In 1988, the capital of the Winter Olympics was the city that had long sought this honor. This is not the first time the games have been held in Canada. Before that, they took place in Montreal, and in 1988 the turn came to the city of Calgary.
The session of the International Olympic Committee, dedicated to the choice of the capital of the 1988 Games, had been held seven years earlier, in 1981. The main contenders were the cities of Calgary, Falun (Sweden) and Cortina D'Ampezzo (Italy). The Italian city has previously hosted games, which, perhaps, did not work in its favor. At the same time, the Canadian application was also noted due to the good weather conditions in the area.
The Winter Sports Center and Olympic Park, as well as a number of other sports facilities, were built specifically for the Games in Calgary. This gave the city the opportunity to host many sporting and cultural events after the Olympics.
The games lasted from 13 to 28 February. In total, teams from 57 countries took part in the Olympiad. Some of them, such as Fiji, Guam, Jamaica, Guatemala and the Antilles, sent their athletes to the Winter Olympics for the first time.
The first place in the number of medals in competitions was taken by the Soviet Union. Skiers and biathletes from the USSR proved to be the best. The GDR team became the second with a slight lag. The sledges and skaters of this state turned out to be especially strong.
The third place was taken by the Swiss national team. The skiers of this state have won the largest number of medals in this sport.
The United States performed quite moderately. Their athletes were only in 9th place. In general, this reflected the balance of power in the sport of that time. The US team performed best at the Summer Games, especially in athletics.
Canada, which hosts the games on its territory, took 13th place. She did not win a single gold medal, limiting herself to silver and bronze. The second places were taken by the Canadians, who performed in the men's and women's figure skating, and the bronze was given to the pair performing in the ice dancing, and two skiers.
