Snowboarding debuted at the Winter Olympics in 1998, at the Nagano Games in Japan.
The inaugural Olympic competition featured four events: men's and women's giant slalom and halfpipe. The races took place at Mount Yakebitai, while the halfpipe events were held at Kanbayashi Snowboard Park. Twenty-two nations entered 125 competitors.
Canada's Ross Rebagliati won the first Olympic snowboarding gold medal in the men's giant slalom. His medal briefly became controversial when he tested positive for marijuana, but it was returned after officials determined that the substance was not prohibited under the relevant Olympic rules at the time.
A common mix-up is confusing snowboarding's Olympic debut with later expansions. Parallel giant slalom replaced the original giant slalom format in 2002, and snowboard cross was added at the 2006 Turin Games. Snowboarding had already become internationally popular before Nagano, but 1998 was its first official Winter Olympic appearance.