Olympic Rewind Day 16: Thousands of Calgarians can say, ‘I helped. I was part of it.’

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When the 1988 Winter Olympics got here to an finish, the Closing Ceremonies grew to become the grandest Olympic closing occasion as much as that point. Earlier than 1988, the occasion was often held in a hockey enviornment after the final sports activities competitors. It was the primary time that the ceremonies have been held outdoors. At a price of $4 million, the present featured dozens of skaters, together with former Olympic stars like Barbara Ann Scott and Toller Cranston. The present at Calgary’s McMahon Stadium featured greater than 110 theatrical lights suspended from 4 seven-story towers; 60 particular spotlights – which venture transferring patterns onto the ice and subject – have been displayed; and subject degree was surrounded by one other 2,500 lights and 250 plane touchdown lights. It was capped off by an unbelievable fireworks show and an lively efficiency by kd lang, which noticed athletes swarm the sphere and dance for the world.

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Critiques of the Video games have been constructive from most quarters: “Calgary has eternally transcended its jacked-up cowboy picture,” declared the Toronto Star. USA At this time added: “Even if in case you have no Olympic aspirations, Calgary . . . is overdue in your listing of locations.” Newsday additionally mentioned it was price noting the politeness of Calgarians, who at all times yielded to pedestrians.

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Additionally on the final day of those Video games:

Extra information from Day 16:

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On the final day of the Video games, the Metropolis of Calgary took out a full-page advert within the Calgary Herald by which Mayor Ralph Klein mirrored on the success of those Olympic Video games. “I’d say, let’s not shut these Video games with disappointment. Though the Video games are over, the legacy lives on, and maybe no legacy will probably be as lasting as the power of an odd Calgarian to say to his or her grandchildren, ‘I helped. I used to be a part of it.’ . . . They may by no means actually finish for Calgary, so long as we bear in mind.”

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Hundreds of Calgarians hosted Olympic guests. The next Herald commercial from February 29, 1988 confirmed the variety of households collaborating in only one program, which noticed native households host the dad and mom of Olympic athletes.

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To learn extra concerning the 1988 Winter Olympics, take a look at:

35 unforgettable photographs from 35 years in the past: Calgary welcomed the world to the 1988 Winter Olympics

35 years later, Calgary’s Olympic Winter Video games legacy lives on, however is beginning to present its age

Olympic Rewind Day One: successes and secrets and techniques of Calgary’s 1988 Winter Olympics

Olympic Rewind Day Two: A fin flies, Jansen falls and Eddie soars — ‘Now I am an Olympian’

Olympic Rewind Day Three: Let the pin buying and selling start

Olympic Rewind Day 4: Scalpers say enterprise is up whereas intercourse employees see a slowdown

Olympic Rewind Day 5: Video games turn into the largest bash within the metropolis’s historical past

Olympic Rewind Day Six: Loud Crowds Develop; Orser sparkles; males’s hockey disappoints

Olympic Rewind Day Seven: Canada will get its first medal

Olympic Rewind Day Eight: Battle of the Brians

Olympic Rewind Day 9: Golf Course Opens Throughout Calgary’s ‘Winter’ Olympics

Olympic Rewind Day Ten: One other valuable medal for Percy