Bonnie Blair of the United States wins gold in the 500- and 1,000-meter seedskating events; Blair won her first gold in 1988.
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Political upheaval caused dramatic changes in the
Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union during 1991.
At the 1992 XVI Olympic Winter Games, the
USSR was no more; athletes from the world's
largest country now competed as a "Unified Team."
With the fall of the East German regime, German
athletes once again competed together under one
flag, while the Baltic countries of Lithuania, Estonia
and Latvia returned to the Olympics as sovereign
nations after more than half a century.
Freestyle skiing, men's and women's short-track
speedskating and a three-event women's biathlon
were added to the Winter Games. France also
joined the United States as the only nation to host an
Olympic Winter Games three times. Highlights
 Kristi Yamaguchi returned the gold
medal to the United States in women's figure
skating for the first time in 20 years. Fellow
team member Nancy Kerrigan made a
surprising third-place finish in the
competition. Lyubov Yegorova (Unified Team) was
Albertville's most decorated athlete, as she
medaled in each of the women's
cross-country events. She picked up gold
medals in the 10km combined, 15km
cross-country (classical) and 4 x 5km team
relay, and silvers in the 5km cross-country
(classical) and 30km cross-country
(freestyle). Bonnie Blair of the United States won her second and
third gold medals in the 500- and
1,000-meter speedskating events. She won
her first gold medal in 1988. Nordic skier Bjorn Daehlie (Norway)
picked up three gold medals in the
cross-country combined, 50km (freestyle)
cross-country and the 4 x 10km relay, and a
silver in the 30km (classical) cross-country
ski event. His eventual eight medals in two
Olympic games (1992 and 1994) would
place him one medal behind the all time
Winter Games medal winner, nine-time
medalist Sixten Jernberg of Sweden. Donna Weinbrecht (United States) became the
first winner of an Olympic gold medal in
freestyle skiing. Viktor Petrenko (Unified Team)
became the first male skater from the lands
of the former Soviet Union to win a gold
medal in men's figure skating.
| Attendance | Male Athletes | Female Athletes | Most-Medaled | U.S. Rank | | 64 nations | 1,313 | 488 | Germany (26) | Fifth |
Source: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
© Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company
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