The World Competes

The 1998 games in Nagano saw a few changes, and had several spectacular moments.

Each Olympic sport is allowed to set the rules for professionalism in the Olympics, and in 1998, professional hockey players were allowed to compete. Although the United States and Canada were expected to dominate, neither one even medaled: Canada came in fourth, while the United States took sixth place.

Tara Lipinski won the gold medal in figure skating for the United States; she beat Sonja Henie’s record for being the youngest person to win a gold medal in an individual event. This was especially exciting for me, as one of my sorority sisters was an ice skater that trained with Lipinski.

The weather in Nagano affected the skiing schedules, and events had to be delayed (sounds like what’s going on in Vancouver right now).