History of the Winter Olympics

The history of the Olympics began in 776 BC in Olympia, Greece. Every four years the greatest athletes in the Greek world would come together to compete as a result of a peace agreement between Elis and Pisa. The first and only event in the Olympics was a 200-meter dash called the stadium. In 724, the two stadia race was added. The victors of the early Games were crowned with wreaths made from a sacred olive tree near the temple of Zeus. The ancient Games were held without interruption for 1170 years, despite numerous wars and political unrest. However, they were finally put to an end in 393 AD by Byzantine Emperor Theodosius I.

In the late 19th century, Frenchman Baron Pierre de Coubertin, started a successful campaign to revive the Games. The first modern Olympic Games opened on March 24, 1896, in Athens, Greece. Although figure skating had been introduced to the Olympic program as early as 1908, with ice hockey added in 1920, it was not until 1921 that the decision was made to create a separate Olympic event for winter sports. The first Winter Olympics that occurred in 1924 were called the "International Winter Sports Week." The games were such a success, that in 1925, the International Olympic Committee decided to create a separate Winter Olympic Games and retroactively designated the 1924 events as the first Winter Olympics.

Both the Winter and the Summer Games were held in the same year until 1992 when they were staggered every two years. With the exception of 1940 and 1944 when the games were cancelled due to World War II, the Winter Games have been held every four years.

The 1924 games were held in Chamonix, France, from January 25 to February 5 and featured 16 events in six different sports. Athletes representing 16 nations competed in bobsledding, curling, ice hockey, skating, skiing and the biathlon. American speed skater Charles Jewtraw was the first athlete to win a Winter Olympic competition, taking the gold in the men's 500m event. Finland and Norway dominated the first Winter Olympic Games with both Finnish speed skater Clas Thunberg and Norwegian skier Thorleif Haug winning three gold medals. Thunberg also placed third in ski jumping. However, 50 years later a counting error was discovered which meant the bronze should have been awarded to American Anders Haugen. Haugen received his medal in a special ceremony at the age of 83. The 1928 games in St. Moritz, Switzerland, garnered international attention as Gillis Grafstrom won his third figure skating title and Norwegian skating star Sonja Henie, won her first of three. Henie's Olympic fame eventually helped her rise to stardom on the silver screen. The 1934 Winter Games featured sled dog racing, women's speed skating and curling as demonstration sports. Additionally, after winning gold in boxing during 1920, American Eddie Eagan won gold in the bobsled event and became the only athlete to win gold medals in both the summer and winter Olympics.

The 1972 Winter Olympics were notable because they were the last games where a skier would win gold using wooden skis. Since then, athletes have competed using skis made entirely out of fiberglass and synthetic fibers. In 1980, the People's Republic of China made its first appearance during the Winter Olympics and Taiwan was forced to compete as the Chinese Taipei. When Taiwan refused, they became the first nation to boycott the Winter Olympics. The 1980 Winter Games were also notable for the great hockey upset, which occurred when first-seed Soviet Union lost to the seventh-seed United States in a win dubbed "Miracle on Ice."