The Origin of the Winter Olympics

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They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div></div> </div> <article class="topic-content content mt-20"><figure class="md-assembly md-feature-assembly print-false" data-type="1" data-descid="1"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/90/198290-050-12A37C4E/Alberto-Tomba-gold-medal-way-Mens-Giant-1992.jpg" target="_blank" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center " data-href="*"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/90/198290-050-12A37C4E/Alberto-Tomba-gold-medal-way-Mens-Giant-1992.jpg?w=600&q=60" alt="Men's Giant Slalom Italy's Alberto Tomba on the way to retaining his gold medal at Val d'Isere France 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics" data-width="1600" data-height="1082" loading="eager"><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class=""><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div><cite class="credit d-block mt-5">漏 Colorsport/REX/Shutterstock.com</cite></figcaption></figure><p class="topic-paragraph">The first organized international competition involving winter sports was introduced just five years after the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Athens-1896-Olympic-Games" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">birth of the modern Olympics</a> in 1896. Known as the Nordic Games, this competition included athletes predominantly from <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Nordic-countries" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Nordic countries</a> (such as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Norway" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Norway</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Sweden" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Sweden</a>). It was held eight times between 1901 and 1926, with the Swedish capital of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Stockholm" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Stockholm</a> hosting all but one time. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/sports/figure-skating" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Figure skating</a> was included in the Olympics for the first time in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/London-1908-Olympic-Games" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">1908 Summer Games</a> in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/London" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">London</a>, although the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/sports/ice-skating" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">skating</a> competition was not actually held until October, some three months after the other events were over.</p><span class="MOD1"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In 1911 a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) suggested that Sweden should either include winter sports in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Stockholm-1912-Olympic-Games" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">1912 Olympics</a> in Stockholm or stage a separate Winter Olympics in the same year. Concerned that such a move would jeopardize the Nordic Games, Sweden refused. Germany supported plans to stage a competition of winter events in early 1916 as part of the Olympic Games scheduled for Berlin later that year. However, the outbreak of World War I in 1914 caused the cancellation of the Berlin Olympics and made the question of Winter Olympic Games moot. Despite continuing protests from the Nordic countries, winter sports returned to the Olympics for the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Antwerp-1920-Olympic-Games" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">1920 Games</a> in Antwerp, Belgium, where medals were awarded in figure skating and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/sports/ice-hockey" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">ice hockey</a>.</p><span class="MOD2"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Two years later an agreement was reached to celebrate an IOC-sanctioned International Winter Sports Week. Held in Chamonix, France, in 1924, the event was a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Chamonix-1924-Olympic-Winter-Games" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">huge success</a>. Norway topped the medals table with a total of 17, and the Nordic countries, which altogether captured 30 of the 49 medals awarded, dropped their previous objections. The following year the IOC modified its charter to create a separate Winter Olympics. The Games staged in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in 1928 were formally designated the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/St-Moritz-1928-Olympic-Winter-Games" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">second Winter Olympics</a>.</p><span class="MOD3"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">From 1928 the Winter Games were held every four years in the same calendar year as the Summer Games. Eventually, however, the increasing cost and logistic complications of the Olympics prompted IOC officials to alter the schedule. Only two years separated the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Albertville-1992-Olympic-Winter-Games" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">1992 Winter Olympics</a> in Albertville, France, and the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Lillehammer-1994-Olympic-Winter-Games" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">1994 Games</a> in Lillehammer, Norway. From then on, the Winter and Summer Games were each held at four-year intervals, alternating in even-numbered years.</p><span class="MOD4"></span><span class="AM-END-OF-ARTICLE am-inline"></span></article><div class="related-info grid"><div class="col"><div class="learn-more"><h3>Learn More About This Topic</h3><ul class="list-unstyled"><li><a href="https://www.britannica.com/sports/Olympic-Games" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Learn more about the history of the Olympics</a></li><li><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Chamonix-1924-Olympic-Winter-Games" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Who were the stars of the first Winter Games?</a></li><li><a href="https://www.britannica.com/sports/figure-skating" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Read our figure-skating entry, written by Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton</a></li></ul></div></div></div> </div> </div> </div> <aside class="cm-rightrail d-none d-md-block ad-rail"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </main> <div class="grid gx-0"> <div class="col"> <div class="md-loading hidden display-4 font-weight-normal"></div> <div class="text-center my-20 mb-100"> <button class="md-infinite-load-next btn btn-blue" data-value="next-page">Load More</button> </div> </div> <div class="col-md-da-320 hidden-xs"> </div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Story","templateName":"SPOTLIGHT","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":11,"pageId":6410,"pageLength":null,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/story-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"A","adLeg":"A","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Story","pageSubtype":"SPOTLIGHT","articleTemplateType":null,"gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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The Origin of the Winter Olympics | Britannica