Baseball Opinion

Chamonix 1924 First Winter Olympics: Fun Fact 1

Retrospective Designation

The French Olympic Committee organized an “International Winter Sports Week” in association with the 1924 Summer Olympics. But it was only in 1925, that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to hold Winter Olympic Games independent of the Olympic Games. As a result, the 1924 International Week of Winter Sports had its name officially changed to I Olympic Winter Games.

The First Winter Games were hosted at Les Houches, Chamonix France.

Chamonix 1924: Fun Fact 2

What happened prior?

Prior to the 1924 Winter Olympics, only some winter sports were Olympic events. For example, Ice Hockey was introduced as an Olympic Event in Antwerp in 1920 and Figure Skating was an Event at the London Olympics in 1908 and the Antwerp Olympics.

Chamonix 1924: Fun Fact 3

Last medal – 1974

The final medal for the 1924 Winter Games, was presented in 1974. A scoring error was noticed 50 years after the event and the bronze medal for ski jumping was presented to the American, Anders Haugen. He was the first American to win a ski jumping medal.

Haugen had been recorded as finishing fourth and the bronze medal had been awarded to a Norwegian skier Thorleif Haug, who also won three gold medals at the 1924 Winter Games.

In 1974, at the age of 86, Haugen traveled to Norway and was given the bronze medal by Thorleif Haug’s daughter.

Chamonix 1924: Fun Fact 4

Gold recognized in 2006

Great Britain won the Gold at the Curling event at the 1924 Winter Games, although it wasn’t recognized until 2006, 82 years later.

The first Winter Olympic Games started in 1901. It was originally called the “Nordic Games.” First held in Sweden, the games were organized by Viktor Gustaf Balck. Three years later, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), under the leadership of Italian count Eugenio Brunetta d’Usseaux, proposed the staging of the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm. However, the IOC members opposed the proposal due to the lack of facilities for winter sporting events. In 1920, the Antwerp Winter Olympic Games was held after the First World War. After the IOC Congress in 1921, the committee chose France to host the 1924 Winter Olympics.

During the Second World War, the IOC postponed the 1940 Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan. The IOC’s decision in postponing the said event led to its withdrawal in 1938 after the invasion of Japanese forces in China. In 1939, the games were moved from Sapporo to Garmisch-Partenkirchen City in Germany. However, due to the German Invasion in Poland, the IOC again cancelled the games in the city. The 1944 Winter Games in Italy were also cancelled.

After the World War II years, the IOC decided to continue the celebration of the Winter Olympics. The committee chose the Norwegian capital Oslo to host the 1952 Winter Games. The event pioneered the lighting of the “Winter Olympic Flame” which was originally designed by home skiing professional Sondre Nordheim. The lighting was spearheaded by Olympic medalists Hjalmar Andersen of Norway and Chiharu Igaya of Japan. The 1956 Olympics in Cortina D’Ampezzo, Italy became the most-talked about Olympic event after torch bearer Guido Caroli suffered from an accident while lighting the Olympic flame. The 1960 Winter Games were held in Squaw Valley, a remote village in the US. The opening and closing ceremonies of the 1960 games were produced by Walt Disney. Since then, the IOC has been frequently offering North American and some Asian countries to host the Winter Olympics.