XXI Olympic Winter Games 2010, Vancouver, Canada

The Austrian city of Innsbruck was the host in 1964. Although Innsbruck was a traditional winter sports resort, warm weather caused a lack of snow during the Games and the Austrian army was asked to transport snow and ice to the sport venues. Soviet speed-skater Lidia Skoblikova made history by sweeping all four speed-skating events. Her career total of six gold medals set a record for Winter Olympics athletes. Luge was first contested in 1964, although the sport received bad publicity when a competitor was killed in a pre-Olympic training run.
Held in the French town of Grenoble, the 1968 Winter Olympics were the first Olympic Games to be broadcast in colour. There were 37 nations and 1,158 athletes competing in 35 events. Frenchman Jean-Claude Killy became only the second person to win all the men's alpine skiing events. The organising committee sold television rights for $2 million, which was more than double the price of the broadcast rights for the Innsbruck Games. Venues were spread over long distances requiring three athletes' villages. The organisers claimed this was required to accommodate technological advances. Critics disputed this, alleging that the layout was necessary to provide the best possible venues for television broadcasts at the expense of the athletes.
The 1972 Winter Games, held in Sapporo, Japan, were the first to be hosted outside North America or Europe. The issue of professionalism became contentious during the Sapporo Games. Three days before the Games IOC president Avery Brundage threatened to bar a number of alpine skiers from competing because they participated in a ski camp at Mammoth Mountain in the United States. Brundage reasoned that the skiers had financially benefited from their status as athletes and were therefore no longer amateurs. Eventually only Austrian Karl Schranz, who earned more than all the other skiers, was not allowed to compete. Canada did not send teams to the 1972 or 1976 ice hockey tournaments in protest of their inability to use players from professional leagues. Francisco Ochoa became the only Spaniard to ever win a Winter Olympic gold medal when he triumphed in the slalom.
The 1976 Winter Games had been awarded to Denver, United States, but in 1972 the city's voters passed a referendum declining to be hosts. Innsbruck, which had maintained the infrastructure from the 1964 Games, was chosen to replace Denver. Two Olympic flames were lit because it was the second time the Austrian town had hosted the Games. The 1976 Games featured the first combination bobsleigh and luge track, in neighbouring Igls. The Soviet Union won its fourth consecutive ice hockey gold medal.