Albertville, France: (1992).

The first Olympiad of the decade, and the first in the post-Cold War era, began with concern for the fragile alpine ecology of its venue. Competing athletes convened in Albertville, France, in 1992, only for the opening and closing ceremonies. Otherwise, they dispersed throughout the region for the games. That model, far less disruptive to the natural beauty of Winter Olympic venues, has been successfully adopted in each Olympiad since. The breakup of the Soviet Union and the dismantling of the Berlin Wall made an impact on the Olympics as countries such as Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia competed under their own flags for the first time since prior to World War II. Germany fielded one team instead of two, and some former Soviet athletes competed under the Unified Team name, though the flags of their separate republics were raised as individual winners stood...