Jump to content

1924 Winter Olympics

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Monkbot (talk | contribs) at 16:04, 26 December 2020 (Task 18 (cosmetic): eval 6 templates: hyphenate params (5×);). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

I Olympic Winter Games
Poster for the 1924 Winter Olympic Games
LocationChamonix, France
Nations16
Athletes258
Events16 in 6 sports (9 disciplines)
Opening25 January
Closing5 February
Opened by
Gaston Vidal
StadiumStade Olympique de Chamonix
Winter
Summer

The 1924 Winter Olympics, officially known as the I Olympic Winter Games (Template:Lang-fr), were a winter multi-sport event which was held in 1924 in Chamonix, France. Originally held in association with the 1924 Summer Olympics, the sports competitions were held at the foot of Mont Blanc in Chamonix, and Haute-Savoie, France between January 25 and February 5, 1924.[1] The Games were organized by the French Olympic Committee, and were originally reckoned as the "International Winter Sports Week." With the success of the event, it was retroactively designated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the I Olympic Winter Games.

The tradition of holding the Winter Olympics in the same year as the Summer Olympics would continue until 1992, after which the current practice of holding a Winter Olympics in the second year after each Summer Olympics began.

Although Figure Skating had been an Olympic event in both London and Antwerp, and Ice Hockey had been an event in Antwerp, the winter sports had always been limited by the season. In 1921, at the convention of the IOC in Lausanne, there was a call for equality for winter sports, and after much discussion it was decided to organize an "international week of winter sport" in 1924 in Chamonix.

Highlights

Day 2

The first gold medal awarded in the Olympic Winter Games was won by Charles Jewtraw of the United States in the 500-meter speed skate.

Day 4

Sonja Henie of Norway, at just eleven years old, skates in the ladies' figure skating competition. Although she finishes last, she becomes popular with fans. Henie went on to take gold at the next three Winter Olympics.

Day 6

The figure skater Gillis Grafström of Sweden was the first one to successfully defend his Summer Olympics title at the Winter Olympics.

Day 8

The Canadian ice hockey team (Toronto Granites) finished their qualifying round with three wins, scoring a total of 85 goals against Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, and Sweden without surrendering even a single goal against.

Day 10

Finding themselves in the same situation as Gillis Grafström, the Canadian ice-hockey team is the last to successfully defend its Summer Olympics title at the Winter Olympics. Canada would dominate ice hockey in early Olympic competition, winning six of the first seven gold medals awarded.

Epilogue

At the closing of the games a prize was awarded for a sport that did not lend itself very well for tournaments: Pierre de Coubertin presented a prize for 'alpinisme' (mountaineering) to Charles Granville Bruce, the leader of the expedition that tried to climb Mount Everest in 1922.

For the first time in the history of the modern Olympics, the host country, in this case, France, failed to win any gold medals, finishing with three bronze medals. This feat would later occur at the next Winter Olympics in St. Moritz where Switzerland won only a single bronze medal, the lowest ever output by a host nation at an Olympics. Later host nations to finish without gold medals included Canada at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary and Yugoslavia at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo.

In 1925, the IOC decided to organize Olympic Winter Games every four years, independent of the Olympic Games proper, and recognized the International Winter Sports Week as the first Olympic Winter games in retrospect.

In 1974 the final individual medal of Chamonix 1924 was presented. The ski jumping event was unusual in that the bronze medalist was not determined for fifty years. Thorleif Haug of Norway was awarded third place at the event's conclusion, but a clerical error in calculating Haug's score was discovered in 1974 by Jacob Vaage, who further determined Anders Haugen of the United States, who had finished fourth, had actually scored 0.095 points more than Haug. The International Olympic Committee verified this, and in Oslo in September 1974, Haug's daughter presented the medal to the 86-year-old Haugen.

In 2006, the IOC confirmed that the awarded medals to 1924 curling teams were official. The IOC verified that curling was officially part of the program, after the Glasgow Herald newspaper filed a claim on behalf of the families of the team.[2]

Events

Medals were awarded in 16 events contested in 5 sports (9 disciplines). Many sources do not list curling and the military patrol, or list them as demonstration events. However, no such designation was made in 1924. In February 2006 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) ruled that curling was a full part of the Olympic program, and have included the medals awarded in the official count.

Venues

Main article: Venues of the 1924 Winter Olympics

Participating nations

Athletes from 16 nations competed in the first Winter Olympic Games. Germany was banned from competing in the games, and instead hosted a series of games called Deutsche Kampfspiele.

Participating National Olympic Committees

Number of athletes by National Olympic Committees

Medal count

Main article: 1924 Winter Olympics medal table

  *   Host nation (France)

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Norway47617
2 Finland44311
3 Austria2103
4 Switzerland2013
5 United States1214
6 Great Britain1124
7 Sweden1102
8 Canada1001
9 France*0033
10 Belgium0011
Totals (10 entries)16161749

Podium sweeps

Date Sport Event NOC Gold Silver Bronze
30 January Cross-country skiing Men's 50 kilometre  Norway Thorleif Haug Thoralf Strømstad Johan Grøttumsbråten
4 February Nordic combined Normal hill  Norway Thorleif Haug Thoralf Strømstad Johan Grøttumsbråten

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The official website of the Olympic Movement now treats Men's Military Patrol at the 1924 games as an event within the sport of Biathlon.[3][4] However the 1924 Official Report treats it as an event and discipline within what was then called Skiing and is now called Nordic Skiing.[5][6]

References

  1. ^ "1924 Winter Olympics – Medals, Posters and Bobsleighs". My Art Deco Style. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  2. ^ Thompson, Anna (9 February 2006). "GB curlers awarded belated gold". news.bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
  3. ^ "Biathlon Results - Chamonix 1924". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  4. ^ "Olympic Games Medals, Chamonix 1924". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  5. ^ Official Report (1924), p 646: Le Programme ... II. — Epreuves par équipes - 12. Ski : Course militaire (20 à 30 kilomètres, avec tir). (The Programme ... II. — Team events - 12. Skiing : Military Race (20 to 30 kilometres, with shooting)).
  6. ^ Official Report (1924), p 664: CONCOURS DE SKI - Jurys - COURSE MILITAIRE. (Skiing Competitions - Juries - Military Race)
  7. ^ "I taliolümpiamängud Chamonix 1924 (25. jaanuar – 5. veebruar)" (in Estonian). Postimees. 2006-01-18. Archived from the original on 2012-09-12.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1924 Winter Olympics.
New sporting event Winter Olympics
Chamonix
I Olympic Winter Games (1924) 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1924_Winter_Olympics&oldid=996433222"