The Winter Olympics are an international sports competition that takes place every four years. The event, also known as the Winter Games, includes cold weather events on snow (skiing, snowboarding, biathlon) and on ice (figure skating, hockey, speed skating, curling, bobsleigh, luge, skeleton). Six sports have appeared at each Winter Olympics: cross-country skiing, figure skating, hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping and speed skating.
Although smaller than the Summer Olympics, the Winter Games grew from around 250 athletes in 16 events at the first competition in 1924 to over 2,800 in 102 events at the 2018 Winter Games.
The first Winter Olympics
In 1924, the first Winter Olympics were held in Chamonix, France, with around 250 athletes competing for 16 countries in 16 events. Women were only allowed to participate in figure skating (11 participated). Other events included bobsleigh, cross-country skiing, curling, hockey, military patrol, Nordic combined, ski jumping and speed skating.
The event, originally named Winter Sports Week, was considered a huge success, with 10,000 spectators paying entry. This led the International Olympic Committee to retroactively name them the first Winter Olympics in 1926.
Legendary Norwegian figure skater Sonja Henie performed at the Games for the first time. Only 11 years old, she finished last but won gold at the 1928, 1932 and 1936 Games. American speed skater Charles Jewtraw was the first gold medalist at the Winter Games, and Canada dominated in the hockey, ahead of the competition, 122-3.
READ MORE: The first Winter Olympics
Olympic Winter Games venues
1924: Chamonix, France | January 25-February 4
1928: Saint-Moritz, Switzerland | February 11-19
1932: Lake Placid, New York | February 4-15
1936: Garmisch Partenkirchen, Germany | February 6-16
1940/1944: No Olympics because of WWII
1948: San Moritz, Switzerland | January 30-February 8
1952: Oslo, Norway | February 14-25
1956: Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy | January 26-February 5
1960: Squaw Valley, California | February 18-28
1964: Innsbruck, Austria | January 29-February 9
1968: Grenoble, France | February 6-18
1972: Sapporo, Japan | February 3-13
1976: Innsbruck, Austria | February 4-15
1980: Lake Placid, New York | February 14-23
1984: Sarajevo, Yugoslavia | February 7-19
1988: Calgary, Canada | February 13-28
1992: Albertville, France | February 8-23
1994: Lillehammer, Norway | February 12-27
1998: Nagano, Japan | February 7-22
2002: Salt Lake City, Utah | February 8-24
2006: Turin, Italy | February 10-26
2010: Vancouver, Canada | February 12-28
2014 : Sochi, Russia | February 7-23
2018: Pyeongchang, South Korea | February 9-25
American figure skaters dominate
With 305 medals, just behind Norway, the United States performed well at the Games, especially in women’s figure skating. Notable American gold medalists include Peggy Fleming in 1968 (Grenoble, France), Dorothy Hamill in 1976 (Innsbruck, Austria) and Kristi Yamaguchi in 1992 (Albertville, France).
At the 1998 Games, Tara Lipinski (15 years, 255 days) became the youngest winner in the individual event. She edged out fellow American Michelle Kwan, who won silver. At the 2002 Games, 16-year-old Sarah Hughes won gold.
Perhaps the most remarkable American result is that of the 1994 Games, when Nancy Kerrigan, who won bronze in 1992, settled for silver behind gold medalist Oksana Baiul of Ukraine. The media focused on Kerrigan and her rival Tonya Harding, who finished eighth following a high-profile scandal in which Harding’s husband orchestrated an attack on Kerrigan during training at the U.S. Nationals in 1994.
American men who won gold in figure skating include Dick Button, who, at 18, landed the first double axel in Olympic competition in 1948. At the 1952 Games he landed the first triple loop and also won gold.
Other American men who won gold include Scott Hamilton in 1984 (Sarajevo, Yugoslavia); Brian Boitano, who beat Canadian Brian Orser for gold in the “Battle of the Brians” in 1988 (Calgary, Canada); and Evan Lysacek in 2010 (Vancouver). In 2006, in Turin, Italy, Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto were the first Americans to win gold in ice dance.
Other notable American athletes
American speed skating stars include Bonnie Blair, who competed in the 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1994 Games. She became the only speed skater to win the same event (500 meters) at three Olympic Winter Games. successive. Eric Heiden won his five men’s speed skating races in 1980, setting four Olympic records and one world record.
Famous speed skater Dan Jansen placed fourth at the 1984 Games, suffered two falls in the 1988 Olympics after learning his sister had died and also failed to win a medal in 1992. He s ‘was redeemed at the 1994 Games, winning gold in the 1000 meters. .
At the 2006 Games, speed skater Shani Davis became the first black American athlete to win a gold medal at the Olympic Winter Games (1,000 meters). Short track runner Apolo Anton Ohno has won eight medals (two gold, two silver and four bronze) at three Games (2002, 2006 and 2010), making him the US Olympic winter athlete. more decorated.
In skiing, Andrea Mead Lawrence won gold in slalom and giant slalom in 1952 as a teenager. At the 1994 Games, Picabo Street won a silver medal in downhill, redeeming herself after being kicked out of the US ski team in 1989 for partying and not being in good shape. At the 1998 Games, she won a gold medal in Super-G.
At the 1994 Games, Tommy Moe won the downhill and placed second in the Super-G. Bode Miller won six Olympic medals in alpine skiing in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014. Lindsey Vonn won gold in downhill and bronze in Super-G in 2010 and added another bronze in downhill in 2018.
At the 2014 Games, Ted Ligety became the first American to win giant slalom gold, adding to the combined gold he won at the 2006 Games. Mikaela Shiffrin has three medals: two gold, one in slalom in 2014 and one in giant slalom in 2018, plus a silver that year in alpine combined.
The US women’s hockey team defeated Canada in 1998 for gold, the first Games where the sport was open to women. At the 2002 Games, Jill Bakken and Vonetta Flowers won the first bobsleigh gold medal for the United States in 46 years. Also of note: Flowers became the first black American woman to win gold at the Winter Olympics.
In 2002, Americans Ross Powers (gold), Danny Kass (silver) and JJ Thomas (bronze) swept the second snowboard competition of the Olympic Winter Games. Shaun White, the “Flying Tomato,” dominated the halfpipe in 2006 and 2010, winning gold at both Games, and Chloe Kim won gold for the U.S. team in 2018 in the women’s halfpipe.
Notable international athletes
Norwegian founder Marit Bjørgen won 15 medals between 2002 and 2018, including eight gold, to become the most decorated athlete at the Winter Olympics. Fellow Norwegian Bjørn Dæhlie, the best Olympic men’s Nordic skier of all time, won 12 medals between 1992 and 1998, eight gold.
Figure skater Katarina Witt of East Germany won gold in Sarajevo in 1984 and again in Calgary in 1988, making her the first woman to win the event’s title again. from Sonja Henie. She competed for the unified German team in 1992 but did not win a medal.
Swedish figure skater Ulrich Salchow, who invented the jump that bears his name, won the first gold medal in the men’s skating event when the competition was part of the 1908 Summer Games in London.
The Jamaican bobsleigh team took the world by storm when they made their first appearance at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary, competing in the two-man and four-man events. The two-man team finished 30th, and the four-man team crashed, finishing last. But the Jamicans inspired the making of the movie “Cool Runnings”.
Despite finishing last in both of his 1988 events, British ski jumper Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards remains one of the most acclaimed Olympic winter athletes. He became the first Briton to qualify for the Games in 60 years and inspired a film about his achievement.
1980: The Americans’ “Miracle on Ice”
In what is often referred to as the greatest moment in American sports history, the United States men’s hockey team defeated the much-favored Soviet Union 4-3 on February 22, 1980, in the semi -final of the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. The United States beat Finland to win the gold medal.
The Americans’ victory has been dubbed the “Miracle on Ice” – after broadcaster Al Michaels exclaimed, “Do you believe in miracles? Yes! ”The Soviets had won gold in five of the previous six Olympics and beat the Americans, 10-3, in an exhibition a few weeks earlier.
Team captain Mike Eruzione scored the game-winning goal against the Soviets. Songs of “USA! USA!” exploded from the roaring crowd when the final buzzer sounded.
Notable Winter Olympics
No Winter Olympics were held in 1940 or 1944 due to World War II. The United States has hosted the Winter Olympics four times: Lake Placid (1932), Squaw Valley (1960), Lake Placid (1980) and Salt Lake City (2002). In 1970, Denver won the 1976 Winter Olympics, but Colorado voters blocked the event, leading Mile High City to withdraw its candidacy. Instead, the Games were held in Innsbruck, Austria.
The 1960 Winter Games in Squaw Valley marked the first time the event was broadcast live on American television, with Walter Cronkite as the main broadcaster for CBS. Walt Disney oversaw the opening and closing ceremonies, taking these events to new heights. The opening ceremony featured 3,700 musicians, the release of 2,000 doves and 30,000 balloons, fireworks, a speech by Vice President Richard Nixon and a prayer by actor Karl Malden.
The Lillehammer 1994 Winter Games took place two years after the 1992 Olympics, placing the event on a two-year calendar alternating with the Summer Olympics. It was also the year that the republics of the former Soviet Union competed as separate teams and South Africa returned to competition after a 34-year ban due to apartheid.
READ MORE: The Modern Summer Olympics: A Timeline
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Biography.com for information from Peggy Fleming and Dorothy Hamill
NBC New York: the history of the United States of hosting the Winter Olympics
New York Times: “In the middle of Blizzard, Cronkite helped write history.”
Olympics.com for information on Marit Bjorgen, Bonnie Blair, Eddie Edwards, Sonja Henie, Ted Ligety, Mikaela Shiffrin, Picabo Street, Lindsey Vonn, Shaun White.
Olymmedia: Bjørn Dæhlie, Katarina Witt
Atlantic: “How the Olympics were disneyfied”
