Canada sent 196 athletes to Turin, Italy, and garnered a total of 24 medals. Jennifer HEIL (freestyle skiing) won Canada's first medal on the first day, the first-ever medal for Canada in the women's moguls. Eight of the medals came in long track speed skating as Cindy KLASSEN became Canada's most decorated Olympian ever by winning 5 medals at these Games to add to her previous medal won in 2002.

The Canadian women's hockey team successfully defended its gold medal from 2002. The MEN'S HOCKEY TEAM, the cream of the NHL, players with more than 320 goals among them to that point in the season, suddenly lost their touch and direction and went out in the quarter final round. Former bobsledder Duff GIBSON of Calgary became the oldest Olympic athlete (age 39) to win gold in an individual event (skeleton).

Canada's Rank: 3rd

Gold: Duff Gibson, skeleton; Mike Adam, Brad Gushue, Russ Howard, Jamie Korab and Mark Nichols, curling; Women's Hockey; Clara Hughes, 5000-m speed skating; Cindy Klassen, 1500-m speed skating; Chandra CRAWFORD, short-track skating sprint; Jennifer Heil, moguls

Silver: Lascelles Brown and Pierre Lueders, bobsleigh; Jeff Pain, skeleton; Kristina Groves, 1500-m speed skating; Alanna Kraus, Anouk Leblanc-Boucher, Amanda Overland, Kalyna Roberge and Tania Vicent, 3000-m short-track skating relay; Arne Dankers, Steven Elm, Dennis Morrison, Jason Parker and Justin Warsylewicz, short track skating pursuit; Kristina Groves, Clara Hughes, Cindy Klassen, Christine Nesbitt, Shannon Rempel, short-track skating pursuit; Cindy Klassen, 1000-m speed skating; Éric Bédard, Jonathan Guilmette, Charles Hamelin, François-Louis Tremblay and Mathieu Turcotte, 5000-m short-track skating relay; François-Louis Tremblay, 500-m short-track skating; Sara Renner and Beckie Scott, cross-country skiing team sprint

Bronze: Mellisa Hollingsworth, skeleton; Glenys Bakker, Sandra Jenkins, Christine Keshen, Shannon Kleibrink and Amy Nixon, curling; Jeffrey Buttle, figure skating; Cindy Klassen, 3000-m and 5000-m speed skating; Anouk Leblanc-Boucher, 500-m short-track skating; Dominique Maltais, snowboard cross

The awarding of the 2002 Games to Salt Lake City was marred by the biggest scandal in Olympic history, as it was revealed that several IOC members had sold their votes to the highest bidder. For Canadian athletes, Salt Lake 2002 was the most successful Winter Games in Olympic history. Canada placed a record 4th in the medal standings behind Germany, the United States and Norway with a total of 17 medals.

Canadian athletes won 7 gold, 3 silver and 7 bronze medals. The crowning achievement for Canada was the gold medal victories for both the WOMEN'S and men's hockey teams. The men's victory did not come easily as the TEAM, led by captain Mario Lemieux, got off to a poor start, losing to the Swedes 5-2 and tying the Czechs 3-3. In a close contest against the Americans, the Canadians prevailed 5-2 to win gold, 50 years to the day after the Edmonton Mercurys had last won gold. Pairs figure skaters Jamie Salé and David PELLETIER shared double gold medals with Russian skaters Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze after a controversial judging scandal. In the longest unbroken streak in Olympic history, for 10 straight Olympics, from 1964 in Innsbruck through 1998 in Nagano, Russians had captured gold in the figure skating pairs. Aerialists Veronica Brenner and Deidra Dionne became the first Canadian women to win Olympic medals in freestyle skiing, winning silver and bronze respectively. Canadian speed skaters were the most significant contributors to the total medal count, winning a total of 9 medals.

Short-track speed skater Marc Gagnon became the most decorated Canadian Winter Olympian of all time when he won gold in the 500-m, gold in the 5000-m relay with teammates Éric Bédard, Jonathan Guilmette, François-Louis Tremblay and Mathieu Turcotte, and bronze in the 1500-m. Gagnon's total of 5 Olympic medals from 1994 to 2002 exceeds Gaétan Boucher's record of 4 medals. Speed skater Clara HUGHES won the honour of being the first Canadian athlete to win a medal at both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. In 1996 at Atlanta, Hughes won 2 bronze medals for cycling.

Canada's Rank: 4th

Gold: Men's Hockey; Women's Hockey; Marc Gagnon, 500-m short-track skating; Catriona Le May Doan, 500-m speed skating; Éric Bédard, Marc Gagnon, Jonathan Guilmette, François-Louis Tremblay and Mathieu Turcotte, 5000-m short-track relay; David Pelletier and Jamie Sale, pairs skating; Beckie SCOTT, cross-country skiing pursuit

Silver: Donald Bartlett, Kevin Martin, Carter Rycroft, Kenneth Tralnberg and Donald Walchuk, curling; Jonathan Guilmette, 500-m short-track skating; Veronica Brenner, aerials

Bronze: Diane Dezura, Kelley Law, Cheryl Noble, Julie Skinner and Georgina Wheatcroft, curling; Marc Gagnon, 1500-m short-track skating; Isabelle Charest, Marie-Eve Drôlet, Amélie Goulet-Nadon, Alanna Kraus and Tania Vicent, 3000-m short-track skating relay; Mathieu Turcotte, 1000-m short-track skating; Cindy Klassen, 3000-m speed skating; Clara Hughes, 5000-m speed skating; Deidra Dionne, aerials

The weather wreaked havoc with the skiing events at the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan. These Games marked a dramatic change in the rules for hockey, as professionals (i.e., from the NHL) were allowed to participate and women's hockey was presented for the first time. Despite this long-anticipated development, the CANADIAN MEN'S HOCKEY TEAM not only failed to dominate but finished out of the medals. Ross REBAGLIATI won the first-ever gold medal awarded for snowboarding, was disqualified for testing positive for marijuana but was reaffirmed on appeal. Canadian bobsledders Pierre LUEDERS and David MacEachern shared the first-ever tie for gold with an Italian pair.

Canada's Rank: 5th

Gold: Pierre Lueders and David MacEachern, 2-man bobsleigh; Janice Betker, Marcia Gudereit, Atina Johnston, Joan Elizabeth McCusker and Sandra SCHMIRLER, curling; Catriona Le May DOAN, 500-m speed skating; Éric Bédard, Derrick Campbell, François Drolet and Marc Gagnon, 5000-m short track relay; Annie Perreault, 500-m short track; Ross Rebagliati, Giant Slalom snowboard

Silver: Mike Harris, Richard Hart, George Karrys, Collin Mitchell and Paul Savage, curling; Susan Auch, 500-m speed skating; Jeremy WOTHERSPOON, 500-m speed skating; Elvis Stojko, figure skating

Bronze: Catriona Le May Doan, 1000-m speed skating; Kevin Crockett, 500-m speed skating; Éric Bédard, 1000-m speed skating; Christine Boudrias, Isabelle Charest, Annie Perreault and Tania Vicent, 3000-m short-track relay

The extremely successful Lillehammer Games were marred only by the media frenzy over the sordid Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan scandal, in which Kerrigan was attacked before the Games but went on to win a silver medal. For the first time, former Soviet states such as Ukraine, Russia and Georgia competed as independent nations. The Canadian team, in its finest performance, earned 13 medals, highlighted by Myriam Bédard's 2 gold medals in biathlon. Elvis STOJKO's Olympic performances in Lillehammer that year were clearly superior to the competitors', but the judges had not yet warmed to his artistic style and he had to settle for the silver medal. The men's hockey team won Canada's final medal of the Games, losing an emotional gold medal game in a shootout against Sweden.

Canada's Rank: 6th

Gold: Myriam Bédard, 15-km and 7.5-km biathlon; Jean-Luc BRASSARD, moguls

Silver: Men's Hockey; Susan Auch, 500-m speed skating; Nathalie Lambert, 1000-m short-track skating; Christine Boudrias, Isabelle Charest, Sylvie Daigle and Nathalie Lambert, 3000-m short-track skating relay; Elvis Stojko, figure skating; Philippe Laroche, aerials

Bronze: Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler, pairs skating; Marc GAGNON, 1000-m short-track skating; Edi Podivinsky, downhill; Lloyd Langlois, aerials