1998 Winter Olympics medal table

Three round medals with blue ribbons hanging in a display. The medals are silver, gold, and bronze from left to right.
The silver, gold, and bronze medals

The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event held in Nagano, Japan, from 7 February to 22 February 1998.[1] A total of 2,176 athletes from 72 nations participated in 68 events from 14 sport disciplines.[2] Twenty-four nations earned medals at these Games, and 15 won at least one gold medal.

Competitors from Germany earned the highest number of gold medals (12) and the most overall medals (29). With 10 gold medals and 25 overall medals, Norway finished second in both categories. Denmark won its first Winter Olympics medal,[3] while Bulgaria and the Czech Republic won their first Winter Games gold medals.[4] Azerbaijan, Kenya, Macedonia, Uruguay, and Venezuela competed for the first time, but none of them won a medal.[5]

The leading medal winner at the Games was Russian skier Larisa Lazutina, who won five medals, including three golds.[6] The only other athlete to win three gold medals was Norwegian skier Bjørn Dæhlie, who won four medals overall,[6] making him the first Winter Olympian to win twelve career medals, eight of which were gold.[7] Nine other athletes won three medals, including three Germans.[6] American figure skater Tara Lipinski became the youngest competitor in Winter Olympics history to earn a gold medal in an individual event.[2]

Medal table

A man wearing a black shirt and hat.
Austrian skier Hermann Maier won gold medals in the Super G and Giant Slalom.[8]
A hockey game between two teams; one is wearing red uniforms, and the other has white jerseys, red pants, and blue helmets.
The men's ice hockey gold medal game between Russia and the Czech Republic
A female speed skater turns around a curve. She is wearing a black and blue body suit.
German speed skater Claudia Pechstein won a gold medal in the women's 5,000 meters and a silver in the 3,000 meters.[9]

The medal table is based on information provided by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and is consistent with IOC convention in its published medal tables. By default, the table is ordered by the number of gold medals the athletes from a nation have won (in this context, a nation is an entity represented by a National Olympic Committee). The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If nations are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically.

In the bobsleigh, a tie in the two-man event meant that two gold medals were awarded.[10] A tie for second in the men's Super G skiing competition meant that a pair of silver medals were given out.[11] In the four-man bobsleigh, a tie for third resulted in the awarding of two bronze medals.[12] Due to these ties, the number of gold medals awarded was one more than the number of silver or bronze medals. In snowboarding, Canadian Ross Rebagliati won the gold medal in the men's Giant Slalom, but it was briefly stripped by the IOC after he tested positive for marijuana. After the Canadian Olympic Association filed an appeal, however, the IOC's decision was overturned.[13]

* Denotes the host nation
Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  Germany (GER) 12 9 8 29
2  Norway (NOR) 10 10 5 25
3  Russia (RUS) 9 6 3 18
4  Canada (CAN) 6 5 4 15
5  United States (USA) 6 3 4 13
6  Netherlands (NED) 5 4 2 11
7  Japan (JPN) * 5 1 4 10
8  Austria (AUT) 3 5 9 17
9  South Korea (KOR) 3 1 2 6
10  Italy (ITA) 2 6 2 10
11  Finland (FIN) 2 4 6 12
12  Switzerland (SUI) 2 2 3 7
13  France (FRA) 2 1 5 8
14  Czech Republic (CZE) 1 1 1 3
15  Bulgaria (BUL) 1 0 0 1
16  China (CHN) 0 6 2 8
17  Sweden (SWE) 0 2 1 3
18  Denmark (DEN) 0 1 0 1
18  Ukraine (UKR) 0 1 0 1
20  Belarus (BLR) 0 0 2 2
20  Kazakhstan (KAZ) 0 0 2 2
22  Australia (AUS) 0 0 1 1
22  Belgium (BEL) 0 0 1 1
22  Great Britain (GBR) 0 0 1 1
Total 69 68 68 205

References

General
Specific
  1. The Organizing Committee for the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, Nagano 1998 (1998) (PDF). The XVIII Olympic Winter Games Official Report – Volume I. Nagano, Japan: LA84 Foundation. http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1998/Vol1_e.pdf. Retrieved 2 May 2010. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Nagano 1998". International Olympic Committee. http://www.olympic.org/en/content/Olympic-Games/All-Past-Olympic-Games/Winter/Nagano-1998/. Retrieved 23 October 2009. 
  3. "Canadian Women Take Curling Gold". The Washington Post. Associated Press. 15 February 1998. Archived from the original on 2009-05-13. http://www.webcitation.org/5gkLIHVLq. Retrieved 16 March 2009. 
  4. "The big chill: Heavy snow shuffles schedule; luger wins third gold". CNN Sports Illustrated. 9 February 1998. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/olympics/events/1998/nagano/news/1998/02/09/roundup/. Retrieved 16 March 2009. 
  5. "Nagano 1998: Did you know?". International Olympic Committee. http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/innovations_uk.asp?OLGT=2&OLGY=1998. Retrieved 16 July 2008. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Kubatko, Justin. "1998 Nagano Winter Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2009-05-13. http://www.webcitation.org/5gkLHPp5d. Retrieved 17 March 2009. 
  7. "Dahlie claims 12th medal; Czechs take hockey gold". Amarillo Globe-News. Associated Press. 23 February 1998. Archived from the original on 2009-05-13. http://www.webcitation.org/5gkLIernP. Retrieved 17 March 2009. 
  8. Clarey, Christopher (20 February 1998). "Two Gold, One Stunning Crash: Now Maier Is Fast and Familiar". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/specials/olympics/nagano/ski/022098oly-ski-maier.html. Retrieved 17 March 2009. 
  9. Newberry, Paul (20 February 1998). "Teammate Grabs Gold From Niemann-Stirnemann". The Washington Post. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2009-05-13. http://www.webcitation.org/5gkLJ2ucb. Retrieved 17 March 2009. 
  10. "Highs and lows: Japanese jumpers soar; Canadian curlers fumble gold". CNN Sports Illustrated. 23 February 1998. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/olympics/events/1998/nagano/news/1998/02/15/roundup/. Retrieved 14 March 2009. 
  11. Clarey, Christopher (16 February 1998). "The XVIII Winter Games: Alpine Skiing; Three Days After Spectacular Crash, Maier Wins Gold". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE1DE163FF935A25751C0A96E958260. Retrieved 15 March 2009. 
  12. Olson, Lisa (22 February 1998). "Tough Sledding As Medal Slips, U.S. Hits Skids". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on 2009-05-13. http://www.webcitation.org/5gkLHtvbz. Retrieved 15 March 2009. 
  13. Gross, George (21 February 2006). "Ross Rebagliati: 1998 – Nagano, Japan". Sun Media Corporation. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on 2009-05-13. http://www.webcitation.org/5gkLJUdpC. Retrieved 22 March 2009.