The ceremonial Olympic Flag was passed to Salt Lake City, the host city for 2002.

The Games in Nagano were the last Olympic celebration of the 20th Century and in that respect they represented the end of an era.

"The Nagano Olympic Games are a link to the 21st century, inspiring our search for wisdom for the new era, respect for the beauty and bounty of nature, furtherance of peace and goodwill," read the official "vision" for Nagano 1998.

Later in the year, it came to light just what officials from Nagano had done to be chosen to host those Games.

Even more devastating were revelations on how Salt Lake City had followed suit.

The information so revealed was destined to change the Olympic movement forever.

In 1991, Nagano had been chosen as Olympic hosts at an International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session held in the newly opened International Convention Centre in Birmingham.

The result had been considered a surprise as they defeated more highly fancied bids from Salt Lake City and Ostersund in Sweden.

Bids from Aosta in Italy and Jaca in Spain were eliminated in the early rounds.

Nagano eventually prevailed by only four votes in the fourth round of voting.

As with the successful Tokyo 2020 bid, the involvement of Japanese advertising giants Dentsu was seen as vital to its success.

The result was greeted by protests from environmental groups who insisted that proposed sites threatened areas which protected wildlife, including plants which were the main food source for two rare breeds of butterfly.

Organisers later said that some 70,000 trees were planted to replace 11,000 cut down during the construction of venues.

The  original site for biathlon had been relocated because nesting Goshawks had been discovered in the area.

The Opening Ceremony was the last to begin and end in daylight.

Sumo wrestlers strode to centre stage at the start, accompanied by a ritual to purify the arena. 

Emperor Akihito opened the Games, just as his father Hirohito had done in 1964 and 1972.

The Olympic Flag was trooped in by athletes including Seiko Hashimoto, much later to become President of Tokyo 2020.

When the Olympic Torch arrived, it was carried by Chris Moon, who had lost a leg and part of his arm in an explosion whilst supervising the clearance of landmines in Mozambique.

"When children rule the world" by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber was heard around the stadium as he entered with an escort of youngsters wearing the flags of all the competing nations.

It eventually fell to skater Midori Ito, dressed in traditional kimono, to light the cauldron.

Then came the Ode to Joy from Beethoven's ninth symphony.

Renowned Japanese conductor Seiji Osawa appeared on the big screen to conduct the work from a concert hall in Tokyo.

In turn, choristers appeared in Nagano itself, formed in the Olympic Rings outside Sydney Opera House, at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and in New York and Beijing.

It was truly a remarkable performance and remains memorable even 25 years later.

When competition began, a sport which had had its Olympic clock stopped in 1924 was set in motion once more. 

Curling featured eight teams of men and for the first time, eight women’s teams in competitions staged at the Kazakoshi Park Arena in Karuizawa.

The city had also hosted equestrian events at the 1964 Olympics and so became the first to hold summer and winter events, 24 years before Beijing did so.

Switzerland won the first men’s curling gold medal in 74 years and the Canadians were the first women's champions.

Women also made their debut in ice hockey as the United States beat Canada 3-1 to win the first gold medal.

There was also a little stardust in the men’s tournament with players from the National Hockey League finally allowed to take part.

These included Wayne Gretzky, often known simply as "The Great One". 

His Games ended in disappointment when Canada missed out on the bronze medal.

Czech Republic scored a single goal to beat Russia in the gold medal match.

There introduction of snowboarding to the programme was considered highly significant.

It came at a time when the X Games were starting to attract alternative audiences for extreme sports.

Organisers hoped its inclusion would give the Winter Olympics a "cool" image for younger audiences.

The sport was conducted under the aegis of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS).

The first gold, in the men’s giant slalom, was won by Ross Rebagliati of Canada.

Shortly afterwards, he was stripped of his medal after a positive dope test.

Rebagliati had apparently been smoking marijuana in a recreational capacity.

The Canadians appealed and the case was sent to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The ban was rescinded so Rebagliati and his medal were soon re-united.

The case had turned on the fact that the FIS had prescribed testing for the substance only for what they described as "fear related" events.

Snowboarding did not fall into this category.

The case did however reinforce certain stereotypes.

Japanese comedian Kinichi Hagimoto, dressed as a circus ringmaster, was Master of Ceremonies for the Closing Ceremony.

As the lights dimmed, and the Olympic Flame burned its last, many felt a warm glow as young girls "scattered petals in the arena to purify it" before the athletes arrived.

It was not until the end of the year that a storm broke which threatened to engulf the Olympic movement.

Veteran IOC member Marc Hodler broke ranks to reveal just how Nagano’s victorious bidding campaign had become the template for Salt Lake City’s winning run.

"To my knowledge, a certain part of votes have always been given through corruption," Hodler announced to astounded journalists attending an IOC Executive Board meeting in Lausanne.

It soon emerged that Nagano had offered luxury trips, Geisha and first class air tickets to voting members and had spent an average of $22,000 (£18,300/€20,670) on each of 62 visiting IOC members. 

"If you bid for the Olympic Games, people know that it takes money and maybe bribes," a unnamed Japanese politician told The Independent newspaper.  

"If you're in that position, and you really want the Games, you have no choice,"

Further detail proved impossible to verify when it emerged the officials in Nagano had shredded most of the paperwork connected with their bid.

There were also allegations made in connection with the conduct of Sydney’s bid for the 2000 Millennium Games but it was the information about the activities of Salt Lake City which soon turned into a torrent.

A Utah television station reported that the daughter of Cameroonian IOC member Rene Essomba had been given a university scholarship paid for by the Salt Lake.

Essomba had died in 1998, but the IOC launched an investigation.

Salt Lake City Organising Committee President Frank Joklik and vice-president Dave Johnson both resigned along with other senior officials.

Finland’s Pirjo Hagmann, who had been one of the first female IOC members, stood down following revelations that her husband had been given work by the 2002 organisers.

Libyan Mohamed Attarabulsi also resigned and was later followed by Swaziland’s David Sibandze.

Six IOC members were suspended, including the influential Jean Claude Ganga.

They were later expelled from the IOC after each had been given a hearing at one of three IOC sessions held in 1999.

The IOC 2000 Commission drew up reforms for the movement which were presented in a glossy brochure.

Perhaps most significantly, it slapped a ban on visits by individual members to cities bidding for the Games.

There was to be an upper age limit of 70 for members, though this did not apply to those, like long time FIFA President Joao Havelange, who had been elected before the limits were imposed.

Members of the IOC Athletes' Commission would henceforth have the status of IOC members.

International Federation and National Olympic Committee officials were also eligible for IOC membership as "candidatures linked to a function".

The IOC sessions were also to be streamed live in what was promoted as a new era of "transparency".

The IOC has claimed that the Nagano 1998 Games provided "fond memories and lasting benefits".

They were also truly fin de siecle and the Olympic movement would never quite be the same again, although the challenges the movement now faces seem every bit as serious.