Venezuela at the 1998 Winter Olympics but never won a medal at the Winter Olympics. These Winter Olympics were held from 7–22 February 1998; a total of 2,176 athletes represented 72 National Olympic Committees. The only athlete Venezuela sent to Nagano was a luger, Iginia Boccalandro. She was the flag bearer for the opening ceremony. Iginia Boccalandro was 36 years old at the time of the Nagano Olympics, and was making her Olympic debut. Before the Games, the Salt Lake City, Utah resident claimed that "I'm too old and fat"; she said her real goal was the 2002 Winter Olympics, by which time she would have
Australia at the Winter Olympics is currently non-existent in Australia. Many major Australian cities have indoor ice rinks, enabling participation in some winter sports regardless of the climate. These began to appear at the end of the 19th century, and ice hockey was played as early as 1904. Sydney hosted the 1991 short-track speed skating World Championships, and the 2001 Goodwill Games—hosted in Brisbane—included figure skating. Australia has no tracks usable for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton, but there is a bobsleigh push track in the Docklands area of Melbourne. In keeping with an existing tradition for Australian gold medallists at the Summer Olympics, Bradbury, Camplin