-
Chamonix, France
Chamonixhttp://youtu.be/GNkQMvuEIEA
The Winter Olympics first took place in 1924, in Chamonix, France. A total of 16 nations sent athletes, totalling 258 (247 men and 11 women). The Games were actually called "The International Winter Sports Week" and went on for 11 days, from January 25 to February 5. The number of events staged that year was 16.
The events that year were these:
4-man bobsled
Biathlon Curling Figure skating (men's, women's, pairs) Hockey -
St. Moritz, Switzerland
St.MoritzThe Winter Olympic Games were held in St Moritz, Switzerland, in 1928, between Feb 11-19. (and again in 1948). In these Winter Games, 25 Nations with 464 participants competed in 14 events. The Winter Games in St Moritz were plagued with warm weather, slowing some events and even cancelling the 10,000-meter speed-skating race.
Gillis Grafström of Sweden won the last of his three consecutive gold medals in figure skating in 1928; -
Lake Placid, United States
Lake PlacidAt the time, Lake Placid was a town with a population of fewer than 4,000 people. Faced with major obstacles to raising money in the midst of a depression, Mr Godfrey Dewey, President of the Organising Committee, donated a plot of land belonging to his family for the construction of the bobsleigh track. -
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
Germany The Winter Olympic Games were held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, in 1936, between Feb 6-16 28 Nations with 668 participants competed in 17 events. Alpine skiing events were held for the first time at the Winter Olympics, but ski instructors were barred as they were classified as being professionals. This led to an Austrian and Swiss boycott, and to the decision not to have skiing events in the 1940 Games. -
St. Moritz, Switzerland
St.MoritzThe Winter Olympic Games were held in St Moritz, Switzerland, in 1948, between Jan 30-Feb 8. At these Games 28 Nations with 669 participants competed in 22 events. This was the second time that the Winter Olympics were held in St Moritz, the first time was in 1928. This was the first Games held after the second World War, and St Moritz was chosen, in part, as it was a city untouched by the war -
Oslo, Norway
OsloOlympic Games were held in Oslo, Norway, in 1952, between Feb 14-25.
30 Nations with 694 participants competed in 22 events.
At these games Germany and Japan were allowed to rejoin the Olympic community for the first time since World War II. Though a divided country, the Germans sent a joint East-West team up until 1964
The Olympic torch was lit in the fireplace of skiing pioneer Sondre Norheim, and relayed by 94 skiers to the Games in Oslo. -
Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
ItalyThese Games marked the debut of the USSR team, which immediately won more medals than any other nation. Their speed skaters won three of the four events, while their ice hockey team ended Canada’s domination. -
Squaw Valley, United States
United States At the 1960 games at Squaw Valley, California USA, in an effort to impress spectators, Walt Disney was head of the committee that organized the opening day ceremonies. The Opening Ceremony was filled with high school choirs and bands, releasing of thousands of balloons, fireworks, ice statues, releasing of 2,000 white doves, and national flags dropped by parachute.
These were the first Winter Games to have a dedicated athlete's village, and the first Winter Games to use a computer -
Innsbruck, Austria
AustriaThe Winter Olympic Games were held in Innsbruck, Austria, in 1964, between Jan 29-Feb 9. The Winter Olympics were held in Innsbruck again in 1976. 36 Nations with 1091 participants competed in 34 events. The U.S.S.R. again led with 25 medals; the United States' won only six medals and finished in eighth place on the medal tally.
Because of unfavorable weather conditions, the Austrian army was required to carry ice and snow from higher elevations. -
Grenoble, France
FranceThe Winter Olympic Games were held in Grenoble, France, in 1968, between Feb 6-18. 37 Nations with 1158 participants competed in 35 events. Women competed in only 12 events, compared to 21 men's events - there are also two mixed doubles events, in figure skating and luge. Norway won the most medals (14) for the first time, coming in one ahead of the Soviet Union. -
Sapporo, Japan
JapanThe Winter Olympic Games were held in Sapporo, Japan, in 1972, between Feb 3-13. There was 35 Nations with 1006 participants competing in 35 events. The Soviet Union maintained its top position on the Winter Games medal tally. -
Innsbruck, Austria
AustriaAustriaThe Winter Olympic Games were held in Innsbruck, Austria, in 1976, between February 4-15. The IOC initially granted the 1976 Winter Games to Denver in May 1970, but in 1972 Colorado voters rejected a $5 million bond issue to finance the undertaking. Consequently Denver immediately withdrew as host and the IOC selected Innsbruck, the site of the 1964 Games, to take over. 37 Nations with 1123 participants competed in 37 events. -
Lake Placid, United States
United StatesThese Games were the first to use artificial snow.
American Eric Heiden won all five speed skating events, the first time that's ever been done. The other Gold medal for the US was in ice hockey, in what has been called the 'miracle on ice'.
The first country to boycott the Winter Games was Taiwan when they refused to change their name from the Republic of China as the IOC tried to appease China in 1980. -
Sarajevo, Yugoslavia
YugoslaviaThe Winter Olympic Games were held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, in 1984, between Feb 8-19. The were 49 Nations competing, which is 12 more than the previous record for the Winter Games. There was a total of 1272 participants in 39 events.
This was the first Winter Olympics to be held in a socialist country.
Britain's Jayne Torville and Christopher Dean won gold in the ice dancing competition, getting perfect scores from all judges for artistic impression. -
Calgary, Canada
CanadaThe Winter Olympic Games were held in Calgary, Canada, in 1988, between Feb 13-28. 57 Nations with 1423 participants competed in 46 events. The Games are spread over 16 days for the first time. Christa Luding-Rothenburger of East Germany is the only athlete to have won the medals in both the Winter and Summer Olympic Games, in the same year. She won the women's 1000 meter speed skating event at the Winter Olympics in Calgary 1988, and seven months later won a silver medal in track cycling -
Albertville, France
FranceThe Winter Olympic Games were held in Alberville, France, in 1992, between Feb 8-23. There was a total of 64 Nations represented, with 1801 participants competing in 57 events. Actually only 18 of the 57 events were held in Albertville - the sports were shared out among seven other Savoy resorts to satisfy local politicians and businessmen. -
Lillehammer, Norway
NorwayThe 17th Winter Olympic Games were held in Lillehammer, Norway, in 1994, between Feb 12-27. This was two years after the previous Winter Games in Albertville, and thus ended the four-year Olympic cycle of staging both Winter and Summer Games in the same year, and began a new schedule of the Winter and Summer Games to alternate every two years. In Lillehammer, 67 Nations with 1739 participants competed in
61 events. -
Nagano, Japan
Japanhe 1998 Winter Olympic Games were held in Nagano, in the North of Japan, between Feb 7- Feb 22. This was the second Japanese Winter Olympics after Sapporo in 1972. There were 72 Nations represented, with a record 2176 participants competing in 68 events. New events for these games were snowboarding and women's ice hockey. Curling returned to the Winter Games after first being an event in 1924. -
Salt Lake City, United States
Salt Lake CityThe Winter Olympic Games returned to the United States for the first time in 22 years after calls for the Games to be cancelled following the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. The Games were held in Salt lake City, USA, in 2002, between Feb 8-24. 77 Nations with 2399 participants competed in 78 events. There are 41 men's events, 34 women's events, and 3 mixed events.
For these Games the program grew to 78 events with the return of skeleton and the introduction of women's bobs -
Turin, Italy
ItalyThe 20th Winter Games were held in Turino, Italy, from 10-26 February 2006.
2500 Athletes from 85 countries contested the Games.
Turin is the largest city to ever host the Winter Games. -
Vancouver, Canada
CanadaThe 21st (XXI) Winter Olympic Games were held in Vancouver, Canada, between Feb 12-28, 2010. This was the second time that Canada had hosted the winter Olympics, having been the host for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. Canada has also hosted the summer Olympics, in Montreal 1976.The vibrant city of Vancouver, located on Canada’s pristine west coast, welcomed millions of spectators in a stunning natural environment. -
Sochi, Russia
Sochi, Russia, was elected to be the Winter Olympic Games host city for 2014, on July 4, 2007 during the 119th IOC Session in Guatemala. It was their first bid for the Winter Olympics. The other two finalists in the hosting bid process were Salzburg, Austria, and Pyeongchang, South Korea. This will be Russia's first time hosting the Winter Olympic Games, though they have previously hosted the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow (when it was part of the Soviet Union).
The event will be held between Febr
