American figure skater Tara Lipinski becomes the youngest gold-medalist at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVIII Olympic Winter Games (Japanese: 18, Hepburn: Dai Jhachi-kai Orinpikku Tkikygi Taikai) and commonly known as Nagano 1998 (Japanese: 1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the nearby mountain communities of Hakuba, Karuizawa, Nozawa Onsen, and Yamanouchi. The city of Nagano had previously been a candidate to host the 1940 Winter Olympics (which were later cancelled), as well as the 1972 Winter Olympics, but had been eliminated at the national level by Sapporo on both occasions.
Nagano was selected to host the 1998 Games on 15 June 1991, beating Salt Lake City, stersund, Jaca, and Aosta. This was the second Winter Olympics to be held in Japan, and the third Olympic Games overall, after the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo. The 1998 Winter Olympics were succeeded by the 1998 Winter Paralympics from 5 to 14 March. These were the final Winter Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Juan Antonio Samaranch.
There were 2,176 athletes from 72 nations, competing in 7 sports and 68 events. The numbers of athletes and participating nations were, at the time, a record for the Winter Olympics. These Games saw the introduction of curling, snowboarding, and women's ice hockey. Professional players from the National Hockey League were allowed to participate in the men's ice hockey for the first time. Azerbaijan, Kenya, Macedonia, Uruguay, and Venezuela made their Winter Olympic debuts.
Germany topped the medal table with 29 medals, including 12 gold, followed by Norway and Russia, who won 25 and 18 medals respectively. Canada finished fourth with 15 medals, including six gold, making this their most successful Winter Olympics to date. The most decorated athlete was the Russian cross-country skier Larisa Lazutina who won five medals, including three gold. Norwegian cross-country skier Bjrn Dhlie won four medals, including three gold, which took his total Olympic medal haul to 12, including eight gold, a record for the Winter Olympics. Ski jumper Kazuyoshi Funaki won two gold medals and one silver for host nation Japan. The Czech Republic won the gold medal in the men's ice hockey tournament. American figure skater Tara Lipinski became the youngest champion in Olympic history at the age of 15 years and 255 days.
Hosting the Games brought about improvements to Nagano's transportation networks with the construction of the high-speed shinkansen line, the Nagano Shinkansen (now the Hokuriku Shinkansen), between Tokyo and Nagano Station, via miya and Takasaki. In addition, new highways were built, including the Nagano Expressway and the Jshin-etsu Expressway and upgrades were made to existing roads.
Tara Kristen Lipinski (born June 10, 1982) is an American former competitive figure skater, actress, sports commentator and documentary film producer. A former competitor in ladies' singles, she is the 1998 Olympic champion, the 1997 world champion, a two time Champions Series Final champion (1997–1998) and the 1997 U.S. national champion. She was, until 2019, the youngest skater to win a U.S. Nationals. She was also the youngest skater to win a World Figure Skating title and the youngest to win an Olympic gold medal. She is the first woman to complete a triple loop-triple loop combination, her signature jump, in competition.
Lipinski retired from competitive figure skating in 1998. She won every competition she entered during her professional career and was the youngest skater to win the World Professional Figure Skating Championships. She performed in over 300 live shows before retiring from figure skating in 2002. Lipinski, along with sports commentator Terry Gannon and fellow figure skater and good friend Johnny Weir, commentated for skating in two Olympics; they became NBC's primary figure skating commentators in 2013.