In
1921, the International Olympic Committee voted to
stage “International Sports Week 1924” in
Chamonix, France. This event was a complete success
and was retroactively named the First Olympic Winter
Games. The first event in Chamonix was the men’s
500m speed skating. The first gold medal went to Charles
Jewtraw of the United States. A. Clas Thunberg of Finland
earned medals in all five speed skating events. Norway’s
Thorleif Haug dominated Nordic skiing, winning both
cross-country races and the Nordic combined. The Canadian
ice hockey team won all five of their matches.
Year
Location
Dates
Participating
Countries
Number
of
Sports
Number
of
Events
Number
of
Athletes
Male
Athletes
Female
Athletes
1928
St.
Moritz
Switzerland
11-19
February
25
4
14
464
438
26
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The
1928 Winter Games were the first to be held in a different
nation than the Summer Games of the same year. A new
event was contested: the skeleton, similar to luge
except that the athletes descend headfirst. Speed skater
A. Clas Thunberg added two more gold medals to the
three he had won in 1924. Johan Grøttumbraten
of Norway won the 18km cross-country event and the
Nordic combined. Another Norwegian, Sonja Henie, caused
a sensation by winning the women’s figure skating
at the age of fifteen. Her record as the youngest winner
of an individual event stood for 74 years. In men’s
figure skating, Gillis Grafström of Sweden won
his third straight gold medal. Canada again dominated
the ice hockey tournament.
Year
Location
Dates
Participating
Countries
Number
of
Sports
Number
of
Events
Number
of
Athletes
Male
Athletes
Female
Athletes
1932
Lake
Placid
USA
4-15
February
25
4
14
252
231
21
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Faced
with major obstacles raising money in the midst of
a depression, the president of the organizing committee,
Dr. Godfrey Dewey, donated land owned by his family
to be used for construction of a bobsleigh run. Billy
Fiske of the United States won a second gold medal
in the four-man bobsleigh. One member of Fiske’s
team was Eddie Eagan, who had won the light-heavyweight
boxing championship at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics. Eagan
remains the only person in Olympic history to earn
gold medals in both Summer and Winter sports.
Year
Location
Dates
Countries
Sports
Events
Athletes
Male
Athletes
Female
Athletes
1936
Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Germany
6-16
February
28
4
17
646
566
80
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The
1936 Games were held in the twin Bavarian towns of
Garmisch and Partenkirchen. An efficient bus service
allowed 500.000 people to attend the final day's events.
Alpine skiing events were included for the first time
and this led to a major controversy. The IOC, overruling
the International Ski Federation (FIS), declared that
ski instructors could not take part in the Olympics
because they were professionals. Incensed, the Austrian
and Swiss skiers boycotted the events. The dispute
carried on after the Games and it was decided that
skiing would not be included in the 1940 Olympics.
Sonja Henie earned her third gold medal and Karl Schafer
his second. Speed skater Ivan Ballangrud of Norway
won three of the four races including the 500m and
the 10.000m.
Year
Location
Dates
Countries
Sports
Events
Athletes
Male
Athletes
Female
Athletes
1948
St.
Moritz
Switzerland
30
January
8 February
28
4
22
669
592
77
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The
1940 Winter Olympics were scheduled for Sapporo, Japan.
War with China forced the Japanese to admit in July
1938, that they would be unable to host the Games.
St. Moritz was chosen as an alternative site but the
continuing dispute about ski instructors led the Swiss
to withdraw as well. The Germans volunteered Garmisch-Partenkirchen
in July 1939 but four months later the reality of World
War II forced the cancellation of the Olympics. The
first postwar Games were held in St. Moritz in 1948.
Germany and Japan were barred from competing but everyone
else took part eagerly, and it was clear that the Winter
Olympics had successfully survived the 12-year hiatus.
For the first time, North Americans won gold medals
in figure skating. Barbara Ann Scott of Canada took
the women’s title and Dick Button of the United
States the men’s.
Year
Location
Dates
Countries
Sports
Events
Athletes
Male
Athletes
Female
Athletes
1952
Oslo
Norway
14-25
February
30
4
22
694
585
109
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The
Olympics were finally held in Norway, the birthplace
of modern skiing, in 1952. Speed skater Hjalmar Andersen
won three gold medals. His winning margins in the 5.000m
and the 10.000m were the largest in Olympic history.
In Alpine skiing, the combined event was dropped and
replaced by the giant slalom. 19-year old Andrea Mead
Lawrence won both the giant slalom and the slalom.
Canada won the ice hockey tournament for the fifth
time. For the first time, a cross-country skiing event
was held for women. The winner was Lydia Wideman of
Finland.
Year
Location
Dates
Countries
Sports
Events
Athletes
Male
Athletes
Female
Athletes
1956
Cortina
d'Ampezzo
Italy
26
January
5 February
32
4
24
821
687
134
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A
team from the USSR made its first appearance in the
1956 Winter Games. The Soviets immediately won more
medals than any other nation. Their speed skaters won
three of the four events while their ice hockey team
ended Canada’s domination. Pavel Kolchin became
the first non-Scandinavian to earn a medal in cross-country
skiing. Anton Sailer won all three men’s races
in Alpine skiing. The US began to emerge as a definite
power in figure skating when Tenley Albright won the
women’s and Hayes Alan Jenkins the men’s
tittle. The Cortina Games were the first to be televised
and the last at which the figure skating competitions
were held outdoors.
Year
Location
Dates
Countries
Sports
Events
Athletes
Male
Athletes
Female
Athletes
1960
Squaw
Valley
USA
18-28
February
30
4
27
665
521
144
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The
1960 Squaw Valley Games were preceded by a controversy
when the organizing committee refused to build a bobsleigh
run because only nine nations had indicated an intention
to take part. This was the only time that bobsledding
was not included in the Olympic program. Biathlon,
a combination of cross-country skiing and shooting,
was added to the Olympic program. The first race was
won by Klas Lestander of Sweden. Women competed in
speed skating for the first time. Male speed skater
Yevgeny Grishin gained victories in the 500m and the
1.500m, just as he had in 1956.
Year
Location
Dates
Countries
Sports
Events
Athletes
Male
Athletes
Female
Athletes
1964
Innsbruck
Austria
29
January
9 February
36
6
34
1091
892
199
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The
1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck were threatened by
a lack of snow. The Austrian army rushed to the rescue,
carving out 20.000 ice bricks from a mountain top and
transporting them to the bobsled and luge runs. They
also carried 40.000 cubic meters of snow to the Alpine
skiing courses. When rain caused further havoc ten
days before the Opening Ceremony, the army packed down
the slopes by hand and foot. Politically, the Games
were notable because East and West Germany entered
a combined team. Lydia Skoblikova won all four women’s
speed skating events to become the first athlete to
win four gold medals in one Winter Olympics. Klavdiya
Boyarskikh earned three gold medals in cross-country
skiing and on the men’s side, Eero Mantyranta
won two. Sisters Christine and Marielle Goitschel finished
first and second in both the slalom and the giant slalom.
Ski jumping gained a second event and luge made its
Olympic debut.
Year
Location
Dates
Countries
Sports
Events
Athletes
Male
Athletes
Female
Athletes
1968
Grenoble
France
6-18
February
37
6
35
1158
947
211
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Sex
tests for women were introduced. Frenchman Jean-Claude
Killy won the men’s Alpine events but only after
the greatest controversy in the history of the Winter
Olympics. Killy’s rival, Karl Schranz, claimed
that a mysterious man in black crossed his path during
the slalom race causing him halt. Given a restart,
Schranz beat Killy’s time. However, a Jury of
Appeal disqualified Schranz and gave the victory to
Killy. Lyudmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov, husand
and wife, successfully defended their pairs figure
skating title. Eugenio Monti piloted his two-man and
four-man bobsleighs to gold medals.