The Olympics of 1992 were held
soon after the collapse of the com-
munist Soviet Union (December,
1991), which quickly produced a
number of newly independent states,
and the unification of East and West
Germany (October, 1990). As many
of the new states had not had time to
organize themselves for the Olym-
pics, they were allowed to compete
as the former Soviet team, but under
the title of the Unified Team (UT, or
EUN). On the other hand, the two
Germanies had managed to unite
and for the first time since 1960 com-
peted as a single nation. This led
them to immediate success, and they
headed the medal table with ten
gold medals and twenty-six medals
in all, outstripping the UT team,
which gained nine golds and twenty-
three medals in all. Frequently, the
host country does very well, but this
was not the case in 1992. France, one
of the dominating skiing countries,
could only manage three gold med-
als and nine medals in all. Of the
smaller countries, Norway did unex-
pectedly well, finishing with nine
golds and twenty medals in all. The
United States earned five gold med-
als and a total of eleven.
Of individual performances, that
of Raisa Smetanina of the UT was
one of the most outstanding. At
thirty-nine years old, she was the
oldest woman ever to win a cross-
country skiing gold medal in the 4-
by-5-kilometer relay race, bringing
her total haul of Olympic medals to ten. Another
outstanding winner was the Austrian skier Petra
Kronberger, who won golds in both the slalom
and giant slalom events. Close behind her in the
medals tally came the veteran Italian skier Alberto
Tomba, who won gold in the giant slalom for a
record-breaking second time and silver in the
slalom.
Among other outstanding individual perfor-
mances was that of Canadian skier Kerrin Lee-
Gartner, who won the women’s downhill skiing. She
had not won in six years, and only came out of retire-
ment to compete in the Winter Olympics, having
had reconstructive knee surgery. Behind her, in sil-
ver medal position, was another surprise in Hilary
Lindh of the United States, comprehensively break-
ing the Alpine countries’ stranglehold over the
event. In figure skating, American Kristi Yamaguchi
won gold, with Nancy Kerrigan taking the bronze.
Paul Wylie of the United States gained a silver medal
in the men’s figure skating, behind Viktor Petrenko
of the UT.The Nineties in America Olympic Games of 1992 637
Leading Medal Winners of the
1992 Winter OlympicsCountry Gold Silver Bronze Medals Won
Germany 10 10 6 26
Unified Team
(former Soviet Union)96 8 23Norway 9 6 5 20
Austria 6 7 8 21
United States 5 4 2 11
Italy 4 6 4 14
France 3 5 1 9
Finland 3 1 3 7
Canada 2 3 2 7
South Korea 2 1 1 4Leading Medal Winners of the
1992 Summer OlympicsCountry Gold Silver Bronze Medals Won
Unified Team
(former Soviet Union)45 38 29 112United States 37 34 37 108
Germany 33 21 28 82
China 16 22 16 54
Cuba 14 6 11 31
Spain 13 7 2 22
South Korea 12 5 12 29
Hungary 11 12 7 30
France 8 5 16 29
Australia 7 9 11 27