Nagano 1998 and team sports.
The 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, was a major sporting milestone. The most rewarding story in the media was the gold medal won by the Czech hockey players, crowned by an informal reception by the then President of the Republic Václav Havel. It was certainly a significant moment in terms of national pride and pride, amplified by the fact that we once again humiliated the Russian players (1 : 0). But other circumstances than the rewriting of history were also crucial. For some other sports, Nagano was an important historical milestone. For curling, for example, it marked the return to the Olympic programme after seventy long years. Both men's and women's categories were included, with eight teams in each. And much of the credit for the smooth running and attractiveness of the competition goes not only to the curling players, but especially to the fantastic Japanese organisers. Women's hockey was also added, with the accompanying phenomenon of uneven performance of the competing teams (Canada - Japan 13:0, USA - Japan 10:0). Thus the expansion of winter team sports, which have always been rather scarce. Bandy hockey and ice hockey have historically emerged as exemplary team sports. Czech ice hockey players have traditionally participated in Olympic hockey tournaments and managed to bring home medals (bronze) as recently as 2006. The wait for a Czech team to participate in the Winter Games programme other than men's ice hockey lasted more than twenty years. The curling team had a total of six direct opportunities over eight years to advance to the Olympic tournament by winning a match, but none came to fruition. The curlers were unable to work their way to a direct competition for participation, although they were not completely without chances. It hasn't worked out for the women's hockey team for a long time, until now. A win over the Hungarians, in a match for everything, shot the Czech women into China. Beijing will see a total of ten women's hockey teams in two groups of five. From Group A, all five teams (!!) will advance to the quarterfinals, and from Group B, which includes the Czech women, only the top three will advance. So many successful bluffs, splits and semaphores for the Czech colours.