What Were the Events in Snowboarding in 1998?

Snowboarding is a blend of skiing, skateboarding and surfing that originated in the 1970s. The sport gained popularity throughout the 1980s, and in 1990 the formation of the International Snowboarding Federation, ISF, gave the sport its first formal sanctioning body. Snowboarding's road to the Olympics was not met without opposition, but it did gain its moment in the international spotlight with its introduction to the Winter Olympics in 1998 at Nagano, Japan.

  1. Oversight

    • The ISF asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for permission to govern the rules of snowboarding in the Winter Olympic games. The Federation Internationale de Ski (FIS), however, was opposed to the IOC's inclusion of snowboarding as an Olympic sport. The two sides were able to reconcile their differences through compromise and snowboarding became an Olympic sport. The IOC did not recognize it as a separate sport but rather as a disciple of skiing and granted FIS official oversight of snowboarding in the Olympics. Snowboarding debuted as an Olympic sport in 1998 with both men's and women's competitions in the giant slalom and half-pipe events.

    Giant Slalom

    • Giant slalom is an event in which two snowboarders guide their way through parallel courses down the mountain as they negotiate their way around gates. The Giant Slalom event was chosen for Olympic competition in 1998 since it is the midrange of slalom disciplines. The standard Dual Slalom events feature tighter courses than those in the Giant Slalom, while the Super G is more of an all-out run focusing more on high speed than the technical prowess of maneuvering around tightly spaced gates.

    Half-Pipe

    • While the Giant Slalom was a times speed event, the other snowboarding event featured during the 1998 Winter Olympics was the Half-Pipe. This event does not concern itself with time, but rather focuses on style as the competitors are judged by a panel based on many stylistic criteria. Judges considered the competitors' full routine, technical difficulty of each trick, height of air and rotation when considering the competitor's score.

    Slalom Results

    • Canada's Ross Rebugliati won the gold medal in the men's slalom, while Italy's Thomas Prugger and Switzerland's Ueli Kestenholz won the silver and bronze, respectively. Karine Ruby of France won the women's slalom event, while Germany's Heidi Renoth and Austria's Brigitte Kock won the silver and bronze medals, respectively.

    Half-Pipe Results

    • The winner of the men's half-pipe event during the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano was Gian Simmen, while Norway's Daniel Franck and the United States' Ross Powers won the silver and bronze medals, respectively. The winner of the women's half-pipe gold medal was Germany's Nicola Thost, while Norway's Stine Brun Kjeldaas won the silver medal and Shannon Dunn of the United States won the bronze medal.