skaters Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze after a controversial judging scandal.

In the longest unbroken streak in Olympic history, for 10 straight Olympics, from 1964 in Innsbruck through 1998 in Nagano, Russians had captured gold in the figure skating pairs. Aerialists Veronica Brenner and Deidra Dionne became the first Canadian women to win Olympic medals in freestyle skiing, winning silver and bronze respectively. Canadian speed skaters were the most significant contributors to the total medal count, winning a total of 9 medals. Short-track speed skater Marc Gagnon became the most decorated Canadian Winter Olympian of all time when he won gold in the 500-m, gold in the 5000-m relay with teammates Éric Bédard, Jonathan Guilmette, François-Louis Tremblay and Mathieu Turcotte, and bronze in the 1500-m. Gagnon's total of 5 Olympic medals from 1994 to 2002 exceeds Gaétan Boucher's record of 4 medals. Speed skater Clara HUGHES won the honour of being the first Canadian athlete to win a medal at both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.

In 1996 at Atlanta, Hughes won 2 bronze medals for cycling.

Canada's Rank: 4th Gold: Men's Hockey; Women's Hockey; Marc Gagnon, 500-m short-track skating; Catriona Le May Doan, 500-m speed skating; Éric Bédard, Marc Gagnon, Jonathan Guilmette, François-Louis Tremblay and Mathieu Turcotte, 5000-m short-track relay; David Pelletier and Jamie Sale, pairs skating; Beckie SCOTT , cross-country skiing pursuit Silver: Donald Bartlett, Kevin Martin, Carter Rycroft, Kenneth Tralnberg and Donald Walchuk, curling; Jonathan Guilmette, 500-m short-track skating; Veronica Brenner, aerials Bronze: Diane Dezura, Kelley Law, Cheryl Noble, Julie Skinner and Georgina Wheatcroft, curling; Marc Gagnon, 1500-m short-track skating; Isabelle Charest, Marie-Eve Drôlet, Amélie Goulet-Nadon, Alanna Kraus and Tania Vicent, 3000-m short-track skating relay; Mathieu Turcotte, 1000-m short-track skating; Cindy Klassen,

 3000-m speed skating; Clara Hughes, 5000-m speed skating; Deidra Dionne, aerials 2006 Winter Olympic Games: Torino (Turin), Italy (February 10-February 26) Canada sent 196 athletes to Turin, Italy, and garnered a total of 24 medals.

Jennifer HEIL (freestyle skiing) won Canada's first medal on the first day, the first-ever medal for Canada in the women's moguls. Eight of the medals came in long track speed skating as Cindy KLASSEN became Canada's most decorated Olympian ever by winning 5 medals at these Games to add to her previous medal won in 2002. The Canadian women's hockey team successfully defended its gold medal from 2002. The MEN'S HOCKEY TEAM , the cream of the NHL, players with more than 320 goals among them to that point in the season, suddenly lost their touch and direction and went out in the quarter final round. Former bobsledder Duff GIBSON of Calgary became the oldest Olympic athlete (age 39) to win gold in an individual event (skeleton).

Canada's Rank: 3rd Gold: Duff Gibson, skeleton; Mike Adam, Brad Gushue, Russ Howard, Jamie Korab and Mark Nichols, curling; Women's Hockey; Clara Hughes, 5000-m speed skating; Cindy Klassen, 1500-m speed skating; Chandra CRAWFORD , short-track skating sprint; Jennifer Heil, moguls Silver: Lascelles Brown and Pierre Lueders, bobsleigh; Jeff Pain, skeleton; Kristina Groves, 1500-m speed skating; Alanna Kraus, Anouk Leblanc-Boucher, Amanda Overland, Kalyna Roberge and Tania Vicent, 3000-m short-track skating relay; Arne Dankers, Steven Elm, Dennis Morrison, Jason Parker and Justin Warsylewicz, short track skating pursuit; Kristina Groves, Clara Hughes, Cindy Klassen, Christine Nesbitt, Shannon Rempel, short-track skating pursuit; Cindy Klassen, 1000-m speed skating; Éric Bédard, Jonathan Guilmette, Charles Hamelin, François-Louis Tremblay and Mathieu Turcotte, 5000

-m short-track skating relay; François-Louis Tremblay, 500-m short-track skating; Sara Renner and Beckie Scott, cross-country skiing team sprint Bronze: Mellisa Hollingsworth, skeleton; Glenys Bakker, Sandra Jenkins, Christine Keshen, Shannon Kleibrink and Amy Nixon, curling; Jeffrey Buttle, figure skating; Cindy Klassen, 3000-m and 5000-m speed skating; Anouk Leblanc-Boucher, 500-m short-track skating; Dominique Maltais, snowboard cross 2010 Winter Olympic Games: Vancouver, BC (February 12-February 28) Canada's most successful Winter Olympic Games to date were held on home soil, though the Games began on a sombre note when Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed during a practice run at the Whistler Sliding Centre just hours before the opening ceremonies.

Canada had its largest team ever, consisting of 202 athletes, with Canadians ultimately securing a national record of 14 gold medals and 26 medals in total. Alexandre BILODEAU became the first Winter Olympian to win gold on Canadian soil when he placed first in the men's moguls competition. Snowboarder Maëlle RICKER won the gold medal in the women's snowboard cross event, the first-ever Olympic gold medal in snowboarding for a Canadian woman. Ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir won gold, becoming both the first and the youngest-ever Olympic winners in a sport dominated by European teams. Skier Ashleigh McIvor won the inaugural women's freestyle skicross event, and Canadian female bobsledders Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse, along with teammates Helen Upperton and Shelley-Ann Brown, won gold and silver medals respectively. The men's and women's hockey teams capped off the Games with gold medals against the US. 2010 was also the first time the Olympics widely implemented social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

Canada's Rank: 3rd Gold: Alexandre Bilodeau, freestyle skiing; Maëlle Ricker, snowboard cross; Christine NESBITT , 1000 m speed skating; Jon MONTGOMERY , skeleton; Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, ice dancing; Ashleigh McIvor, freestyle skicross; Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse, bobsleigh; Charles Hamelin, 500 m short-track speed skating; Jasey-Jay ANDERSON , snowboarding (parallel giant slalom); Charles Hamelin, François Hamelin, Olivier Jean and François-Louis Tremblay, 5000 m short-track skating relay; Mathieu Giroux, Lucas Makowsky and Denny Morrison, speed skating team pursuit; Kevin Martin, John Morris, Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert, curling; women's hockey; men's hockey Silver: Jennifer Heil, freestyle skiing; Mike Robertson, snowboard cross; Marianne St Gelais, 500 m short-track speed skating; Kristina Groves, 1500 m speed skating; Jessica Gregg, Kalyna Roberge, Marianne St Gelais and Tania Vic

ent, 3000 m speed skating relay; Helen Upperton and Shelley-Ann Brown, bobsleigh; Cheryl Bernard, Susan O'Connor, Carolyn Darbyshire, Cori Bartel and Kristie Moore, curling Bronze: Kristina Groves, 3000 m speed skating; Clara Hughes, 5000 m speed skating; Joannie Rochette, figure skating; François-Louis Tremblay, 500 m short-track speed skating; Lyndon Rush, Chris LeBihan, David Bissett and Lascelles Brown, 4-man bobsleigh See also CANADIAN WINTER OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL WINNERS .

Links to Individual Winter Sports Innsbruck 1976: Winter Olympic Host City Home > Events > Olympics > Winter > Hosts > Innsbruck Host City: Innsbruck 1976 The Winter Olympic Games were held in Innsbruck, Austria, in 1976, between February 4-15. The IOC initially granted the 1976 Winter Games to Denver in May 1970, but in 1972 Colorado voters rejected a $5 million bond issue to finance the undertaking. Consequently Denver immediately withdrew as host and the IOC selected Innsbruck, the site of the 1964 Games , to take over. 37 Nations with 1123 participants competed in 37 events. On themedal tally, The U.S.S.R. and East Germany ranked first and second, while the United States moved up to tie in a distant third-place. Trivia

Question: In which city were the Winter Olympic Games held when John Curry won a gold medal for men's figure skating?
Answer: INNSBRUCK