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1988 Winter Olympics

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1988 Winter Olympics

In 1988, Calgary hosted the first Olympic Winter Games held on Canadian soil. The Winter Olympic Games in Calgary represented an opportunity for Canada to showcase itself on the global level. Not only did the international media descend upon Calgary, showcasing their natural beauty and famous sights, but Canadian athletes were also cast under a spotlight, and their victories and losses were seen to be correlated with the success of the Games and the health and vitality of the Canadian nation by the Canadian public. Despite the Canadian team only winning 5 medals and place 12th in the rankings, the legacy of the ’88 Olympics continues to transform Canada and impact present day and future Olympic Games.
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Canada has been a strong proponent of winter sports, but prior to 1988, no Canadian city had ever hosted the Winter Olympic Games. Calgary won the bid to host the ’88 Winter Olympics in 1981 defeating out Falun, Sweden, Cortina d'Ampezzo, and Italy. Calgary changed every single venue that they proposed to the IOC in their candidature. Many of the ski events were forced to be rescheduled due to the warm Chinook winds that gusted up to 60 miles per hour. The Canadians two greatest efforts in the Games came from men’s and female’s figure skating which resulted in 2 silver medals. In men’s figure skating Brian Orser of Canada was co-favourite with America’s Brian Boitano, it was the thought of home ice and the emotion it brought could give him the confidence to win. It was one of the closest competitions ever as Boitano narrowly defeated Orser. In women’s figure skating, Elizabeth Manley surprised everyone and had a flawless skate which helped her obtain the silver medal after one of her competitors had a poor skate. Two out of the three bronze medals came from alpine skier Karen Percy, her first bronze came from her debut in the women’s downhill competition and her second came from the women’s super-G competition. The third and final bronze medal was earned by ice dancers Tracy Wilson and Robert McCall who had three successful skates. The Canadian men’s hockey team placed 4th after finishing a 3-1-1 in the preliminary round, the Canadians carried a 2-1 loss to Finland and 2-2 tie against Sweden going into the medal round.

During the 88’ Olympic Games, Calgary became much transformed beginning with the city of a population of 657,000 suddenly being put on the world map. The Games became such a success for Calgary that they were allowed to continue to host world-class sports events and also international economic and political forums. The games were such a hit that a major economic boom occurred at the turn of the century which ultimately launched Calgary as an international business leader, and a city where almost every Canadian started to flock for lucrative work. This was an improvement for the city which before had fallen into its worst recession in 40 years following the collapse of both oil and grain prices in the mid 1980’s. Alberta, the host province of the 1988 Games benefitted from 70% of these economic effects, including 27,400 person-years of employment. Calgary’s ’88 Olympic Winter Game venues have left a strong legacy of competitiveness that still endures in the Calgary community today. The Olympic buildings that continue to stand instead of being dissembled after the Olympics continue to be a popular tourist attraction to the community.

After the 1988 Winter Olympics, Canadian athletes and teams began moving in a positive direction, by increasing the number of medals won at each successive Olympics. 22 years later, Alexandre Bilodeau became the first Canadian to obtain an Olympic gold medal on home soil in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and the first of a winter Olympics record for the most gold medals of 14 and even a total of 26 medals that put Canada first place in the rankings. Three out of the five medals won during the ’88 Olympics came from figure skaters, figure skating still remains to be a dominant sport for Canada as they still continue to gain success on the podium at every Olympics since ’88. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir became the youngest pair ever to win an Olympic title at the 2010 Winter Olympics and the first ice dancing team to do so outside of Europe. Their Olympic gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver was the first ever ice dance gold for Canada. Calgary ’88 Olympics was considered to be the most successful Olympics ever as Calgary was left with more than $140 million in profit revenue, compared to a $1 billion-loss in the 1976 Summer Olympics hosted in Montreal. After the Games, Calgary was left with legacy funds that were to be managed by the Calgary Olympic Development Association (CODA). The Organization used the money, Calgary’s facilities and the city’s Olympic Games associations to turn it into an enviably thriving winter sports mecca. The athletes who trained at the 1988 legacy facilities or whom were Alberta-raised counted as over 75% of the medal winners at the 2006 Torino Olympic Games. The legacy facilities currently are the home to seven national teams including Hockey Canada, Alpine Canada, Bobsleigh Canada, Skeleton, Luge and Ski Jumping Canada.

The 1988 Olympics may have not been the most successful Olympics that Canada was hoping to achieve medals at, but it gave Canada a chance to show itself on the global stage. The Olympics were successful economically and were considered the best Olympics ever held. Ever since ’88 athletes continue to be successful after placing 1st in the Olympic rankings in Vancouver 2010 and 3rd in Sochi 2014 Olympic Games. Canadian athletes will continue to be successful in the future Olympics and continue to bring home more medals for Canada.

Bibliography
1988 Calgary Games left a lasting cultural legacy. N.p.: Donna Spencer, 2013. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://sports.nationalpost.com/2013/02/12/1988-calgary-games-left-a-lasting-cultural-legacy-and-blueprint-for-how-to-do-things-right/>.

1988 Calgary Winter Games. N.p.: Hilary Evans, 2012. Web. 26 Apr. 2014. <http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/winter/1988/>.

1988 Olympics Transformed Calgary. Calgary: Eva Ferguson, 2013. Web. 23 Apr. 2014. <http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/1988+Olympics+transformed+Calgary/7932680/story.html>.

Calgary `88 Olympics: Reliving the Memory. N.p.: Brad Linn, 2010. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. <http://www.calgarycitynews.com/2010/01/calgary-88-olympics-reliving-memory.html>.

Calgary 1988. N.p.: Olympics Wikia, n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. <http://olympics.wikia.com/wiki/Calgary_1988>.

Calgary 1988- Looking back at 20 years. N.p.: Gina Teel, 2008. Web. 25 Apr. 2014. <http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/archive/index.php/t-145739.html>.

Calgary Olympics: First Ice dancing Medal. N.p.: CBC, 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2014. <http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/sports/olympics/the-calgary-olympics-the-winter-of-88/first-canadian-ice-dancing-medal.html>.

Canadian Olympic Ceremonies: Calgary 1988. N.p.: Government of Canada, 2009. Web. 1 May 2014. <http://www.canada2010.gc.ca/101/coc/010404-eng.cfm>.

History- 1988 Winter Olympics XV. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2014. <http://www.tsn.ca/olympics/feature/?fid=10279>.

XV Olympic Winter Games. N.p.: Canadian Olympic Committee, 2013. Web. 24 Apr. 2014. <http://olympic.ca/games/1988-calgary/>.

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