TODAY ONLY

January 25

First Olympic Winter Games

On this day in 1924, the first Olympic Winter Games began in Chamonix, France, in the not-so-snowy French Alps, 60 miles northeast of Grenoble.

Chamonix in 1924.

Six Sports, No Waiting. The event, called International Winter Sports Week, lasted 11 days and featured six sports with 14 events.

  • Nordic/Cross-County skiing
  • Ski Jumping (part of Nordic Skiing)
  • Figure skating
  • Speedskating
  • Hockey
  • Bobsledding

Great Idea. It was a huge success. Four years later, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) officially designated the Winter Games, which took place in St. Moritz, Switzerland, as the second Olympic Winter Games.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland. The modern Olympic Games began in 1896. Five years later, the first organized international competition involving winter sports was held in Sweden. These were called the Nordic Games, and only Scandinavian countries competed. Like the Olympic Games, they were held every four years. Unlike the Olympic Games, they were always held in Sweden.

I Love Skating in the Summer... In 1908, figure skating made its debut in the Summer Games in London. The skating event, however, was held in October, three months after the other sports had wrapped up. Holding winter events during the Summer Games wasn't practical. Figure skating and hockey were fairly easy to organize; ice rinks could be built indoors and kept cold. But events such as skiing and bobsleigh obviously had to be held outdoors. This prompted the IOC to suggest staging a separate winter competition for the 1912 Stockholm Games. Sweden was opposed; they felt it would interfere with the Nordic Games.

Try, Try Again. Germany then planned a Olympic Winter Games that would come just before the 1916 Berlin Summer Games. World War I forced both Winter and Summer Games to be canceled.

A Stroke of Puck? By the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium, ice hockey became a new event. Canada took home the first of the hockey gold medals.

Compromise with the Nordic Games. An agreement was reached with Scandinavians to hold the IOC-approved International Winter Sports Week. Sixteen nations took part. It was so popular that, in 1925, the IOC created the Olympic Winter Games, designating the Chamonix Winter Games as the first Olympic Winter Games.

And the Winners Are... The Scandinavians. They excelled in the speed rinks and slopes. Norway and Finland won 27 of the 43 possible medals, including all four Nordic events and four of the five speed skating races. The only gold for the US was Charles Jewtraw's victory in the 500-meter speed-skating event. Canada took another hockey gold. Out of nearly 300 athletes, only 13 were women, and the only sport in which they competed was figure skating. The Winter Games gave the sport of skiing a huge boost.

US speed skater Charles Jewtraw became the first Winter Olympic gold medallist with a win in the 500 meters.

Late Victory. The most unusual victory in the Chamonix Games was the US bronze medal, won by Anders Haugen in the ski jump. Due to a scoring error at the time he didn't receive it until 1974 ~ when he was 83 years old.

Fair Weather Friends. The Chamonix Games were plagued by poor weather. At first there was no snow. When it finally snowed, mountains of snow had to be cleared off the ice rink. Then, with the Winter Games only a week away, rain turned the speed skating rink into a lake. Fortunately a cold front swept in and conditions improved to the point that the competition could begin.

Demo Time. One Olympic tradition was that the host nation could present some demonstration events. In these first Winter Games, the demo sports were Curling and a Military Patrol Race. The Military Patrol Race was the ancestor of the modern-day Biathlon, which combines skiing with rifle marksmanship. Curling later became an official sport of the Olympic Winter Games.