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Chamonix, France, 1924
The first Winter Olympic GamesThe French town of Chamonix in the Haute-Savoie was the host of the first Olympic Winter Games. From January 25 to February 5, more than 200 athletes from 16 nations competed in 16 events. The first event on the programme was the 500 m speed skating, which was won by American Charlie Jewtraw , thereby becoming the first Winter Olympic champion. Finnish and Norwegian athletes dominated the events. Finnish speed skater Clas Thunberg won three gold medals. -
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History of Winter Olympic Games
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St. Moritz, Switzerland, 1928
1928 Winter OlympicsSankt Moritz was appointed by the Swiss organizers to host the second Olympic Winter Games, held from February 11 to 19 in 1928. Curling and military patrol were no longer medal sports (although the latter was demonstrated) while skeleton made its first Olympic appearance. The American Heaton brothers won first and second place. Clas Thunberg won two more Olympic gold medals, bringing his total to five. Johan Grøttumsbråten also won two golds. -
Lake Placid,USA,1932
1932 Winter OlympicsFor the first time, the Winter Olympics came to North America. However, fewer athletes participated than in 1928, The Games opened on February 4 and closed on February 15. The two-man bobsleigh event was scheduled for the first time, while the speed skating events were conducted in mass start format, as was common in North America. This gave the American and Canadian skaters an advantage from which they benefited by winning all but two of the available skating medals. -
Garmisch-Partenkirchen,Germany1936
1936 Winter Olympic GamesThe Bavarian twin towns of Garmisch and Partenkirchen joined to organize the 1936 edition of the Winter Games, held from February 6 to 16. Alpine skiing made its Olympic debut in Germany. The cross-country relay was also held for the first time. Norwegian Ivar Ballangrud dominated the speed skating events, winning three of them, and placing second in the fourth. -
St. Moritz, Switzerland,1948
St. Moritz 1948Twenty-Eight countries competed in Switzerland from January 30 to February 8, although athletes from Germany and Japan were not invited.Skeleton returned on the programme after 20 years. Four new alpine skiing events were also held, allowing Frenchman Henri Oreiller to win three medals, A major upset occurred in the nordic combined. This event had been dominated by Norway, which had won all medals from 1924 to 1936. But the best Norwegian only placed 6th in 1948. -
Norway, Oslo 1952
1952 Winter OlympicsIn 1952, the Winter Games came to Norway, considered to be the birthplace of modern skiing. As a tribute, the Olympic Flame was lit in the fireplace of the home of skiing pioneer Sondre Nordheim . The programme in Oslo, from February 14 to 25, was expanded with the first ever cross-country event for women, while the alpine combination was replaced with the giant slalom. -
Italy, Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO 1956 The Seventh Winter Games were held from 26 th January to 5 th February in Cortina d'Ampezzo, in Italy . The games were officially opened by Giovanni Gronchi. The athletes uttered the Olympic oath led by Giuliana Chenal-Minuzzo. In the stadium the Olympic Flame was lit by Guido Caroli . USSR participated in this Winter Summer Games for the first time and they became the overall winners. -
U.S.А, Squaw Valley 1960
1960 Winter OlympicsThe eighth Winter Games were held from 18 th February to 28 th February in Squaw Valley, California in United States . The games were officially opened by Richard Nixon. The athletes uttered the Olympic oath led by Carol Heiss. In the stadium the Olympic Flame was lit by Ken Henry. Yevgeni Grishin repeated his 1956 performance by winning both the 500 and 1500 m. Lidia Skoblikova won the two longest distances in the inaugural women's races. -
Austria, Innsbruck 1964
Innsbruck 1964The Tyrolean city of Innsbruck was the host in 1964. Despite being a traditional winter sports resort, there was a lack of snow and ice during the Games, and the Austrian army was called in to bring snow and ice to the sport venues. Bobsleigh returned to the Olympics, while a new event was added to ski jumping and women's cross-country skiing. Luge was first contested in the Olympics, although the sport got bad publicity when a competitor was killed in a pre-Olympic training run. -
France, Grenoble 1968
X WINTER GAMESThe tenth Winter Games were held from 6 th February to 18 th February in Grenoble,in France. They were the first Olympic Games in which East and West Germany participated as separate countries. Until 1964, they had competed in a combined German team. One new event was added for the Grenoble Games: the 4 x 10 km relay in biathlon. Another first in the Olympics were doping and sex tests. -
Japan, Sapporo 1972
1972 Sapporo Winter GamesThe eleventh Winter Games were held from 3 rd February to 13 th February in Sapporo, Japan. Major stars of the Games were, without a doubt, Dutch speed skater Ard Schenk and Soviet cross-country skier Galina Kulakova . Schenk won three of the four skating events (falling in the 500 m), while Kulakova won all three events she entered. Switzerland's Marie Thérès Nadig and Vyacheslav Vedenin (USSR) both returned home with two Olympic gold medals. -
Austria, Innsbruck 1976
Innsbruck 1976The twelfth Winter Games were held from 4 th February to 15 th February in Innsbruck in Austria. Originally, the 1976 Winter Games had been awarded to Denver, but in a 1972 plebiscite, the city's inhabitants voted against organizing the Games. Innsbruck, which still had the venues of 1964 in good shape, was chosen in 1973 to replace Denver. New events on the programme were ice dancing and the men's 1000 m in speed skating. -
USA Lake Placid 1980
Lake Placid 1980The thirteenth Winter Games were held from 13 th February to 24 th February in Lake Placid, New York in United States. The Olympic Winter Games returned to Lake Placid, which had earlier hosted the 1932 edition. The People's Republic of China made its debut at the Winter Olympics. Because of this, the Republic of China (Taiwan) was forced by the IOC to compete under the name of Chinese Taipei. The Taiwanese refused, and thus became the only nation to boycott the Olympic Winter Games. -
Yugoslavia, Sarajevo 1984
Sarajevo 1984The fourteenth Winter Games were held from 8 th February to 19 th February in Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia. There was only one new event at the Sarajevo Games, a 20 km cross-country event for women. Finnish skier Marja-Liisa Hämäläinen took advantage of this new event, which allowed her to win three gold medals, winning all individual events. -
Canada, Calgary 1988
Calgary 1988The Canadian city of Calgary hosted the first Winter Olympics to span 16 days. New events had been added in alpine skiing, ski jumping and speed skating, while future Olympic sports curling, short track speed skating and freestyle skiing made their appearance as demonstration sports. For the first time, the speed skating events were held indoor, on the Calgary Olympic Oval. Dutch skater Yvonne van Gennip beat the favoured East German, winning three gold medals and setting two new world records. -
France, Albertville 1992
Albertville 1992The 1992 Games were held in the French Haute Savoie region; Albertville itself only hosted 18 events. Two new sports, short track speed skating and freestyle skiing were on the programme. Women's biathlon was also included for the first time. Curling, speed skiing and two freestyle skiing events were demonstrated. Political changes of the time were reflected in the Olympic teams appearing in France. Germany competed as a single team for the first time since the 1930s, -
Norway, Lillehammer 1994
1994 Winter OlympicsIn 1986, the IOC decided to stop holding the Summer Games and Winter Games in the same year. The Lillehammer Games were the first Winter Olympics to be held in a different year. The winter sports-minded Norwegians organized the Olympics extremely well, and many still consider them to be the best organized to date. The event programme was again extended, adding two new events each in freestyle skiing and short track speed skating. -
Japan, Nagano 1998
Nagano 1998For the first time, more than 2000 winter athletes competed in the Winter Olympics, Japan's second Winter Olympics, held in the city of Nagano. Two new sports were conducted - snowboarding and curling - while women's ice hockey was also included. The men's ice hockey tournament was open to all players for the first time. Speed skating saw a wave of new world records thanks to the use of the revolutionary clap skate. -
USA, Salt Lake City 2002
Salt Lake City 2002The nineteenth Winter Summer Games were held from 8 th February to 24 th February in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Again, the programme was expanded. Skeleton made its return on the Olympic podium after 54 years, while new events were added in biathlon, bobsleigh, cross-country skiing, nordic combined and short track speed skating. -
Italy, Turin 2006
Turin 2006The twentieth Winter Summer Games were held from 10 th February to 26 th February in Turin, the capital of the Piedmont region in Italy. The games were officially opened by Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. The athletes uttered the Olympic oath led by Giorgio Rocca. The judges took the Olympic oath led by Fabio Bianchetti. In the stadium the Olympic Flame was lit by Stefania Belmondo. This was the second time the Winter Summer Games were held in Italy . -
Canada, Vancouver 2010
Vancouver 2010Winter Olympics 2010 were held in Vancouver, Canada from February 12 to 28, 2010. 82 National Olympic Committees had teams in the 2010 Winter Olympics. Fifteen winter sports events were in the 2010 Winter Olympics. Vancouver 2010 was the first winter Olympics that both men's and women's hockey were played on a narrower, NHL-sized ice rink -
Russia, Sochi 2014
2014 Winter OlympicsRussia is going to be the host for the XXII Olympic Winter Games. This competition is expected to attract attention of many sports lovers from all over the world. The city of Sochi in Russia was selected through polls in the sessions of the International Olympic Committee in Guatemala. 2014 Sochi,is expected to be one of the greatest events of winter sports in the recent years.
