The 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, the 18th Winter Olympic Games, were held in Nagano, Japan, from February 7 to February 22. As the last Olympic ceremony of the 20th century, the arrival of the Nagano Winter Olympics has attracted worldwide attention. A total of 2,302 athletes from 72 countries and regions participated in the Winter Olympics, a record high in terms of the number of participating delegations and athletes. In terms of the number of events, there were 6 major events, 14 sub-events and 68 minor events, and after fierce competition, Germany, Norway and Russia finally ranked in the top three of the gold medal table and medal table. The Chinese sports delegation ushered in a bumper harvest at the Current Nagano Winter Olympics, winning a total of 6 silver medals and 2 bronze medals, far exceeding the previous Winter Olympics.
Short track speed skater Li Jiajun finished second in the men's 1000m final, becoming the first male athlete in the history of the Continental Winter Olympics to win a medal. On February 7, the opening ceremony of the Nagano Winter Olympics was unveiled in a sea of joy, and since the theme of this Year's Winter Olympics is closely related to the coexistence of humans and nature, the content presentation of various programs at the opening ceremony is closely related to it. The most amazing thing is the cross-time chorus of singers from 5 different cities around the world. With the help of scientific and technological development, under the direction of the world-renowned Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa, singers from 5 different cities sang a "Ode to Joy" through satellites. This creative opening ceremony interaction also made the Nagano Winter Olympics praised by audiences around the world.
During the ignition ceremony, former Winter Olympic figure skating women's singles champion Midori Ito held a torch, which finally lit the flame of the Winter Olympics. With the opening of Japan's Emperor Akihito, the Winter Olympics have officially sounded the main offensive horn. The medal making and design of the Nagano Winter Olympics is also eye-catching, and in order to highlight the differences between the domestic regions, the medals of this Winter Olympic Games have used paint technology for the first time. According to reports, this technology is to evenly apply the paint to the round brass plate, and then combined with cloisonné and metal processing technology processing, which is very different from the medal production of the previous Winter Olympics. On the obverse of the medal is a pattern of Olympic olive branches surrounding the rising sun, and on the back is a pattern of the morning sun, mountains and the logo of the Winter Olympics depicting specific areas with the technique of illuminated gold painting.
The medals are 8 cm in diameter and 9.7 mm thick, and the weights of gold, silver and bronze medals are 256 g, 250 g and 230 g respectively. The mascot of this Winter Olympics is four cute little owls, and at that time, it was rare to use four animals as Olympic mascots. The four mascots each have different names, namely Inch, Ieki, Nogi and Toki, representing the four different forest life components of earth, water, fire, and wind. The emblem is a pattern of blooming flowers, and the composition of each petal is taken from six athletes from different Olympic sports. Interestingly, the preparations for the Nagano Winter Olympics also suffered an unprecedented embarrassment.
In the early years, due to the limited level of science and technology, the major competition sites could not carry out artificial snow making and reasonable snow tuning, so the holding of the Winter Olympics depended largely on the sky to eat, and the Nagano Winter Olympic Organizing Committee was scared by God enough. Not enough snow had fallen in the Nagano area a month before the race, which was a sad occult. Interestingly, they even made a special trip to the temple to perform a snow-seeking ceremony. Fortunately, in the end, the sky was beautiful and the Winter Olympics were held smoothly. To this day, when people talk about the Nagano Winter Olympics, going to the temple to ask for snow always makes people can't help but be funny. On February 22, the closing ceremony of the Nagano Winter Olympics came to a successful conclusion, and the last Olympic Games of the 20th century waved goodbye to everyone.
(Luo Treasurer)