TheWinter Olympic Games (French:Jeux olympiques d'hiver),[a] also known as theWinter Olympics, is a major internationalmulti-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the1924 Winter Olympics, were held inChamonix, France. The modern Olympic Games were inspired by theancient Olympic Games, which were held inOlympia, Greece, from 776 BCE to 394 CE. TheBaron Pierre de Coubertin of France founded theInternational Olympic Committee (IOC) 1,500 years later in 1894, leading to the first modernSummer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in 1896. The IOC is the governing body of theOlympic Movement, with theOlympic Charter defining its structure and authority.The original five Winter Olympic Sports (consisting of nine disciplines) werebobsleigh,curling,ice hockey,Nordic skiing (consisting of the disciplinesmilitary patrol,[b]cross-country skiing,Nordic combined, andski jumping), andskating (consisting of the disciplinesfigure skating andspeed skating).[c] The Games were held every four years from 1924 to 1936, interrupted in 1940 and 1944 byWorld War II, and resumed in1948. Until 1992, theSummer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games were held in the same year. A decision to change this was made in 1986, when during the91st International Olympic Committee session, IOC members decided to alternate the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games on separate four-year cycles in even-numbered years. Also, at that same congress it was decided that1992 Winter Olympics would be the last to be held in the same year as the Summer Games and that to change the rotation, the games that would be held in 1996 would be brought forward by two years, being scheduled to1994. After those games, the next were to beheld in 1998 when the four-year Olympic Cycle resumed.[2][3]
The Winter Olympic Games have evolved since their inception. Sports and disciplines have been added and some of them, such asalpine skiing,luge,short track speed skating,freestyle skiing,skeleton, andsnowboarding, have earned a permanent spot on the Olympic program. Some others, includingcurling andbobsleigh, have been discontinued and later reintroduced; others have been permanently discontinued, such asmilitary patrol, though the modern Winter Olympic sport ofbiathlon is descended from it.[b] Still others, such asspeed skiing,bandy andskijoring, weredemonstration sports but never incorporated as Olympic sports. The rise of television as a global medium for communication enhanced the profile of the Games. It generated income via the sale of broadcast rights and advertising, which has become lucrative for the IOC. This allowed outside interests, such as television companies and corporate sponsors, to exert influence. The IOC has had to address numerous criticisms over the decades like internal scandals, the use ofperformance-enhancing drugs by Winter Olympians, as well as a politicalboycott of the Winter Olympic Games. Countries have used the Winter Olympic Games as well as the Summer Olympic Games to proclaim the superiority of their political systems.
As of 2022[update], twelve countries have participated in every Winter Olympic Games – Austria, Canada,Finland, France,Great Britain,Hungary, Italy, Norway,Poland,Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. Also, Czechoslovakia participated in all Winter Olympic Games before itsdissolution and its successors, Czech Republic and Slovakia have participated in all Winter Games thereafter. Six of these countries have won medals at every Winter Olympic Games – Austria, Canada, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the United States. The only country to have won a gold medal at every Winter Olympic Games is the United States. Norway leads theall-time medal record for the Winter Olympic Games. When including defunct states, Germany (comprising the former countries of West Germany and East Germany) leads, followed by Norway, Russia (including the former Soviet Union), and the United States.
Three years later, Italian countEugenio Brunetta d'Usseaux proposed that the IOC stage a week of winter sports included as part of the1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. The organisers opposed this idea because they desired to protect the integrity of the Nordic Games and were concerned about a lack of facilities for winter sports.[13][14][15]
Sonia Henie's Olympic gold medal, St. Moritz 1928.
The first Olympics after the war, the1920 Summer Olympics, were held inAntwerp, Belgium,[16] and featured figure skating[17] and an ice hockey tournament. Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey were banned from competing in the games. At theIOC Congress held the following year it was decided that the host nation of the1924 Summer Olympics, France, would host a separate "International Winter Sports Week" under the patronage of the IOC.Chamonix was chosen to host this week (actually 11 days) of events.
The 1924 games in Chamonix proved to be a success when more than 250 athletes from 16 nations competed in 16 events.[18] Athletesfrom Finlandand Norway won 28 medals, more than the rest of the participating nations combined.[19] The first gold medal awarded was won byCharles Jewtraw of the United States in the 500-meter speed skate.Sonja Henie of Norway, at just 11 years old, competed in the ladies' figure skating and, although finishing last, became popular with fans.Gillis Grafström of Sweden defended his 1920 gold medal[17] in men's figure skating, becoming the first Olympian to win gold medals in both Summer and Winter Olympics.[20] Germany remained banned until 1925, and instead hosted a series of games calledDeutsche Kampfspiele, starting with the winter edition of 1922 (which predated the first Winter Olympics). In 1925 the IOC decided to create a separate winter event and the 1924 games in Chamonix were retroactively designated as the first Winter Olympics.[14][18]
St. Moritz, Switzerland, was appointed by the IOC to host thesecond Winter Games in 1928.[21] Fluctuating weather conditions challenged the hosts. Theopening ceremony was held in a blizzard while warm weather conditions plagued sporting events throughout the rest of the games.[22] Because of the weather the 10,000 metre speed-skating event had to be abandoned and officially cancelled.[23] The weather was not the only noteworthy aspect of the 1928 games:Sonja Henie ofNorway returned to the Winter Olympics to make history when she won theladies' figure skating at the age of 15. She became the youngest Olympic champion in history, a distinction she held for 70 years, and went on to defend her title at the next two Winter Olympics.[24]Gillis Grafström won his third consecutive figure skating gold[25] and went on to win silver in 1932,[26] becoming the most decorated men's figure skater to date.
Thenext Winter Olympics, held in Lake Placid, New York, United States was the first to be hosted outside of Europe. Seventeen nations and 252 athletes participated.[27] This was less than in 1928, as the journey toLake Placid was too long and expensive for some European nations that encountered financial problems in the midst of theGreat Depression. The athletes competed in fourteen events in four sports.[27] Virtually no snow fell for two months before the Games, and there was not enough snow to hold all the events until mid-January.[28] Sonja Henie defended her Olympic title,[26] andEddie Eagan of the United States, who had been an Olympic champion in boxing in 1920,[29] won the gold medal in themen's bobsleigh event[30] to joinGillis Grafström as the only athletes to have won gold medals in both theSummer and Winter Olympics.[27] Eagan has the distinction as the only Olympian as of 2020 to accomplish this feat in different sports.[31]
The German towns ofGarmisch and Partenkirchen joined to organise the1936 Winter Games, held from 6–16 February.[32] This was the last time theSummer and Winter Olympics were held in the same country in the same year.Alpine skiing made its Olympic debut, but skiing teachers were barred from entering because they were considered to be professionals.[33] Because of this decisionthe Swissand Austrian skiers refused to compete at the games.[33]
World War II interrupted the Winter Olympics. The1940 games had been awarded toSapporo, Japan, but the decision was rescinded in 1938 because of the Japaneseinvasion of China. The games were then to be held at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, but the 1940 games were cancelled following the Germaninvasion of Poland in 1939.[34] Due to the ongoing war, the1944 games, originally scheduled forCortina D'Ampezzo, Italy, were cancelled.[35]
The opening ceremonies of the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo
St. Moritz was selected to host thefirst post-war games, in 1948. Switzerland's neutrality had protected the town during World War II, and most venues from the 1928 games remained in place, which made St. Moritz a logical choice. It became the first city to host a Winter Olympics twice.[36] Twenty-eight countries competed in Switzerland, but athletes from Germany and Japan were not invited.[37] Controversy erupted when two hockey teams from theUnited States arrived, both claiming to be the legitimate U.S. Olympic hockey representative. TheOlympic flag presented at the1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp was stolen, as was its replacement. There was unprecedented parity at these games, during which 10 countries won gold medals—more than any games to that point.[38]
TheOlympic Flame tradition wasintroduced at the 1952 games inOslo, when the flame was lit in the fireplace by Norwegian skiing pioneerSondre Nordheim and the first Winter torch relay was conducted by 94 torchbearers entirely on their skis.[39][40]Bandy, a popular sport in the Nordic countries, was featured as a demonstration sport, thoughonly Norway,Sweden,and Finland fielded teams. Norwegian athletes won 17 medals, which outpaced all the other nations.[41] They were led byHjalmar Andersen who won three gold medals in four events in thespeed skating competition.[42]
After not being able to host the games in 1944,Cortina d'Ampezzo was selected to organise the1956 Winter Olympics. At the opening ceremonies the final torchbearer, Guido Caroli, entered theOlympic Stadium on ice skates. As he skated around the stadium his skate caught on a cable and he fell and burned his arm, nearly extinguishing the flame. He was able to recover and light the cauldron.[43] These were the first Winter Games to be televised, and the first Olympics ever broadcast to an international audience, though no television rights were sold until the1960 Summer Olympics inRome.[44] The Cortina games were used to test the feasibility of televising large sporting events.[44]
TheSoviet Union made its Olympic debut and had an immediate impact, winning more medals than any other nation.[45] The Soviets' immediate success might be explained by the advent of the state-sponsored "full-time amateur athlete". TheUSSR entered teams of athletes who were all nominally students, soldiers, or working in a profession, but many of whom were in reality paid by the state to train full-time.[46][47]Chiharu Igaya won the first Winter Olympics medalfor Japan and the continent of Asia when he placed second in the slalom.[48]
The IOC awarded the1960 Olympics toSquaw Valley, United States.[49] the announcement of its selection came as a shock as the resort was undeveloped and unknown outside the United States. About US$80,000,000 was spent over four years to build the completely non-existent infrastructure.[50][51] The opening and closing ceremonies were the firsts produced byWalt Disney Company.[52] The Squaw Valley Olympics was the first Winter Games to have a dedicated athletes' village,[53][54] the first to use a computer (courtesy ofIBM) to tabulate results, and the first to feature female speed skating events. This edition is the only one to date to not have bobsleigh competitions, as the number of countries registered in the event was insufficient and the costs of building the track were too high for the Organizing Committee.To replace the event, an extra edition from theFIBT World Championship was held.[52]
The Austrian city ofInnsbruck was the host in1964. For the first time, the Olympic torch of the Winter Olympic Games was lit at the traditional ritual held in the temple of Olympia. Although Innsbruck was a traditional winter sports resort, unprojected warm weather caused a lack of snow and organisers were unable to save enough snow to be used during the Games, and the Austrian army was enlisted to transport snow and ice from other places to the sports venues.[52]Soviet speed-skaterLidia Skoblikova made history by winning all four-speed skating events. Her career total of six gold medals set a record for Winter Olympics athletes.[52] Also, for the first timeLuge was added to the Olympic program, but the sport received bad publicity when a competitor was killed in a pre-Olympic training run.[55][56]
Held in the French town ofGrenoble, the1968 Winter Olympics were the first Olympic Games to be broadcast in colour. There were 1,158 athletes from 37 nations competing in 35 events.[57]French alpine ski racerJean-Claude Killy became only the second person to win all the men's alpine skiing events. Due the high interest around the world, the organising committee sold television rights for US$2 million, which was more than twice the cost of the broadcast rights for the Innsbruck Games.[58] For the first time, the organizers chose to decentralize the Games to save costs and the events were spread across three long distances clusters, which led to the need to build three Olympic Villages. Along the high costs, the organisers claimed that this was necessary to accommodate technological advances, however, critics disputed this, alleging that the layout would incorporate the best possible venues for television broadcasts at the athletes' expense.[58]
The1972 Winter Games, held inSapporo, Japan,[59] were the first to be hosted on a continent other than North America or Europe. The issue of professionalism was disputed during these Games when a number of alpine skiers were found to have participated in a ski camp atMammoth Mountain in the United States; three days before the opening ceremony, IOC presidentAvery Brundage threatened to bar the skiers from competing in the Games as he insisted that they were no longer amateurs having benefited financially from their status as athletes.[60] Eventually onlyAustrianKarl Schranz, who earned more than the other skiers, was excluded from the competition.[61] Canada boycotted the1972 and the1976 ice hockey tournaments in protest at not being able to use players from professional leagues.[62] Canadian authorities also accused the Soviet Union of using state-sponsored athletes, who were de facto professionals.[63]Francisco Fernández Ochoa became the first and, as of 2022, the onlySpaniard to win a Winter Olympic gold medal when he triumphed in theslalom.[64]
The1976 Winter Olympics had initially been awarded in 1970 toDenver,Colorado in the United States. These Games would have coincided with the year of Colorado'scentennial and theUnited States Bicentennial. However, the increasing costs of the event and the oil crisis led to a local plebiscite held in November 1972, that resulted in the city withdrawing from hosting the Games, as the people of Colorado voted against public funding of the Games by a 3:2 margin.[65][66] The IOC responded by offering the Games toVancouver-Garibaldi,British Columbia inCanada, which had previously been a finalist bid for the 1976 Games. However, a change in the provincial government resulted in an administration that did not support the Olympic bid, so the IOC's offer was rejected.[67]
Salt Lake City, previously a candidate for the 1972 Winter Olympics, then put itself forward, but a tense political situation led IOC to invite Innsbruck to host the 1976 Games, as all the infrastructure used during the 1964 Games had been maintained. Despite only having half the usual time to prepare for the Games, Innsbruck accepted the invitation to replace Denver in February 1973.[67] During the opening ceremonies, two cauldrons were lit because it was the second time that the Austrian town had hosted the Winter Games.[67] The 1976 Games featured the firstcombination bobsleigh-and-luge track, in neighbouringIgls.[64] TheSoviet Union won its fourth consecutive ice hockey gold medal.[67]
In 1980 the Winter Olympics returned to Lake Placid, which had hosted the 1932 Games.Unlike previous editions, Lake Placid had no competitors in this bid process.Cyprus made their Olympic debut at the games. People's Republic of China and the first tropical nationCosta Rica competed for the first at the Winter Games. TheRepublic of China boycoted the Games, in protest of the IOC's recognition of thePeople's Republic of China as the only "China", and its request for the Republic of China to compete as "Chinese Taipei". The PRC, on the other hand, returned to the Olympics for the first time since 1952 and made its Winter Olympic debut.[68][69]
American speed-skaterEric Heiden set either an Olympic or World record in every one of the fiveevents in which he competed, winning a total of five individual gold medals and breaking the record for most individual golds in a single Olympics (both Summer and Winter).[70]Hanni Wenzel won both the slalom and giant slalom and her country,Liechtenstein, became the smallest nation to produce an Olympic gold medallist.[71] In the "Miracle on Ice", theAmerican hockey team composed of college players beat the favoured seasoned professionals from theSoviet Union, and progressed to eventually win the gold medal.[72][d]
Alberto Tomba, winner of five Olympic medals in Calgary, Albertville and Lillehammer
Sapporo, Japan, andGothenburg, Sweden, were front-runners to host the1984 Winter Olympics. It was therefore a surprise whenSarajevo, Yugoslavia, was selected as host.[74] The Games were well-organised and not affected by the run-up to thewar that engulfed the country eight years later.[75] A total of 49 nations and 1,272 athletes participated in 39 events. Host nation Yugoslavia won its first Olympic medal when alpine skierJure Franko won silver in the giant slalom. Another sporting highlight was the free dance performance ofBritish ice dancersJayne Torvill andChristopher Dean; theirBoléro routine received unanimous perfect scores for artistic impression, earning them the gold medal.[75]
In 1988, the Canadian city ofCalgary hosted thefirst Winter Olympics to span three weekends, lasting for a total of 16 days.[76] New events were added in ski-jumping and speed skating, while future Olympic sports curling,short track speed skating andfreestyle skiing made their debut appearance as demonstration sports. The speed skating events were held indoors for the first time, on theOlympic Oval. Dutch skaterYvonne van Gennip won three gold medals and set two world records, beating skaters from the favouredEast German team in every race.[77]
Her medal total was equalled byFinnish ski jumperMatti Nykänen, who won all three events in his sport.Alberto Tomba,an Italian skier, made his Olympic debut by winning both the giant slalom and slalom. East GermanChrista Rothenburger won the women's 1,000 metre speed skating event. Seven months later she would earn a silver in track cycling at theSummer Games inSeoul, to become the only athlete to win medals in both a Summer and Winter Olympics in the same year.[76] The 1988 games are well remembered in popular culture from two films based on its events:Cool Runnings about theJamaican bobsled team; andEddie the Eagle about British ski jumperMichael Edwards, who finished last but set a British record of 73.5 metres.
The1992 Winter Games were the last to be held in the same year as theSummer Games.[78] They were hosted in the FrenchSavoie region, with 18 events held in the city ofAlbertville and the remaining events spread out over the Savoie.[78] Political changes of the time were reflected in the composition of the Olympic teams competing in France: this was the first Games to be held after thefall of Communism and thefall of the Berlin Wall, and Germany competed as a single nation for the first time since the 1964 Games.[79]
FormerYugoslavian republicsCroatia andSlovenia made their debuts as independent nations; most of the formerSoviet republics still competed as a single team known as theUnified Team, but theBaltic States made independent appearances for the first time since before World War II.[79] At 16 years old,Finnish ski jumperToni Nieminen made history by becoming the youngest male Winter Olympic champion.[80]New Zealand skierAnnelise Coberger became the first Winter Olympic medallist from the southern hemisphere when she won a silver medal in the women's slalom.
The1994 Winter Olympics, held inLillehammer, Norway, were the first Winter Games to be held in a different year from the Summer Games. This change resulted from the decision reached in the91st IOC Session (1986) to separate the Summer and Winter Games and place them in alternating even-numbered years.[81] Lillehammer is the northernmost city to ever host the Winter Games. It was the second time the Games were held in Norway, after the1952 Winter Olympics inOslo, and the first time theOlympic Truce was observed. As a result, after thedissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993, theCzech Republic andSlovakia made their Olympic debuts.[82]
The women's figure skating competition drew media attention whenAmerican skaterNancy Kerrigan was injured on 6 January 1994, in an assault planned by the ex-husband of opponentTonya Harding.[83] Both skaters competed in the Games, but the gold medal was narrowly won byOksana Baiul who becameUkraine's first Olympic champion, while Kerrigan won the silver medal.[84][85]Johann Olav Koss ofNorway won three gold medals, coming first in all of the distance speed skating events.[86]
13-year-oldKim Yoon-Mi became the youngest-ever Olympic gold medallist when South Korea won the women's 3,000-metre speed skating relay.Bjørn Dæhli of Norway won a medal in four out of five cross-country events, becoming the most decorated Winter Olympian until then.Russia won the most events, with eleven gold medals, while Norway achieved 26 podium finishes, collecting the most medals overall on home ground.Juan Antonio Samaranch described Lillehammer as "the best Olympic Winter Games ever" in his closing ceremony speech.[87]
The Canadians appeared to have skated well enough to win the competition, yet the Russians were awarded the gold. TheFrench judge,Marie-Reine Le Gougne, awarded the gold to the Russians. An investigation revealed that she had been pressured to give the gold to the Russian pair regardless of how they skated; in return, the Russian judge would look favourably on the French entrants in the ice dancing competition.[94]
The IOC decided to award both pairs the gold medal in a secondmedal ceremony held later in the Games.[95]AustralianSteven Bradbury became the first gold medallist from the southern hemisphere when he won the 1,000 metre short-track speed skating event.[96]
The Italian city ofTurin hosted the2006 Winter Olympics. It was the second time that Italy had hosted the Winter Olympic Games.South Korean athletes won 10 medals, including 6 gold in the short-track speed skating events.Sun-Yu Jin won three gold medals while her teammateHyun-Soo Ahn won three gold medals and a bronze.[97] In the women'sCross-Country team pursuitCanadianSara Renner broke one of her poles and, when he saw her dilemma,Norwegian coachBjørnar Håkensmoen decided to lend her a pole. In so doing she was able to help her team win a silver medal in the event at the expense of the Norwegian team, who finished fourth.[97][98]
On winning the Super-G,Kjetil-Andre Aamodt of Norway became the most decorated ski racer of all time with 4 gold and 8 overall medals. He is also the only ski racer to have won the same event at three Olympics, winning the Super-G in1992,2002, and2006.Claudia Pechstein ofGermany became the first speed skater to earn nine career medals.[97]
In February 2009, Pechstein tested positive for"blood manipulation" and received a two-year suspension, which she appealed. TheCourt of Arbitration for Sport upheld her suspension but a Swiss court ruled that she could compete for a spot on the2010 German Olympic team.[99] This ruling was brought to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, which overturned the lower court's ruling and precluded her from competing in Vancouver.[100]
In 2003, the IOC awarded the2010 Winter Olympics toVancouver, thus allowing Canada to host its second Winter Olympics. With a population of more than 2.5 million people Vancouver is the largest metropolitan area to ever host a Winter Olympic Games.[101] Over 2,500 athletes from 82 countries participated in 86 events.[102] The death ofGeorgian lugerNodar Kumaritashvili in a training run on the day of the opening ceremonies resulted in theWhistler Sliding Centre changing the track layout on safety grounds.[103]
Norwegian cross-country skierMarit Bjørgen won five medals in the six cross-country events on the women's programme. She finished the Olympics with three golds, a silver and a bronze.[104] For the first time,Canada won a gold medal at an Olympic Games it hosted, having failed to do so at both the1976 Summer Olympics inMontreal and the1988 Winter Olympics inCalgary. In contrast to the lack of gold medals at these previous Olympics, the Canadian team finished first overall in gold medal wins,[105] and became the first host nation—sinceNorway in 1952—to lead the gold medal count, with 14 medals. In doing so, it also broke the record for the most gold medals won by a NOC at a single Winter Olympics (the previous was 13, set by theSoviet Union in 1976 and matched byNorway in 2002).[106]
The Vancouver Games were notable for the poor performance of theRussian athletes. From their first Winter Olympics in1956 to the 2006 Games, a Soviet or Russian delegation had never been outside the top five medal-winning nations, but in 2010 they finished sixth in total medals and eleventh in gold medals.PresidentDmitry Medvedev called for the resignation of top sports officials immediately after the Games.[107] Russia's disappointing performance at Vancouver is cited as the reason behind theenhancement of an already existing doping scheme alleged to have been in operation at major events such as the 2014 Games at Sochi.[108]
The success of Asian countries stood in stark contrast to the under-performing Russian team, with Vancouver marking a high point for medals won by Asian countries. At the Albertville Games in 1992 the Asian countries had won fifteen medals, three of which were gold. In Vancouver, the total number of medals won by athletes from Asia had increased to thirty-one, with eleven of them being gold. The rise of Asian nations in Winter Olympics sports is due in part to the growth of winter sports programmes and the interest in winter sports in nations such as Kazakhstan, South Korea, Japan and China. These results increased the chances of an Asian city hosting the2018 Winter Olympics that would be held the following year.[109][110]
Sochi, Russia, was selected as the host city for the2014 Winter Olympics overSalzburg, Austria, andPyeongchang, South Korea. This was the first time that Russia had hosted a Winter Olympics.[111] The Games took place from 7 to 23 February 2014.[112] A record 2,800 athletes from 88 countries competed in 98 events. The Olympic Village and Olympic Stadium were located on theBlack Sea coast. All of the mountain venues were 50 kilometres (31 mi) away in the alpine region known asKrasnaya Polyana.[111] The Games were the most expensive until the date, with a cost of £30 billion (US$51 billion).
On the snow, Norwegian biathleteOle Einar Bjørndalen took two golds to bring his total tally of Olympic medals to 13, overtaking his compatriot Bjørn Dæhlie to become the most decorated Winter Olympian of all time. Another Norwegian, cross-country skierMarit Bjørgen took three golds; her total of ten Olympic medals tied her as the female Winter Olympian with most medals, alongsideRaisa Smetanina andStefania Belmondo. SnowboarderAyumu Hirano became the youngest medallist on snow at the Winter Games when he took a silver in thehalfpipe competition at the age of fifteen.[111]
On the ice, the Netherlands team dominated the speed skating events, taking 23 medals, four clean sweeps of the podium places and at least one medal in each of the twelve medal events.Ireen Wüst was their most successful competitor, taking two golds and three silvers. In figure skating,Yuzuru Hanyu became the first skater to break the 100-point barrier in the short programme on the way to winning the gold medal. Among the sledding disciplines, lugerArmin Zöggeler took a bronze, becoming the first Winter Olympian to secure a medal in six consecutive Games.[111]
Following their disappointing performance at the 2010 Games, and an investment of £600 million in elite sport,Russia initially topped themedal table, taking 13 gold and 33 total medals.[113] However,Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of the Russian national anti-doping laboratory, subsequently claimed that he had been involved in doping dozens of Russian competitors for the Games, and that he had been assisted by the RussianFederal Security Service in opening and re-sealing bottles containing urine samples so that samples with banned substances could be replaced with "clean" urine.[114]
A subsequentinvestigation commissioned by theWorld Anti-Doping Agency led byRichard McLaren concluded that a state-sponsored doping programme had operated in Russia from "at least late 2011 to 2015" across the "vast majority" of Summer and Winter Olympic sports.[115] On 5 December 2017, the IOC announced thatRussia would compete as theOlympic Athletes from Russia at the 2018 Winter Olympics[116] and by the end of 2017 theIOC Disciplinary Commission had disqualified 43 Russian athletes, stripping thirteen medals and knocking Russia from the top of the medal table, thus putting Norway in the lead.[117][118][119] However, nine medals were later returned, meaning that Russia reclaimed first place in the overall medal table, and joint first place with Norway in terms of gold medals.
The Games saw the addition ofbig air snowboarding,mass startspeed skating,mixed doubles curling, and mixed teamalpine skiing to the programme. Like four years early, the Netherlands again dominated speed skating, winning gold medals in seven of the ten individual events. Dutch speed skaterSven Kramer won gold in the men's 5000m event, becoming the only male speed skater to win the same Olympic event three times. On the snow, Norway led the medal tally in cross-country skiing, withMarit Bjørgen winning bronze in the women's team sprint and gold in the 30-kilometre classical event, bringing her total Olympic medal haul to fifteen, the most won by any athlete (male or female) in Winter Olympics history.
Johannes Høsflot Klæbo of Norway became the youngest ever male to win an Olympic gold in cross-country skiing when he won themen's sprint at age 21.Noriaki Kasai of Japan became the first athlete in history to participate in eight Winter Olympics when he took part in the ski jumping qualification the day before the opening of the Games.Ester Ledecká of the Czech Republic won gold in the skiing super-G event and another gold in the snowboarding parallel giant slalom, making her the first female athlete to win Olympic gold medals in two sports at a single Winter Games.
Norway led the total medal standings with 39, the highest number of medals by a nation in any Winter Olympics, followed by Germany's 31 and Canada's 29. Host nationSouth Korea won seventeen medals, five of them gold, its highest medal haul at a Winter Olympics.
Beijing, the capital of thePeople's Republic of China, was elected as the host city for the2022 Winter Olympics on 31 July 2015 at the128th IOC Session. Beijing became the first city ever to have hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympics. Like the Summer Olympics held six months earlier inTokyo, theCOVID-19 pandemic resulted in the implementation of strict health and safety protocols, including restrictions on public attendance at the Games. The Games included a record 109 events over 15 disciplines in seven sports with seven new medal events, including mixed team competitions in freestyle skiing aerials, ski jumping, and snowboard cross. The Games were held between 4 and 20 February 2022 at venues in Beijing andZhangjiakou which for the first time were run entirely onrenewable energy. Several of the events were impacted by temperatures as low as minus 20Celsius and strong wind.
The first gold medal of the Games was won byTherese Johaug ofNorway in the women's skiathlon. Johaug had been excluded from the 2018 Winter Olympics in a controversial decision after having used a banned cream for sunburned lips. She went on to also win the women's 10 km and 30 km cross-country distances. In the women's snowboard cross,Lindsey Jacobellis of theUnited States won the gold, having lost the gold 16 years earlier at the2006 Winter Olympics in Torino due to a brutal fall. On the ice, theNetherlands dominated with a total of six gold medals andIrene Schouten winning the women's mass start, 3,000m and 5,000m distances.Nils van der Poel ofSweden won the men's 5,000m and 10,000m distances, setting new Olympic records in both distances.Kamila Valieva ofRussia was allowed to compete in thewomen's figure skating despite a failed doping test in December 2021. She failed, however, to win an individual medal after falling in her final routine. Russia'steam gold medal remained in limbo for two years, pending investigation into Valieva's positive drug test, before theCourt of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) disqualified Valieva for four years retroactive to 25 December 2021, leading the ISU to re-allocate the medals, upgrading the United States to gold and Japan to silver while downgrading the ROC to bronze.[122]Finland claimed its first ice hockey gold, having beaten the Russian Olympic Committee in the men's final on the last day of the Games.
Norway was first in the overall medal standings, claiming 37 medals in total and 16 gold medals, the highest number of gold medals of any country in a single Winter Olympics. This was the ninth time Norway claimed the highest number of gold medals at the Winter Games.
The amount by which greenhouse gas emissions are reduced is forecast to substantially affect the number of Winter Olympic Game venues that will have reliably cold conditions.[123]
Juan Antonio Samaranch, former IOC president, who was in charge of the Olympic movement for more than 20 years
The process for awarding host city honours came under intense scrutiny afterSalt Lake City had been awarded the right to host the 2002 Games.[127] Soon after the host city had been announced it was discovered that the organisers had engaged in an elaborate briberyscheme to curry favour with IOC officials.[127] Gifts and other financial considerations were given to those who would evaluate and vote on Salt Lake City's bid. These gifts included medical treatment for relatives, a college scholarship for one member's son and a land deal in Utah. Even IOC presidentJuan Antonio Samaranch received two rifles valued at $2,000. Samaranch defended the gift as inconsequential since, as president, he was a non-voting member.[128]
The subsequent investigation uncovered inconsistencies in the bids for every Olympics (both Summer and Winter) since 1988.[129] For example, the gifts received by IOC members from the Japanese Organising Committee for Nagano's bid for the1998 Winter Olympics were described by the investigation committee as "astronomical".[130] Although nothing strictly illegal had been done, the IOC feared that corporate sponsors would lose faith in the integrity of the process and that the Olympic brand would be tarnished to such an extent that advertisers would begin to pull their support.[131]
The investigation resulted in the expulsion of 10 IOC members and the sanctioning of another 10. New terms and age limits were established for IOC membership, and 15 former Olympic athletes were added to the committee. Stricter rules for future bids were imposed, with ceilings imposed on the value of gifts IOC members could accept from bid cities.[132][133][134]
About eight years before the Winter Olympics, theIOC invites National Olympic Committees to submit bids to host the games.[135] According to the IOC, the host city for the Winter Olympics is responsible for "...establishing functions and services for all aspects of the Games, such as sports planning, venues, finance, technology, accommodation, catering, media services, etc., as well as operations during the Games".[136] Due to the cost of hosting the Games, most host cities never realise a profit on their investment.[137] For example, the2006 Winter Olympics inTurin, Italy, cost $3.6 billion to host. By comparison, the1998 Winter Olympics inNagano, Japan, cost $12.5 billion.[138] The organisers of the Nagano Games claimed that the cost of extending thebullet train service from Tokyo to Nagano was responsible for the large price tag.[138]
The organising committee had hoped that the exposure gained from hosting the Winter Olympics, and the improved access to Nagano from Tokyo, would benefit the local economy for years afterwards. In fact, Nagano's economy did experience a post-Olympic boom for a year or two, but the long-term effects have not materialised as anticipated.[138] The likelihood of heavy debt is a deterrent to prospective host cities, as well as the prospect of unused sports venues and infrastructure saddling the local community with upkeep costs with no appreciable post-Olympic value.[139]
The Winter Olympics has the added problem of the alpine events requiring a mountain location; the men's downhill needs an 800-metre altitude difference along a suitable course. As this is a focal event that is central to the Games, the IOC has previously not agreed to it taking place a long way from the main host city,[140] in contrast to the Summer Games, where sailing and horse sports have taken place more than 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) away. The requirement for a mountain location also means that venues such as hockey arenas often have to be built in sparsely populated areas with little future need for a large arena and for the hotels and infrastructure needed for all Olympic visitors. Due to cost issues, fewer and fewer cities are willing to host. Both theTorino 2006 andVancouver 2010 Games, which were hosted in countries where large cities are located close to suitable mountain regions, had lower costs since more venues, hotels and transport infrastructure already existed. In contrast, theSochi 2014 games had large costs as most installations had to be built.
The IOC has tried to mitigate these concerns. Firstly, it has agreed to fund part of the host city's budget.[141] Secondly, the qualifying host countries are limited to those that have the resources and infrastructure to successfully host an Olympic Games without negatively impacting their region or nation; this rules out a large portion of the developing world.[142] Finally, any prospective host city is required to add a "legacy plan" to their proposal, with a view to the long-term economic and environmental impact that hosting the Olympics will have.[143]
Beginning with the2022 Winter Games, the IOC is allowing a longer distance between the alpine events and other events. TheOslo bid had 220 kilometres (140 mi) to theKvitfjell downhill arena, while eventual host Beijing had venues 220 km away from the city as well. For the 2026 Winter Games,Stockholm's unsuccessful bid proposed to hold the alpine event inÅre, 620 kilometres (390 mi) away by road, while the successful bid of 2026 has 410 kilometres (250 mi) betweenMilan andCortina.
In 1967 the IOC began enacting drug testing protocols. They started by randomly testing athletes at the 1968 Winter Olympics.[144] The first Winter Games athlete to test positive for a banned substance wasAlois Schloder, aWest German hockey player,[145] but his team was still allowed to compete.[146] During the 1970s testing outside of competition was escalated because it was found to deter athletes from using performance-enhancing drugs.[147] The problem with testing during this time was a lack of standardisation of the test procedures, which undermined the credibility of the tests. It was not until the late 1980s that international sporting federations began to coordinate efforts to standardise the drug-testing protocols.[148] The IOC took the lead in the fight against steroids when it established the independentWorld Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in November 1999.[149][150]
The 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin became notable for a scandal involving the emerging trend ofblood doping, the use of blood transfusions or synthetic hormones such asErythropoietin (EPO) to improve oxygen flow and thus reduce fatigue.[151] The Italian police conducted a raid on theAustrian cross-country ski team's residence during the Games where they seized blood-doping specimens and equipment.[152] This event followed the pre-Olympics suspension of 12 cross-country skiers who tested positive for unusually high levels ofhaemoglobin, which is evidence of blood doping.[151]
The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi's Russian Doping Scandal has resulted in the International Olympic Committee to begin disciplinary proceedings against 28 (later increased to 46) Russian athletes who competed at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, acting on evidence that their urine samples were tampered with.[153][154][155][156][157]
The Winter Olympics were an ideological front in theCold War since theSoviet Union first participated at the1956 Winter Games. It did not take long for the Cold War combatants to discover what a powerful propaganda tool the Olympic Games could be. The advent of the state-sponsored "full-time amateur athlete" of theEastern Bloc countries further eroded the ideology of the pure amateur, as it put the self-financed amateurs of the Western countries at a disadvantage. TheSoviet Union entered teams of athletes who were all nominally students, soldiers, or working in a profession, but many of whom were in reality paid by the state to train on a full-time basis.[46] Nevertheless, the IOC held to the traditional rules regarding amateurism until the '90s.[47]
The Cold War created tensions amongst countries allied to the two superpowers. The strained relationship between East and West Germany created a difficult political situation for the IOC. Because of its role in World War II, Germany was not allowed to compete at the 1948 Winter Olympics.[37] In 1950, the IOC recognised theWest German Olympic Committee, and invited East and West Germany to compete as a unified team at the 1952 Winter Games.[158] East Germany declined and instead sought international legitimacy separate from West Germany.[159]
In 1955, the Soviet Union recognised East Germany as a sovereign state, thereby giving more credibility to East Germany's campaign to become an independent participant. The IOC agreed provisionally to accept theEast German National Olympic Committee on condition that East and West Germans compete as one team.[160] The situation became tense when theBerlin Wall was constructed by East Germany in 1961 to stop migration of its citizens and Western European nations began refusing visas to East German athletes.[161] The uneasy compromise of a unified team held until the 1968 Grenoble Games when the IOC split the teams and threatened to reject host-city bids from any country that refused entry visas to East German athletes.[162]
The Winter Games have had only one national team boycott when Taiwan decided not to participate in the 1980 Winter Olympics held in Lake Placid. Prior to the Games, the IOC agreed to allow China to compete in the Olympics for the first time since 1952. China was given permission to compete as the "People's Republic of China" (PRC) and to use the PRC flag and anthem. Until 1980 the island of Taiwan had been competing under the name "Republic of China" (ROC) and had been using the ROC flag and anthem.[69] The IOC attempted to have the countries compete together but when this proved to be unacceptable the IOC demanded that Taiwan cease to call itself the "Republic of China".[163][164]
The IOC renamed the island "Chinese Taipei" and demanded that it adopt a different flag and national anthem, stipulations to which Taiwan would not agree. Despite numerous appeals and court hearings, the IOC's decision stood. When the Taiwanese athletes arrived at the Olympic village with their Republic of China identification cards they were not admitted. They subsequently left the Olympics in protest, just before the opening ceremonies.[69] Taiwan returned to Olympic competition at the 1984 Winter Games in Sarajevo as Chinese Taipei. The country agreed to compete under a flag bearing the emblem of their National Olympic Committee and to play the anthem of their National Olympic Committee should one of their athletes win a gold medal. The agreement remains in place to this day.[165]
TheOlympic Charter limitswinter sports to "those sports which are practised on snow or ice".[166] Since 1992 a number of new sports have been added to the Olympic programme, which include short-track speed skating, snowboarding, freestyle and moguls skiing. The addition of these events has broadened the appeal of the Winter Olympics beyond Europe and North America. While European powers such as Norway and Germany still dominate the traditional Winter Olympic sports, countries such as South Korea, Australia and Canada are finding success in these new sports. The results are more parity in the national medal tables, more interest in the Winter Olympics, and higher global television ratings.[167]
Men's: sprint 10 km, individual 20 km, pursuit 12.5 km, mass start 15 km, relay 4×7.5 km. Women's: sprint 7.5 km, individual 15 km, pursuit 10 km, mass start 12.5 km, relay 4×6 km. Mixed relay 4×6 km.
Men's: sprint, team sprint, 15 km, 30 km skiathlon, 50 km mass start, 4×10 km relay. Women's: sprint, team sprint, 10 km, 15 km skiathlon, 30 km mass start, 4×5 km relay.
Men's: snowboard cross, parallel, half-pipe, slopestyle, big air. Women's: snowboard cross, parallel, half-pipe, slopestyle, big air. Mixed snowboard cross.
Demonstration sports have historically provided a venue for host countries to attract publicity to locally popular sports by having a competition without granting medals. Demonstration sports were discontinued after1992.[184] Military patrol, a precursor to thebiathlon, was a medal sport in 1924 and was demonstrated in 1928, 1936 and 1948, becoming an official sport in 1960.[185] Thespecial figures figure skating event was only contested at the1908 Summer Olympics.[186]Bandy (Russian hockey) is a sport popular in the Nordic countries and Russia. In the latter it is considered anational sport.[187] It was demonstrated at the Oslo Games.[188]
A map of Winter Olympics locations. Countries that have hosted one Winter Olympics are shaded green, while countries that have hosted two or more are shaded blue.
^"French and English are the official languages for the Olympic Games".[1]
^abcThe official website of the IOC now treats Men's Military Patrol at the 1924 Games as a separate discipline, without mixing it with the sports ofSkiing orBiathlon.[4][5] However, the 1924 Official Report treats it as an event and discipline within what was then called Skiing and is now calledNordic skiing.[6][7]
^At the closing of the 1924 Games a prize was also awarded for 'alpinisme' (mountaineering), a sport that did not lend itself very well for tournaments:Pierre de Coubertin presented a prize for 'alpinisme' toCharles Granville Bruce, the leader of the expedition that tried to climbMount Everest in 1922.
^The US beat the Soviets as part of amedal round that also includedFinland andSweden, so they did not actually win the gold medal until beating Finland a few days later.[73]
^abThis office is technically not head of state in and of itself, but is the presiding officer of theFederal Council which collectively acts as head of state.
^abUnlike the Summer Olympics, the cancelled1940 Winter Olympics and1944 Winter Olympics arenot included in the official Roman numeral counts for the Winter Games. While the official titles of the Summer Games countOlympiads, the titles of the Winter Games only count the Games themselves.
^TheIOC site for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games gives an erroneous figure of 77 participated teams; however, one can count 78 participated nations looking throughOfficial Report of the XIX Olympic Winter Games. This error probably resulted from the fact that Costa Rica's delegation of one athlete joined the Games after the Opening Ceremony, so 77 nations participated in the Opening Ceremony and 78 nations participated in the Games.
^The IOC site for the2018 Winter Olympic Games does not includeUnited Korean (COR) women's ice hockey team as separate "nation" when counting participating nations. Nevertheless, the IOC shows the Korean team in thePyeongchang 2018 Ice Hockey Women's Tournament Results. Thus, 92 national teams plus 1 team composed of athletes from both South Korea and North Korea participated in the Games.
^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)).
^Official Report (1924), p. 664: CONCOURS DE SKI - Jurys - COURSE MILITAIRE. (Skiing Competitions - Juries - Military Race)
^Lund, Mortund (December 2001)."The First Four Olympics".Skiing Heritage Journal. International Skiing History Association: 21. Retrieved18 April 2011.
^"Yvonne van Gennip". The Beijing Organising Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. Archived fromthe original on 3 February 2009. Retrieved20 March 2009.
^Hunt, Thomas M. (2007)."Sports, Drugs, and the Cold War"(PDF).Olympika, International Journal of Olympic Studie.16 (1). International Centre for Olympic Studies: 22. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 23 July 2012. Retrieved23 March 2009.
^"Freestyle Skiing History".The National Post. Toronto. CBC Sports. 4 December 2009.Archived from the original on 28 January 2010. Retrieved16 March 2010.
.jpg)
