Winter Games of the XVI Olympiad
With seven medals, Canada equaled the high set in Lake Placid in 1932, won medals in more sports than ever before (5), and had more top-eight finishes (21) in more sports (7) than previous teams.
Kerrin Lee-Gartner skied to victory over the demanding women’s downhill course at Méribel, the first Canadian ever to win an Olympic downhill gold. With women’s biathlon events making their debut at the Olympic Winter Games, Myriam Bédard brought home a bronze in the 15km event.
Then, the speed skaters took over. The women’s short track 3000 m relay team skated away from the field for gold, Frédéric Blackburn took silver in the men’s short track 1000 m, and followed it up two days later with another silver as part of the men’s 5000 m relay team. On the last day of competition, the men’s hockey team ended a 24-year absence from the medal podium with silver.
Canadian athletes added another 14 top-eight placings, five new best-ever finishes, and three medals in the freestyle aerials and curling demonstration events. Both demonstration events were subsequently admitted to the official program; freestyle aerials to start in 1994 and curling in 1998.
