1988 Winter Olympics - Background

Background

All levels of Canadian government helped to fund the Games. The federal government, provided $225 million (note all figures listed in Canadian dollar, not adjusted for inflation), the province of Alberta paid $125 million and the city of Calgary with $50 million. The American host network, ABC, paid a then record $398 million, while the main host broadcaster, the CTV Television Network television network, paying $45 million for domestic rights. A further $90 million was raised by sponsorships and licenses. This would be the final time ABC would broadcast the Olympics.

Concern was raised almost from the beginning about the suitability of Calgary hosting the Winter Olympics because of the city's local weather conditions for the month of February. Calgary is frequently subjected to a weather phenomenon called a chinook wind, which is a warming wind that can increase the temperature to well above seasonal values (above freezing) in a short period of time. A year prior to the event, the Whit Fraser report hinted that there was a possibility that mild winter weather could cause major problems for the Games. During the Games, there were indeed minor problems—for example, some bobsleigh runs had to be re-done because of sand getting blown onto the bobsleigh track.

This Olympic torch relay, with the theme "Share the Flame", stands as one of the longest in Olympic history, and especially for the Winter Olympic Games. It was a stark contrast to Canada's first Olympic torch relay for the 1976 Summer Olympics, which started in Ottawa and went directly east to Montreal; this distance, 200 kilometers (120 mi) is the shortest in Summer Olympic Games history so far. For Canada's first Winter Olympics, the Olympic torch, modeled after the Calgary Tower, was carried by both famous and ordinary Canadians in a continuous 88-day run across Canada, covering all 10 provinces and 2 territories (Yukon and the Northwest Territories; the territory of Nunavut did not exist until 1999), for a total distance of about 18,000 kilometers (11,000 mi). The torch traveled via ordinary running, dog sled, and snowmobile. Citizens won the chance to run a 1-kilometre (0.62 mi) distance with the Olympic torch by entering a lottery sponsored by Petro Canada.

The instrumental theme song ("Winter Games") and its vocal counterpart ("Can't You Feel It?") were both composed and performed by Canadian musician David Foster. Internationally recognized Canadian folk/country musicians Gordon Lightfoot and Ian Tyson were two of the featured performers at the opening ceremonies of the games, performing Tyson's "Four Strong Winds" and Lightfoot's "Alberta Bound" while a group of line dancers performed for the crowds.

The official mascots of the games were two western-attired polar bears named Hidy and Howdy. The names were chosen from a field of 7,000 names through a contest sponsored by the Calgary Zoo. They were designed by Sheila Scott of Great Scott Productions, and produced by International Mascot Corporation of Edmonton, Alberta.