At the 88th session of the IOC in Baden-Baden, the Canadian city of Calgary received the right to host the XV Olympic Winter Games. This was the third attempt by the representatives of the city, and it was crowned with success for the second time. The sports program of the 1988 games was expanded in comparison with the previous Olympiad by seven disciplines at once, therefore the total duration of the competition increased to 16 days.
Especially for the Olympics in Calgary and the neighboring town of Canmore, five new sports facilities were built and several existing ones were reconstructed. The XV Olympic Winter Games were officially opened on February 13, 1988 at the McMahon City Stadium. Prior to that, the Olympic torch relay passed through the country for 88 days - the torch traveled 18 thousand kilometers not only in the hands of runners, but also on snow-scooters and dog sleds. It was one of the longest torch relay races in the history of the Winter Olympics.
The 1988 Games, like the previous ones, were held with the indisputable leadership of athletes from the USSR and the GDR. This time, the Soviet Olympians were able to bypass the German ones both in the number of awards (29 versus 25) and in their quality (2 more gold medals). Of the 11 highest standard medals won by Soviet athletes, five were won in cross-country skiing for men and women. In both disciplines of pair figure skating, the first and second places were taken by representatives of the Soviet Union. The USSR national team won again in the hockey tournament. The athletes of the GDR had no equal in luge sports - in three disciplines they won six awards out of nine, losing one silver and one bronze to their neighbors from West Germany, and only one bronze to the Soviet athlete. Olympians from East Germany also distinguished themselves in speed skating competitions, winning a damn dozen medals in them.
American athletes performed even worse than at the previous Olympics in Sarajevo. In terms of the number of medals, the US team was in ninth place, having won three awards in speed skating and figure skating. The hosts of the 15 Winter Games received one less medal, but there were no gold ones among them. In total, 46 sets of awards were played, and more than 1400 athletes from 57 countries competed for them.
