Best ever Winter Olympics?

[Brekkie Boy]

Just thinking whilst a few of the summer games have been proclaimed, or self proclaimed, as the "best ever" Olympic Games is there really a consensus on who takes that title with the Winter Games?

Recency bias always applies in the Olympics but I do think during my life time Barcelona, Sydney, London and now Paris all had the right to claim that title but it feels like perhaps the Winter Olympics are judged more against themselves.   Perhaps too with Britain not being such a dominant force (although now far more regularly winning medals than was the cast previously) we just don't have the connection to it to particularly care.

 

For me from an armchair perspective I'd probably narrow it down to two.   I loved Lillehammer and always will - the first Winter games I really immersed myself in as a kid so I think that's always a factor, but it just feels like the last games before the bigger cities dominated hosting the games.   Of the later games it's probably Vancouver - always helps being held in a country that actually is competitive in a range of Winter sports and I think the games being welcomed in Whistler and Vancouver came across in a way that hasn't really been the case in subsequent games and I suspect if I was old enoughto remember it Calgary might be in this conversation for me too.

 

I'm sure from an organisation, visiting and sporting point of view there would be arguments for others, but in recent years both Sochi and Beijing felt particularly soulless.

[baron-pierreIV]

You're right -- even though I was never on the ground, Lillehammer felt from a North American armchair, probably the most jolie Winter Olympics.  And it shouldn't be any wonder.  It was hosted and took place in a region of the earth where Winter is King!!  They kept its small-town feel and was competed in venues and fields and caverns which come alive during the winter months -- not in Summer halls and stadia which have been adapted for the winter.  Sochi (except for the OCs of both its regular OGs and the Para OC), Beijing and even PyeongChang indeed felt soul-less, and again, that's just from the warmth of my sofa and living room.  But, hey, you have to move on to the next one becuz that's just how it is.  

[StefanMUC]

27 minutes ago, Brekkie Boy said:

Just thinking whilst a few of the summer games have been proclaimed, or self proclaimed, as the "best ever" Olympic Games is there really a consensus on who takes that title with the Winter Games?

Recency bias always applies in the Olympics but I do think during my life time Barcelona, Sydney, London and now Paris all had the right to claim that title but it feels like perhaps the Winter Olympics are judged more against themselves.   Perhaps too with Britain not being such a dominant force (although now far more regularly winning medals than was the cast previously) we just don't have the connection to it to particularly care.

 

For me from an armchair perspective I'd probably narrow it down to two.   I loved Lillehammer and always will - the first Winter games I really immersed myself in as a kid so I think that's always a factor, but it just feels like the last games before the bigger cities dominated hosting the games.   Of the later games it's probably Vancouver - always helps being held in a country that actually is competitive in a range of Winter sports and I think the games being welcomed in Whistler and Vancouver came across in a way that hasn't really been the case in subsequent games and I suspect if I was old enoughto remember it Calgary might be in this conversation for me too.

 

I'm sure from an organisation, visiting and sporting point of view there would be arguments for others, but in recent years both Sochi and Beijing felt particularly soulless.

Lillehammer for sure had the perfect „vibe“ to it. It was also the last small town WO, though of course venues were quite spread out too.

I‘ve just been to Nagano this week - it is the 10th Winter host city I‘ve visited, and I must say I really cannot remember as much from 1998 as I can from 1994. 

[cfm Jeremie]

Lillehammer will always have a special place: thus true winterland and sport loving crowds.

I have always thought Salt Lake don’t get the credits they deserve: perfectly stage, compact master plan, one of the highest number of spectators ever, a city centre completely dressed up with the look of the Games and a legacy like no other.

[Brekkie Boy]

Yes, SLC is probably a contender and really liked the ceremonies being partly on ice and a modern yet classic Olympic cauldron.  Mostly remembered by Brits for the Curling I guess and by many for Stephen Bradbury.  I just don't have a huge recollection of the games as a whole but thinking about it that was when I was at Uni and didn't have a TV in halls that year so only watched bit when I was at home for the weekend.

[baron-pierreIV]

16 minutes ago, Brekkie Boy said:

Yes, SLC is probably a contender and really liked the ceremonies being partly on ice and a modern yet classic Olympic cauldron.  Mostly remembered by Brits for the Curling I guess and by many for Stephen Bradbury.  I just don't have a huge recollection of the games as a whole but thinking about it that was when I was at Uni and didn't have a TV in halls that year so only watched bit when I was at home for the weekend.

Yes, SLC 2002 is a good 2nd "Best" -- which is why it was a shoo-in for Take Two in 9 years' time. 

Maybe the double "2" in 2002 was an omen??  "LILLEHAMMER" had triple L's, double M's and double E's.  SLC-Utah will have 2-0-3-4 in 9 years' time. 

BTW, LA now has calculated it will have 351 medal events.  35+1 = 36 sports being competed in LA28.  How do these Olympic numerologies line up?  VERY STRANGELY!!

[sebastien1214]

It's funny, because I feel like the golden age of the Winter Olympics was the 1990s, and I feel like I ultimately missed that golden age and that it will never come again (for various political and climatic reasons). I would have really liked to have experienced Lillehammer and Albertville, I think.

Honestly, I think that among the Games I remember (my first were Vancouver, but I have few memories to be honest), none really left a lasting impression on me. I was even completely indifferent to Beijing 2022, but also Pyeongchang 2018. It's for Sochi that I have the most memories, but even for Sochi, I was never in "wow" mode, like I was for Paris or London.

Besides, I'm not particularly impatient for Milano - Cortina 2026, nor for the French Alps 2030 for that matter (even if I do have a particular interest in them).

[TorchbearerSydney]

I hardly have any memories of Beijing 2022...or even PC 2018....

[Sir Rols]

17 minutes ago, TorchbearerSydney said:

I hardly have any memories of Beijing 2022...or even PC 2018....

Me either - despite the fact that being in our time zone, I watched almost everything from them.

PC evokes no memories whatsoever. What I recall of Beijing is mainly negative - the coolant towers behind the freestyle course, the barren brown mountains around the alpine events.

[TorchbearerSydney]

Q  :  What I recall of Beijing is mainly negative - the coolant towers behind the freestyle course, the barren brown mountains around the alpine events.

And forgettable ceremonies- endless songs about snowflakes and a microscopic flame!

[Hightowerio86]

Three that come to mind Lillehammer 1994, Salt Lake 2002, Vancouver 2010

[baron-pierreIV]

31 minutes ago, Hightowerio86 said:

Three that come to mind Lillehammer 1994, Salt Lake 2002, Vancouver 2010

Agreed.  The 3 best organized with the best atmosphere and joie de vivre. 

[BigVic]

Salt Lake 2002 was special. Held less than 18 months after 9/11 and bought the world together for 16 days. Oh and we had that Aussie winning gold in the short track 

[intoronto]

Vancouver 2010 and PyeongChang 2018 for me because I was there 

[Rob2012]

On 6/13/2025 at 1:49 AM, BigVic said:

Salt Lake 2002 was special. Held less than 18 months after 9/11 and bought the world together for 16 days. Oh and we had that Aussie winning gold in the short track 

I rewatch that clip every now and again if I need to cheer myself up. 

[Australian Kiwi]

Vancouver 2010 looked and felt like a winter Sydney 2000. 

[BigVic]

On 6/21/2025 at 1:09 PM, Australian Kiwi said:

Vancouver 2010 looked and felt like a winter Sydney 2000. 

Ceremonies were done by the same director with a cauldron mishap. Vancouver had its 4th arm missing in the OC with Steve Nash bermused and looking on 

[Brekkie Boy]

Only a week in but Milano Cortina certainly enters this conversation - well Cortina does at least.   The views are stunning and just give me similar vibes to Lillehammer, plus the host nation doing so well always lifts a game (well, when you like the host nation!).    Such a contrast in the vibe to the last few games - a shame really the games couldn't have been fully focused on Cortina and surrounding areas as it is the geographical spread out to Milano that lets it down a bit.    They've gone from a games in 1956 where everything was in walking distance to 70 years later the most widespread games yet.    

[StefanMUC]

Nah…Cortina is good vibes, but it is really like 8-10 World Championships happening  coincidentally across the same country.

Milan as a city is also completely absent in terms of visibility, so much the contrast to Paris. But here you only see indoor venues and nothing else, why not putting a medal plaza in front of the Duomo, or sth like that?

The overall impression this time is just good because the last three Winter Games at least felt very sterile, each for different reasons. But in the context of 25 editions, it‘s nowhere near Lillehammer.

[Faster]

Remember from years and years of this discussion that the general consensus was Calgary, Lillehammer and Salt Lake City. 

That stretch from Calgary in 1988 to Vancouver in 2010 all were good in their own ways. Pyeongchang was decent enough. Sochi just has this weird place and emotion to it. And Beijing was just weird. Makes you wonder what it could have been if Munich, Almaty and Stockholm had been the hosts from 2018 to 2026.

[Sir Rols]

I don’t want to pre-empt the final verdict, and we’re still not even quite halfway through yet, but my thoughts so far.

No doubt the mountain resorts - Cortina, Livigno etc- are very pretty - haven’t had such lovely landscape settings for ages. It’s nice to be back in the Alps. But I agree with @StefanMUC, I’m really missing something from the Milano component. These ice events could be taking place in Trojena for all the atmosphere I’m feeling. Maybe they should have been named Cortina-Milano instead.

It took me a few days to get into these games, I just wasn’t feeling the games vibe for quite a while (though I did love the opening). It’s only been the past few days that my enthusiasm has picked up (and that’s got nothing to do with Oz medals).

‘Lillehammer’s got nothing to worry about iMO.

 

[baron-pierreIV]

Milano is NOT really a picturesque city.  That's why it's left out of the usual Italian Grand tour -- which is Rome, Naples, Florence & Venice and additional cities in between.  Milan is really only a way stop for the breathtaking beauty of Lake Como north of it.  Even Milano's Sforza Castle is one of Europe's UGLIEST.  So, San Siro goes with its city as one of the UGLIEST stadia ever built!!  I guess beautiful urban architecture isn't one of the Lombardians' gifts??  

Maybe Milano carries the curse of Mussolini where the last "Roman emperor" of the 20th century (and his cabal) was strung up??

Edited February 14 by baron-pierreIV

[cfm Jeremie]

For the ones I have experienced on the ground, Vancouver is definitely on top, followed by Torino.

Otherwise Lillehammer is the best one, very closely followed by Salt Lake.

[SkiFreak]

Best atmosphere: Calgary, Lillehammer, Salt Lake City, Vancouver.

Torino '06 wasn't bad either.  Too early to make a decision on Milan Cortina but unfinished infrastructure and not great weather on some days (raining yesterday at ski jumping), they might not make this list.

[Brekkie Boy]

Completely get what people are saying about Milano - compared to other city-mountain hosts it gasn't shined as the city host, or oerhaps more gas been outshined by the excellence of their co-hosts.  However the action inside the arenas has been quite noteable - especially the Americans repeatedly throwing away figure sjating medals then blami g everyone but themselves.   

 

My view though posted last Friday has only got stronger - I've just fallen in love with these games in a way I haven't for a long time.  Certainly my favourite Winter games since Lillehammer and my favourite Olympics since London.