Last December’s Winter Olympics were full of excitement, with golden boy Hanyu dropping out of figure skating once again. But where do the Winter Olympics come from and how did they start?
The Winter Olympics, like the summer Olympic Games, are a major international multi-sport event held once every four years. The first Winter Olympic Games, designed for sports played on snow and ice, took place in Chamonix, France, in 1924. Not that long ago, considering the ancient Olympic Games that were played in Olympia, Greece from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD.
The baron of Coubertin, a man named Pierre de Frédy, founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894, leading to the first modern Games in Athens in 1896. Initially, the baron envisioned the games to be purely for amateurs. However, the Eastern Bloc broke the amateur rules, which prompted the IOC to allow participation of professional athletes.
During the 20th and 21st century, many changes were made to the Olympic Games. Most notably are the creations of the Paralympic Games for athletes with a disability, the Youth Olympics for athletes aged 14 to 18, and the Winter Olympics for sports played on snow and ice.
Originally, there were five winter sport disciplines: Bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, Nordic skiing (consisting of the disciplines military patrol, cross-country skiing, Nordic combined, and ski jumping), and skating (consisting of the disciplines figure skating and speed skating).
The Games were interrupted by several wars and faced numerous criticisms throughout the years, like internal scandals and the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Today, the Games have been hosted on three continents by twelve different countries. The following countries have participated in every Winter Olympics to date – Austria, Canada, Finland, France, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.
Beijing, China was selected by the IOC to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, with the host of the 2026 Games being announced on June 23, 2019.
No city in the Southern Hemisphere has ever applied to host the Games, as they are cold-weather-dependent and being held in February, in the midst of the Southern Hemisphere’s summer.
Naturally, this would change if they included a GreenIce synthetic ice rink, which makes all ice sports independent of ambient temperatures and electricity.
The following sports are currently being competed in:
Alpine skiing
Biathlon
Bobsleigh
Cross-country skiing
Curling
Figure skating
Freestyle skiing
Ice hockey
Luge
Nordic combined
Short track and speed skating
Skeleton
Ski jumping
Snowboarding
Speed skating
