Winter Olympics Quiz

The 1980 Winter Olympics, also known as Lake Placid 1980, were held in Lake Placid, New York, United States, from February 13 to 24, 1980. The village had hosted the Winter Games in 1932, and after seven attempts to host the Games again, Lake Placid was awarded the 1980 Winter Games at the 75th International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session in Vienna, Austria. Lake Placid was the only candidate city left after Vancouver-Garibaldi withdrew before the final vote. The Games saw 1,072 athletes from 37 countries compete in six sports and 10 disciplines comprising a total of 38 official events. The American speed skater Eric Heiden set the record for most medals for an athlete in one edition of the Winter Olympic Games after he medaled in all five speed skating events. The Olympic ice hockey saw the young American team defeat the heavily-favored Soviet professionals in what became known as the Miracle on Ice. In the other disciplines, the Soviet Nikolaj Zimjatov won three gold medals in cross-country skiing and the Liechtenstein skier Hanni Wenzel won her country's first two gold medals in alpine skiing. The Soviet Union finished first in the medal standings, with ten gold medals, while East Germany won the most medals overall, 23. The United States was third on both counts. The budget for the 1980 Winter Olympic Games grew from an initial projection of $30 million to a total of US$168.7 million, with the Federal government, the State of New York, and the organizing committee financing the cost. The budget overruns were attributed to environmental protection measures, additional work undertaken to modernize existing facilities, overly optimistic cost estimates, and inflation. The Lake Placid Winter Olympic Games had the largest cost overruns of any Winter Games, at 324% above the planned cost. The increasing costs for the Games and charges of nepotism and mismanagement resulted in a federal auditor investigating the LPOOC. The Lake Placid Winter Games were plagued with transportation problems, with most of the accommodation within the community reserved for Games officials and athlete's families, meaning spectators commuted as much as 90 miles daily to attend events. The LPOOC prohibited private cars from entering Lake Placid for the duration of the Games, and instead provided car parks and a shuttle system to transport spectators to the competition venues. The emblem of the 1980 Olympic Winter Games contains several symbols, with the right part reminiscent of the mountains surrounding Lake Placid, and the left part a stylized Ionic Column that refers to Ancient Olympics. There were 38 events contested in 6 sports (10 disciplines), held at the Olympic Center, Whiteface Mountain, Mt. Van Hoevenberg Olympic Bobsled Run, the Olympic Ski Jumps, the Cascade Cross Country Ski Center, and the Lake Placid High School Speed Skating Oval.1980 Winter Olympics Summary

• The 1980 Winter Olympics were held in Lake Placid, New York, USA from February 13 to February 24, 1980.
• A total of 37 nations participated in the games, including Cyprus, China, and Costa Rica.
• The People's Republic of China made its Winter Olympic debut, while the Republic of China boycotted the games due to the IOC's recognition of the People's Republic of China as "China".
• The Olympic Village was built according to Federal Bureau of Prisons needs and was later repurposed for Federal Correctional Institution, Ray Brook.
• The mascot for the games was Roni, a raccoon, which is a familiar animal from the mountainous region of the Adirondacks where Lake Placid is situated.
• The official theme song for the 1980 Winter Olympics was "Give It All You Got" by Chuck Mangione.
• The United States was the host nation and won the most medals with a total of 12, including six gold medals.
• Other top medal-winning nations included the Soviet Union, East Germany, and Sweden.
• The games featured six sports, including alpine skiing, biathlon, ice hockey, and speed skating.
• Notable athletes who participated in the games included Eric Heiden, who won five gold medals in speed skating, and the "Miracle on Ice" US Men's Hockey Team, who won the gold medal by defeating the heavily-favored Soviet team.
• Despite tensions between the US and Soviet Union, both countries participated in the games, but the Soviet Union would later boycott the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles.