Canada has long been a strong proponent of winter sport, but prior to 1988, no Canadian city had hosted the Olympic Winter Games, though several had tried. But in the words of Canadian folk singer, Gordon Lightfoot, the world was "Alberta Bound" in February 1988, as Winter Olympia came to Calgary. Lightfoot, in fact, sang that song at the opening ceremonies. Until the 1990s, perhaps only the majesty of Innsbruck's two efforts rivaled Calgary's staging of the 1988 Olympic Winter Games.

After being awarded the 1988 Winter Olympics, Calgary changed every single site that they had proposed to the IOC in their candidature. The reason for this was primarily environmental, as protest groups made certain that the natural terrain would not be unduly harmed by the building of the Olympic sites. The Games themselves were interrupted by the warm chinook winds that gusted at times up to 60 miles/hour (95 kph), and which forced the rescheduling of many of the ski events(/games/sportgames?editionid=43&sport_id=ASK). But the weather, beyond control of the OCOG, was the only major problem faced by the Calgary organizers, as the Games went off flawlessly.
The Canadians two great athletic efforts of these Games both came in individual figure skating, and both ended with silver medals. But what a difference in the way they were received! In men's figures, Brian Orser of Canada was co-favorite with America's Brian Boitano, but it was thought that the "home" ice and the emotion it brought would help him win. In one of the closest contests ever, Boitano narrowly defeated Orser, and the disappointment in the crowd was palpable, though Orser's effort gave him nothing to be disappointed about.
In women's figure skating the battle was thought to be between defending champion Katarina Witt, and America's Debi Thomas, a Stanford pre-med student who had been 1986 world champion. But Thomas skated poorly and eventually finished third. Nothing could then stop the statuesque Witt from winning, but Thomas' falter allowed Canada's Elizabeth Manley to move up to the silver medal. The delight and excitement over this unexpected result seemed to diminish any feelings of loss about the men's event.
In ice hockey, the Soviets again were dominant. Although Finland managed to defeat the Soviet Union 2-1, it was the only loss the Soviets sustained and they again won the ice hockey gold medal, their 7th since 1956.
Speed skating's hero was the unlikely Yvonne van Gennip of The Netherlands. All attention was focused on the GDR's quartet of Karin Kania, Andrea Ehrig, Christa Rothenburger, and Gabi Zange, and the United States' Bonnie Blair. They skated well, with Blair winning the 500 and Rothenburger the 1,000, and between them, those five won 12 of the available 15 medals. But van Gennip won the other three, the 1,500, 3,000, and 5,000 metres, defeating the favored Ehrig and Zange in the long-distance races.
In men's speed skating, the real hero was probably a man who never finished a race. Dan Jansen was a favorite in the 500 metres and in the 1,000, he was thought to have a chance to win. But the morning of the first race, the 500, he found out that his sister, who had been ill with leukemia, had died. He elected to skate that night, but fell on the first turn. A few days later, he hoped to redeem himself in the 1,000 metres and thru 600 metres, he had the fastest pace. But he fell again. The world watched and suffered with him but Dan Jansen offered no excuses. He was gracious and magnanimous throughout. Years of effort were lost, certainly by the emotions of the moment, but he responded with the grace so often requested of our Olympians, and yet so rarely offered. Taken from http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/winter/1988/

In late September 1981, when the IOC awarded the 1988 Olympics to Seoul, the Olympic world was stunned. The choice was highly controversial as many prominent nations in the Olympic Movement, notably the Soviet Bloc nations, did not have diplomatic relations with the Seoul government. After the political problems that had marred the last few Olympics, there was widespread concern that another boycott would ensue because of this.

The problem became more complicated in July 1985 when DPR (North) Korea demanded that it be allowed to co-host the Games with the Republic of Korea. Over the next three years the IOC negotiated with North Korea and offered to allow it to stage several events. However, no IOC concession was ever enough for the North, who wanted equal co-host status and an equal number of events. They demanded this despite the fact that the Games were close at hand and they had no possible hope of building the necessary facilities in time. When the IOC would not concede further to the North's demands, North Korea announced that it would definitely boycott the Seoul Olympics. By then, however, most of the Eastern Bloc countries had agreed to compete in Seoul, making 1988 the first Summer Olympic competition in 12 years between the United States, the Soviet Union and the German Democratic Republic. After the North Korean's final boycott announcement, Cuba and Ethiopia also announced that they would not attend the Olympics, out of solidarity with North Korea. Nicaragua, Albania, and the Seychelles also did not attend the Olympics, though their reasons were less clear and may not have been directly related to any boycott.
But the Seoul Games went on and saw the largest participation in Olympics history. There were more nations and more countries represented than ever before. The Games themselves were excellent and very well run. Controversies and political intrusions, unlike the Games of the last 20 years, were relatively few and comparatively minor.
Three swimmers and one female track & field athlete dominated the sporting events. In the pool, the GDR's Kristin Otto broke all sorts of records by winning six gold medals. It was an unmatched performance by a woman at the Olympics. Her only rival for swimming supremacy was America's Janet Evans who won three gold medals. But they never raced each other, as Otto was a sprinter and Evans a distance swimmer.
On the men's side of the pool, Matt Biondi was attempting to equal Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals. He failed in his first two events, taking a silver and a bronze. However, he then won gold in his last five events, to equal Spitz's haul of seven medals, though they had a bit less lustre.
On the track, the world was stunned by the performances of Florence Griffith Joyner. A solid world-class sprinter for a decade, she had re-dedicated herself in 1988 and had shattered records at the American Olympic Trials. At the Olympics she won the 100 and 200, setting world records in the 200 finals. In the 100, she posted a time that was wind-aided, but was otherwise the fastest time ever recorded. She then helped the American women win a gold medal in the 4×100 relay. Finally, she was asked by the American coaches to run anchor in the 4×400 relay. She did so, and narrowly missed catching the Soviet's Olha Bryzhina, as the Americans won a silver medal. Her total haul was three gold medals and one silver.
The biggest media event of the 1988 Olympic Games was the disqualification of Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, after he had won the 100 metres in the world record time of 9.79, and defeating Carl Lewis in the process. But a few days later, Johnson tested positive for stanazolol, an anabolic steroid, and was disqualified with Lewis receiving the gold medal. After the uproar of the scandal, the Canadian launched an inquiry into drug use in international sport, the Dubin Inqury. At the inquiry, Johnson admitted he had used steroids for several years.
One of Seoul's legacies to the Olympic Movement was a new Olympic Flag. The main Olympic flag was termed the Antwerp flag, because it had been made in 1920 and donated to the IOC by the Antwerp organizing committee. But the flag was worn and it was soon to be retired to the Olympic Museum. Seoul provided the IOC with a replacement, fashioned from pure raw Korean silk, with the needlework done by skilled Korean craftsmen. Thus the Seoul legacy will literally fly over many future Olympic Games. Taken from http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1988/