A number of notable controversies and concerns associated with the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, emerged which were the subject of public debate and media commentary.
Safety
Death of Joerg Oberhammer
On February 25, 1988, 47 year old Austrian Olympic Team physician Joerg Oberhammer died after falling into the path of a snow-grooming machine after colliding with another skier between runs of the men's giant slalom. Swiss team skiers Pirmin Zurbriggen and Martin Hangl witnessed Oberhammer's death from the chairlift, Zurbriggen went on to win a gold medal, while Hangl withdrew from the giant slalom due to the incident.
Environmental
Weather
The weather conditions for the 1988 Winter Olympics were a significant problem, with temperatures ranging from . Of the 176 events scheduled for the 1988 Games, 30 were postponed and rescheduled due to inclement weather. The men's downhill skiing event at Nakiska was postponed for one day, due to Chinook winds blowing up to 160 km/h. The women's downhill event also experienced the same scenario. With the ski jumping venue facing north at Canada Olympic Park (COP), the same winds also disrupted those events, with the large hill event being postponed four times. It had also disrupted the Nordic combined events, in which the ski jumping part had to be postponed as well. For the first time in Olympic history, both the ski jumping and Nordic combined cross-country skiing events was contested in a single day.
Despite using artificial cooling, the bobsleigh and luge events at COP was not spared, with several races being postponed due to the high temperatures during that time. During the Two-man Bobsleigh, sand and dust particles ended up being deposited onto the artificial track by Chinook winds, resulting in a noticeably faster track for later participants. The Soviet Union's two man bobsleigh team won gold after an unexpected come-from-behind win over the heavy favourite East German teams.
The high on February 26, 1988, in Calgary reached , an all-time record high for the city on that day.
Doping
The drug testing laboratory for the 1988 Winter Olympic Games was installed at Foothills Hospital and accredited by the IOC Medical Commission in December 1987. During the games a total of 428 urine samples were tested for banned substances, with one competitor testing positive for testosterone, and five hidden control samples correctly identified by the laboratory. The laboratory tested for five classes of drugs, stimulants, narcotic analgesics, anabolic steroids, β-blockers, and diuretics, as well as the masking agent probenecid.
Ice hockey
Polish ice-hockey player Jarosław Morawiecki tested positive for the banned substance Testosterone during the Games. The 23 year old centre, who was considered Poland's best player, exceeded the allowable limit of testosterone in random testing after a match which saw Poland defeat France 6–2. Polish coach Leszek Lejczyk claimed Morawiecki was deliberately drugged for political reasons.
The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) banned Morawiecki from competition for 18 months and invalidated Poland's victory in the France match. Poland finished 5th of 6th in the tournament Group A standings.
Nordic Skiing
Prior to the 1988 Winter Olympics, American Nordic combined skier Kerry Lynch admitted to taking illegal blood transfusions under the guidance of coach Jim Page prior to the 1987 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships where he finished 2nd in the 15 km individual event. FIS subsequently suspended Lynch for two years which included the 1988 Games. During the 1988 Games, Canadian Nordic skiing coach Martin Hall alleged the Soviet Union's success was a result of blood doping. The national ski federations of Finland, Norway and Sweden later demanded blood doping tests be carried out in future Nordic skiing events.
Organization
Ticket Sales
A series of ticket-related scandals plagued the organizing committee as the Games approached, resulting in widespread public anger. Demand for tickets was high, particularly for the premier events which had sold out a year in advance. Residents had been promised that only 10 per cent of tickets would go to "Olympic insiders", IOC officials and sponsors, but OCO'88 was later forced to admit that up to 50 percent of seats to top events had gone to insiders. The organizing committee, which was subsequently chastised by mayor Klein for running a "closed shop", admitted that it had failed to properly communicate the obligations it had to supply IOC officials and sponsors with priority tickets.