The first winter games were held back in January 1924, when only 258 rivals from only 16 nations competed in 18 events.
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| Image By: Wallpaper Cave |
The XXII Winter Olympics (or 22nd Winter Olympics), took place in February 2014 in the Russian city of Sochi. But, 90 years earlier, the 1st Winter Olympics were held in the mountainous region of Chamonix, France, in the shadow of Mont Blanc.
About 90 nations taking more than 2,500 runners descended on the Russian city, competing in many winter sports events, all to be followed a month later by the XI Paralympic Winter Games in the same area. All this is far from the 1st winter games held back in January 1924, when only 258 rivals from only 16 nations competed in 18 events.
France, Belgium, Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Canada, and the United States participated in the 1st Winter Olympics. They participated in events such as Bobsleigh, Curling, Ice Hockey, Speed Skating, Skating, and Nordic Skiing. It was not the first time that winter sports were supposed to take place at the Olympiad. Figure Skating was contested at the Summer Games in London (1908) and Antwerp (1920), and the Belgian city also included Ice Hockey in its program.
After the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting in Lausanne in 1921, a winter sports announcement was made to find a relationship with their summer cousins which, after much discussion, became "International Winter Sports Week," held at the Paris Summer Games, to be held in Chamonix. The opening ceremony took place on January 25 and a day after the action continued with the American Charlie Jewtraw gaining success in the 500-meter sprint event. The games, yet, were dominated by Finland and Norway by winning 28 of the 43 medals available among them. Clas Thunberg of Finland won three gold medals and Norwegian Thorleif Haug also won three gold medals across the country.
France, failed to win gold medals, and won 3 bronze medals (for the first time in modern Olympic history), while the USA and Great Britain won 4 medals each. The medal table was high in Finland and Norway with four gold each, while Austria and Switzerland both won 2 medals. It took until 1974 to receive the final medal. Fifty years after the athletes left home, it was revealed that ski-jumper and US team captain Anders Haugen, who was recorded as the fourth graduate during the event, should have been placed third.
This came after Thorleaf Haug made a statistical error at the points mentioned above, prompting the Norway-born rival to step up. The first Games were held as a total success, due to which the IOC decided to hold the Winter Olympics in 1925, which would be held every 4 years, except for its summer counterpart. At the same time, it was decided to return to the Chamonix event to be the first Winter Olympics.
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