History

The "Chinook," a warm dry wind that blows in from the west, is usually welcomed during winters in the Canadian Northwest, but in 1988 it was a problem for the Winter Olympics, melting snow and forcing skiers off the slopes. Still, Calgary staged a wonderful show and all of the events were held, though some had to be delayed.

There were more nations, athletes, and events than ever. The super giant slalom, or super G, and the combined event, based on total time for a slalom run and a downhill run, were added to Alpine skiing. Three demonstration sports were offered: Curling, freestyle skiing, and short-track speed skating, all of which are now on the Winter Olympic program.

For American television audiences, the highlights were the figure skating finals. The men's event was duel between two Brians, with Boitano of the U. S. narrowly defeating Orser of Canada.

The women's final was billed as the "battle of the Carmens," because the two favorites, Katarina Witt of East Germany and Debi Thomas of the U. S., both skated to music from Bizet's opera. Witt turned in a nearly flawless performance to win her second straight gold medal, while Thomas faltered and had to settle for the bronze.

Bonnie Blair, making the difficult transition from short-track to Olympic style speed skating, set a world record in the 500-meter event to bring the United States its second gold medal.

Matti Nykänen won the 70-meter and 90-meter ski jumping events and was also a member of Finland's championship team, making him the first ski jumper to win three gold medals at a single Olympics.

Nykänen was overshadowed, though, by the inept "Eddie the Eagle" Edwards, whose very klutziness made him a cult hero. Known as "Mr. Magoo" because of his thick glasses, Edwards waw the only British ski jumper who applied and he therefore had to be admitted to competition. He was the most-interviewed athlete at the Alberta Games. Later, he wrote a book, starred in a mock instructional video, and recorded a song, "Fly Eddie Fly" that was ranked in the Top 50 in Great Britain.

The International Olympic Committee was not impressed, though. In 1990, the IOC passed a rule requiring that would-be Olympic competitors must finish in the top 30 percent or among the top 50 athletes in international competition to qualify. With that rule in place, Edwards failed to qualify in 1992, 1994, and 1998.

Another popular athlete who was much more successful was Italy's flamboyant Alberto Tomba. Nicknamed "La Bomba" (the Bomb), he guaranteed that he would win the slalom and the giant slalom, then went out and did it. Dutch speed skater Yvonne van Gennip went Tomba one better, winning three gold medals.

For the fifth and final time, the Soviet Union and East Germany battled for leadership in total medals, with the Soviet Union winning, 29-25. Four years later, at Albertville, there would be a single team representing reunited Germany, while an entity called the Unified Team would replace the former Soviet Union.

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