At the Games, Haralds Silovs became the first athlete in Olympic games to participate in both short track (1500m) and long track (5000m) speed skating, and the first to compete in two different disciplines on the same day.[1][2][3][4]
Bobsledder Jānis Miņins, who was among the favourites in four-man bobsleigh, missed the Olympics, because of an appendix surgery he went through, when he had already arrived in Canada just days before the Olympic start. He participated also in several trainings for the four-man event, but after crashing twice, decided not to start.[5]