Misplaced Pages

#610389

146-615: The Biathlon World Championships of the season takes place during February or March. Some years it has been necessary to schedule parts of the Championships at other than the main venue because of weather and/or snow conditions. Full, joint Biathlon World Championships have never been held in Olympic Winter Games seasons. Biathlon World Championships in non-IOC events, however, have been held in Olympic seasons. In 2005,

292-652: A British record of 73.5 metres. The 1992 Winter Games were the last to be held in the same year as the Summer Games . They were hosted in the French Savoie region, with 18 events held in the city of Albertville and the remaining events spread out over the Savoie. 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

438-637: A Greek historian, explains the situation of the athlete Sotades, Sotades at the ninety-ninth Festival was victorious in the long race and proclaimed a Cretan, as in fact he was. But at the next Festival he made himself an Ephesian, being bribed to do so by the Ephesian people. For this act he was banished by the Cretans. Apparently starting with just a single foot race, the program gradually increased to twenty-three contests, although no more than twenty featured at any one Olympiad. Participation in most events

584-465: A crowd? Are you not without comfortable means of bathing? Are you not wet when it rains? Have you not abundance of noise, clamour, and other disagreeable things? But I suppose that setting all these things off against the magnificence of the spectacle, you bear and endure. The ancient Olympics were as much a religious festival as an athletic event. The games were held in honor of the Greek god Zeus , and on

730-594: A fire that burned down the temple of the Olympian Zeus during his reign. During the celebration of the games, the Olympic truce ( ekecheiría ) was announced so that athletes and religious pilgrims could travel from their cities to the games in safety. The prizes for the victors were olive leaf wreaths or crowns. The games became a political tool used by city-states to assert dominance over their rival city states. Politicians would announce political alliances at

876-489: A late Bronze Age society, participate in athletic competitions to honor the dead. In the Iliad there are chariot races, boxing, wrestling, a foot race, as well as fencing, archery, and spear throwing. The Odyssey adds to these a long jump and discus throw. Aristotle reckoned the date of the first Olympics to be 776 BC, a date largely accepted by most, though not all, subsequent ancient historians. To this day, this

1022-536: A population of more than 2.5 million people Vancouver is the largest metropolitan area to ever host a Winter Olympic Games. Over 2,500 athletes from 82 countries participated in 86 events. The death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili in a training run on the day of the opening ceremonies resulted in the Whistler Sliding Centre changing the track layout on safety grounds. Norwegian cross-country skier Marit Bjørgen won five medals in

1168-590: A return to the origins of Greek life. These origin traditions have become nearly impossible to untangle, yet a chronology and patterns have arisen that help people understand the story behind the games. Greek historian Pausanias provides a story about the dactyl Heracles (not to be confused with the Hercules who was the son of Zeus and joined the Roman pantheon) and four of his brothers, Paeonaeus, Epimedes , Iasius and Idas , who raced at Olympia to entertain

1314-529: A second medal ceremony held later in the Games. Australian Steven Bradbury became the first gold medallist from the southern hemisphere when he won the 1,000 metre short-track speed skating event. The Italian city of Turin hosted the 2006 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

1460-529: A series of games called Deutsche 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. St. Moritz , Switzerland, was appointed by the IOC to host the second Winter Games in 1928. Fluctuating weather conditions challenged

1606-559: A somewhat disordered arrangement of buildings, the most important of which are the Temple of Hera , the Temple of Zeus , the Pelopion and the area of the great altar of Zeus, where the largest sacrifices were made. The name Altis was derived from a corruption of the Elean word also meaning "the grove" because the area was wooded, olive and plane trees in particular. Uninhabited throughout

SECTION 10

#1732771831611

1752-474: A statue of his likeness was commissioned at Olympia. Subsequent divine emperors also had statues erected within the sacred Altis. The stadium was renovated at his command and Greek athletics in general were subsidized. One of the most infamous events of Olympic history occurred under the rule of Nero . He desired victory in all chariot races of the Panhellenic Games in a single year, so he ordered

1898-522: A thanksgiving to the gods and as funeral games in honor of King Oenomaus, in order to be purified of his death. It was from this funeral race held at Olympia that the beginnings of the Olympic Games were inspired. Pelops became a great king, a local hero, and he gave his name to the Peloponnese . One (later) myth, attributed to Pindar , states that the festival at Olympia involved Heracles ,

2044-604: A two-year suspension, which she appealed. The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld her suspension but a Swiss court ruled that she could compete for a spot on the 2010 German Olympic team . This ruling was brought to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, which overturned the lower court's ruling and precluded her from competing in Vancouver. In 2003, the IOC awarded the 2010 Winter Olympics to Vancouver , thus allowing Canada to host its second Winter Olympics. With

2190-606: A unit of time in historical chronologies. These Olympiads were referred to based on the winner of their stadion sprint, e.g., "the third year of the eighteenth Olympiad when Ladas of Argos won the stadion ". They continued to be celebrated when Greece came under Roman rule in the 2nd century BC. Their last recorded celebration was in AD 393, under the emperor Theodosius I , but archaeological evidence indicates that some games were still held after this date. The games likely came to an end under Theodosius II , possibly in connection with

2336-575: A venue for representatives of the city-states to peacefully compete against each other. From the 8th century BC onwards, the city-states expanded with the establishment of colonies in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. While their cults and sanctuaries provided a sense of identity, those local identities as well as the increasing contacts with non-Greek populations presented the Greeks with

2482-423: 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 the 2018 Winter Olympics that would be held the following year. Sochi , Russia, was selected as the host city for the 2014 Winter Olympics over Salzburg , Austria, and Pyeongchang , South Korea. This

2628-541: Is evidenced by the dominance of Peloponnesian athletes in the victors' roles. Over time, the Olympic Games gained increasing recognition and became part of the Panhellenic Games , four separate games held at two- or four-year intervals, but arranged so that there was at least one set of games every year. The other Panhellenic Games were the Pythian , Nemean , and Isthmian Games , though the Olympic Games, being

2774-417: Is likely that tripping was allowed. Boxing ( pygmachia ) was first listed in 688 BC, the boys' event sixty years later. The laws of boxing were ascribed to the first Olympic champion Onomastus of Smyrna . It appears that body-blows were either not permitted or not practised. The Spartans, who claimed to have invented boxing, quickly abandoned it and did not take part in boxing competitions. At first

2920-522: Is no specific evidence suggesting that women were excluded from attending the other Panhellenic or Panathenaic contests. After the Roman conquest of Greece the Olympics continued but the event declined in popularity throughout the pre-Augustan era. During this period, Romans largely concentrated on domestic problems, and paid less attention to their provinces. The fact that all equestrian victors were from

3066-683: Is the United States. Norway leads the all-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. A predecessor, the Nordic Games , were organised by General Viktor Gustaf Balck in Stockholm , Sweden, in 1901 and were held again in 1903 and 1905 and then every fourth year thereafter until 1926. Balck

SECTION 20

#1732771831611

3212-425: Is the conventional given date for the inception of the ancient Olympics and, while this specific date of origin cannot be verified, it is generally accepted that the games date from some time in the eighth century BC. Archaeological finds confirm, approximately, the Olympics starting at or soon after this time. Archaeology suggests that major games at Olympia arose probably around 700. Christesen's important work on

3358-411: Is the story of Pelops , a local Olympian hero. Oenomaus , the king of Pisa , had a daughter named Hippodamia , and according to an oracle, the king would be killed by her husband. Therefore, he decreed that any young man who wanted to marry his daughter was required to drive away with her in his chariot, and Oenomaus would follow in another chariot, and spear the suitor if he caught up with them. Now,

3504-449: Is thought that competitors ran in lanes marked out with lime or gypsum for the length of a stade then turned around separate posts ( kampteres ), before returning to the start line. Xenophanes wrote that "Victory by speed of foot is honored above all." A third foot race, the dolichos ("long race"), was introduced in the next Olympiad. Accounts of the race's distance differ; it seems to have been from twenty to twenty-four laps of

3650-461: The 1924 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. Athletes from Finland and Norway won 28 medals, more than the rest of the participating nations combined. The first gold medal awarded

3796-517: The 1936 Winter Games , held from 6–16 February. This was the last time the Summer 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. Because of this decision the Swiss and Austrian skiers refused to compete at the games. World War II interrupted

3942-530: The 1976 ice hockey tournaments in protest at not being able to use players from professional leagues. Canadian authorities also accused the Soviet Union of using state-sponsored athletes, who were de facto professionals. Francisco Fernández Ochoa became the first and, as of 2022, the only Spaniard to win a Winter Olympic gold medal when he triumphed in the slalom . The 1976 Winter Olympics had initially been awarded in 1970 to Denver , Colorado in

4088-686: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) 1,500 years later in 1894, leading to the first modern Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in 1896. The IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement , with the Olympic Charter defining its structure and authority. The original five Winter Olympic Sports (consisting of nine disciplines) were bobsleigh , curling , ice hockey , Nordic skiing (consisting of

4234-866: The Northern Hemisphere . They have been held four times in the United States ( 1932 , 1960 , 1980 , and 2002 ), three times in France ( 1924 , 1968 , and 1992 ) and twice each in Switzerland ( 1928 and 1948 ), Austria ( 1964 and 1976 ), Norway ( 1952 and 1994 ), Japan ( 1972 and 1998 ), Italy ( 1956 and 2006 ) and Canada ( 1988 and 2010 ). Also, the Winter Olympic Games have been held just once each in Germany ( 1936 ), Yugoslavia ( 1984 ), Russia ( 2014 ), South Korea ( 2018 ), and China ( 2022 ). The IOC has selected

4380-551: The People'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. American speed-skater Eric Heiden set either an Olympic or World record in every one of the five events in which he competed, winning a total of five individual gold medals and breaking

4526-568: The September 11 attacks of 2001, which meant a higher degree of security to avoid a terrorist attack. The opening ceremony saw signs of the aftermath of the events of that day , including the flag that flew at Ground Zero , and honour guards of NYPD and FDNY members. German Georg Hackl won a silver in the singles luge, becoming the first athlete in Olympic history to win medals in the same individual event in five consecutive Olympics. Canada achieved an unprecedented double by winning both

Biathlon World Championships - Misplaced Pages Continue

4672-518: The United States arrived, both claiming to be the legitimate U.S. Olympic hockey representative. The Olympic flag presented at the 1920 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. The Olympic Flame tradition was introduced at the 1952 games in Oslo , when

4818-580: The Winter Olympics , is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics , were held in Chamonix , France. The modern Olympic Games were inspired by the ancient Olympic Games , which were held in Olympia, Greece, from 776 BCE to 394 CE. The Baron Pierre de Coubertin of France founded

4964-529: The Xystos (meaning 'scraped'), an open colonnade or running track, for the runners and pentathletes, and the Tetragono for wrestlers and boxers. A loincloth known as the perizoma was initially worn by athletes at the ancient Olympic Games. Archaeological evidence from late sixth-century BC reveals athletes sporting this garment during competitions. For most of its history, Olympic events were performed in

5110-490: The ancient Olympics , were a series of athletic competitions among representatives of city-states and one of the Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece . They were held at the Panhellenic religious sanctuary of Olympia , in honor of Zeus , and the Greeks gave them a mythological origin . The originating Olympic Games are traditionally dated to 776 BC. The games were held every four years, or Olympiad , which became

5256-705: The fall of Communism and the fall of the Berlin Wall , and Germany competed as a single nation for the first time since the 1964 Games. Former Yugoslavian republics Croatia and Slovenia made their debuts as independent nations; most of the former Soviet republics still competed as a single team known as the Unified Team , but the Baltic States made independent appearances for the first time since before World War II. At 16 years old, Finnish ski jumper Toni Nieminen made history by becoming

5402-501: The ladies' 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. Gillis Grafström won his third consecutive figure skating gold and went on to win silver in 1932, becoming the most decorated men's figure skater to date. The next Winter Olympics , held in Lake Placid, New York, United States

5548-550: The nude , a habit which the Greeks felt distinguished them from non-Greeks. Pausanias says that the first naked runner was Orsippus , winner of the stadion race in 720 BC, who simply lost his garment on purpose because running without it was easier. The 5th-century BC historian Thucydides credits the Spartans with introducing the custom of "publicly stripping and anointing themselves with oil in their gymnastic exercises". He continues saying that "formerly, even in

5694-485: The speed skating competition. After not being able to host the games in 1944, Cortina d'Ampezzo was selected to organise the 1956 Winter Olympics . At the opening ceremonies the final torchbearer, Guido Caroli, entered the Olympic 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

5840-513: The 1916 Olympics was cancelled after the outbreak of World War I . The first Olympics after the war, the 1920 Summer Olympics , were held in Antwerp , Belgium, and featured figure skating and an ice hockey tournament. Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey were banned from competing in the games. At the IOC Congress held the following year it was decided that the host nation of

5986-717: 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. During the opening ceremonies, two cauldrons were lit because it was the second time that the Austrian town had hosted the Winter Games. The 1976 Games featured the first combination bobsleigh-and-luge track , in neighbouring Igls . The Soviet Union won its fourth consecutive ice hockey gold medal. In 1980

Biathlon World Championships - Misplaced Pages Continue

6132-484: 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. President Dmitry Medvedev called for the resignation of top sports officials immediately after the Games. Russia's disappointing performance at Vancouver is cited as the reason behind the enhancement of an already existing doping scheme alleged to have been in operation at major events such as

6278-659: The 2014 Games at Sochi. 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

6424-469: The French town of Grenoble , the 1968 Winter Olympics were the first Olympic Games to be broadcast in colour. There were 1,158 athletes from 37 nations competing in 35 events. French alpine ski racer Jean-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

6570-497: The Games to Vancouver - Garibaldi , British Columbia in Canada , 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. 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

6716-647: The IOC stage a week of winter sports included as part of the 1912 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. The idea was resurrected for the 1916 Games , which were to be held in Berlin, Germany. A winter sports week with speed skating , figure skating, ice hockey and Nordic skiing were planned, but

6862-848: The Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo to host the 2026 Winter Olympics . The Winter Olympics are usually held in February, during the winter season of the Northern Hemisphere. As of 2024 , no city in the Southern Hemisphere has applied to host the Winter Olympic Games in the month of August (during the winter months of the Southern Hemisphere). As of 2022 , twelve countries have participated in every Winter Olympic Games – Austria, Canada, Finland , France, Great Britain , Hungary , Italy, Norway, Poland , Sweden , Switzerland, and

7008-583: The Japanese city of Nagano and were the first Games to host more than 2,000 athletes. The National Hockey League allowed its players to participate in the men's ice hockey tournament for the first time, and the Czech Republic won the tournament. Women's ice hockey made its debut, and the United States won the gold medal. Bjørn Dæhlie of Norway won three gold medals in Nordic skiing, becoming

7154-663: The Olympic Games. His desire came to fruition at the Olympics held in Athens in 1896 . Power in ancient Greece became centered on the city-state ( polis ) in the 8th century BC. The city-state was a population center organized into a self-contained political entity. Every city-state worshiped the same pantheon of gods , although each one often gave more emphasis on a limited group of deities and celebrated religious festivals based on various calendars. These city-states often lived in close proximity to each other, which created competition for limited resources. Though conflict between

7300-404: The Olympic contests, the athletes who contended wore belts across their middles; and it is but a few years since that the practice ceased." The only event recorded at the first thirteen games was the stade , a straight-line sprint of just over 192 metres (630 feet). The diaulos (lit. "double pipe"), or two-stade race, is recorded as being introduced at the 14th Olympiad in 724 BC. It

7446-553: The Olympic judges had to repay the bribes he had bestowed and declared the "Neronian Olympiad" to be void. In the first half of the second century, the Philhellenic emperors, Hadrian and Antoninus Pius oversaw a new and successful phase in the history of the games. The Olympics attracted a great number of spectators and competitors and the victors' fame spread across the Roman Empire. The renaissance endured for most of

SECTION 50

#1732771831611

7592-533: The Olympic victor lists shows that victors' names and details were unreliable until the sixth century. Elis's independent state administered it, and while the Eleans managed the games well, there sometimes was bias and interference. Also, despite modern illusions, the famous Olympic truce only mandated safe passage for visitors; it did not stop all wars in Greece or even at Olympia. The historian Ephorus , who lived in

7738-510: The Russians were awarded the gold. The French 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. The IOC decided to award both pairs the gold medal in

7884-695: The Summer and Winter Games and place them in alternating even-numbered years. Lillehammer is the northernmost city to ever host the Winter Games. It was the second time the Games were held in Norway, after the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo , and the first time the Olympic Truce was observed. As a result, after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993, the Czech Republic and Slovakia made their Olympic debuts. The women's figure skating competition drew media attention when American skater Nancy Kerrigan

8030-426: The United States. Also, Czechoslovakia participated in all Winter Olympic Games before its dissolution 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

8176-555: The United States. These Games would have coincided with the year of Colorado's centennial and the United 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. The IOC responded by offering

8322-406: The United States; three days before the opening ceremony, IOC president Avery 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. Eventually only Austrian Karl Schranz , who earned more than the other skiers, was excluded from the competition. Canada boycotted the 1972 and

8468-399: 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 nation Costa Rica competed for the first at the Winter Games. The Republic of China boycoted the Games, in protest of the IOC's recognition of

8614-437: The Winter Olympics. The 1940 games had been awarded to Sapporo , Japan, but the decision was rescinded in 1938 because of the Japanese invasion of China. The games were then to be held at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, but the 1940 games were cancelled following the German invasion of Poland in 1939. Due to the ongoing war, the 1944 games , originally scheduled for Cortina D'Ampezzo , Italy, were cancelled. St. Moritz

8760-443: The advent of the state-sponsored "full-time amateur athlete". The USSR 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. Chiharu Igaya won the first Winter Olympics medal for Japan and the continent of Asia when he placed second in the slalom. The IOC awarded the 1960 Olympics to Squaw Valley , United States.

8906-397: 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. The opening and closing ceremonies were the firsts produced by Walt Disney Company. The Squaw Valley Olympics was the first Winter Games to have a dedicated athletes' village,

SECTION 60

#1732771831611

9052-449: The boxers wore himantes (sing. himas ), long leather strips which were wrapped around their hands. The pankration was one of the most popular sports in the Ancient Olympics Games. The pankration was introduced in the 33rd Olympiad (648 BC). Boys' pankration became an Olympic event in 200 BC, in the 145th Olympiad. As well as techniques from boxing and wrestling, athletes also used kicks , locks, and chokes on

9198-501: The buildings and invasions by barbarians had reached Olympia. The last recorded games were held under Theodosius I in 393 (at the start of the 293rd Olympiad), but archeological evidence indicates that some games were still held. Areas of note: 2:  Prytaneion , 4:  Temple of Hera , 5:  Pelopion , 10:  Stadium , 15:  Temple of Zeus , 20:  Gymnasium , 21:  Palaestra , 26:  Greek Baths , 29:  Leonidaion , 31:  Bouleuterion Olympia lies in

9344-476: The cauldron. 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 the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome . The Cortina games were used to test the feasibility of televising large sporting events. The Soviet Union made its Olympic debut and had an immediate impact, winning more medals than any other nation. The Soviets' immediate success might be explained by

9490-423: The city-states was ubiquitous, it was also in their self-interest to engage in trade, military alliances, and cultural interaction. The city-states had a dichotomous relationship with each other: on one hand, they relied on their neighbors for political and military alliances, while on the other they competed fiercely with those same neighbors for vital resources. In this political context the Olympic Games served as

9636-402: The competitions. Some say all females were excluded from the sacred precinct where the games took place, while others cite Pausanias who indicated that parthenoi (maidens) could view the competitions, but not gynaikes (married women), who had to remain on the south side of the river Alpheios . The evidence regarding the attendance of women in the Olympics is inconclusive. Nevertheless, there

9782-522: The date, with a cost of £30 billion (US$ 51 billion). On the snow, Norwegian biathlete Ole 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 skier Marit Bjørgen took three golds; her total of ten Olympic medals tied her as the female Winter Olympian with most medals, alongside Raisa Smetanina and Stefania Belmondo . Snowboarder Ayumu Hirano became

9928-410: The decades like internal scandals, the use of performance-enhancing drugs by Winter Olympians, as well as a political boycott 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. The Winter Olympic Games have been hosted on three continents by thirteen countries, all of whom are located in

10074-400: The destroyed Sicilian polis of Naxos would have been completely forgotten if not for its four-time Olympic champion, Tisandros. Pierre de Coubertin , one of the founders of the modern Olympic Games , wanted to fully imitate the ancient Olympics in every way. Included in his vision was an artistic competition modeled on the ancient Olympics and held every four years, during the celebration of

10220-432: 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 held every four years from 1924 to 1936, interrupted in 1940 and 1944 by World War II , and resumed in 1948 . Until 1992, the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games were held in the same year. A decision to change this

10366-400: The entrance criteria, athletes from any Greek city-state and kingdom were allowed to participate. The games were always held at Olympia rather than moving between different locations like the modern Olympic Games . Victors at the Olympics were honored, and their feats chronicled for future generations. To the Ancient Greeks, it was important to root the Olympic Games in mythology . During

10512-614: The expense of the Norwegian team, who finished fourth. 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 in 1992 , 2002 , and 2006 . Claudia Pechstein of Germany became the first speed skater to earn nine career medals. In February 2009, Pechstein tested positive for "blood manipulation" and received

10658-501: The first Olympiad. Nevertheless, there is disagreement among scholars as to when the games began. According to the later Greek traveler Pausanias , who wrote in 175 AD, the only competition held at first was the stadion , a race over about 190 metres (620 feet). The word stadium is derived from this event. Several groups fought over control of the sanctuary at Olympia, and hence the games, for prestige and political advantage. Pausanias later writes that in 668 BC, Pheidon of Argos

10804-532: The first host nation—since Norway 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 the Soviet Union in 1976 and matched by Norway in 2002 ). The Vancouver Games were notable for the poor performance of the Russian athletes. From their first Winter Olympics in 1956 to

10950-540: 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, luger Armin Zöggeler took a bronze, becoming the first Winter Olympian to secure a medal in six consecutive Games. Following their disappointing performance at the 2010 Games, and an investment of £600 million in elite sport, Russia initially topped the medal table , taking 13 gold and 33 total medals. However, Grigory Rodchenkov ,

11096-504: The first time, on the Olympic Oval . Dutch skater Yvonne van Gennip won three gold medals and set two world records, beating skaters from the favoured East German team in every race. Her medal total was equalled by Finnish ski jumper Matti 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 German Christa Rothenburger won

11242-562: The first to use a computer (courtesy of IBM ) 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 the FIBT World Championship

11388-475: The flame was lit in the fireplace by Norwegian skiing pioneer Sondre Nordheim and the first Winter torch relay was conducted by 94 torchbearers entirely on their skis. Bandy , a popular sport in the Nordic countries, was featured as a demonstration sport, though only Norway , Sweden , and Finland fielded teams. Norwegian athletes won 17 medals, which outpaced all the other nations. They were led by Hjalmar Andersen who won three gold medals in four events in

11534-577: 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 Russian Federal Security Service in opening and re-sealing bottles containing urine samples so that samples with banned substances could be replaced with "clean" urine. Ancient Olympic Games The ancient Olympic Games ( Ancient Greek : τὰ Ὀλύμπια , ta Olympia ), or

11680-475: The four main hosts to hold their games in AD 67, and therefore the scheduled Olympics of 65, in the 211th Olympiad, were postponed. At Olympia he was thrown from his chariot, but still claimed victory. Nero also considered himself a talented musician, so he added contests in music and singing to those festivals that lacked them, including the Olympics. Nero won all of those contests, no doubt because judges were afraid to award victory to anyone else. After his suicide,

11826-439: The fourth century BC, is one potential candidate for establishing the use of Olympiads to count years, although credit for codifying this particular epoch usually falls to Hippias of Elis , to Eratosthenes , or even to Timaeus, whom Eratosthenes may have imitated. The Olympic Games were held at four-year intervals, and later, the ancient historians' method of counting the years even referred to these games, using Olympiad for

11972-465: The games continued past 217. Until recently the last securely datable winner was Publius Asclepiades of Corinth who won the pentathlon in 241 (the 255th Olympiad). In 1994, a bronze plaque was found inscribed with victors of the combative events hailing from the mainland and Asia Minor; proof that an international Olympic Games continued until at least 385 (the 291st Olympiad). The games continued past 385, by which time flooding and earthquakes had damaged

12118-473: The games, and in times of war, priests would offer sacrifices to the gods for victory. The games were also used to help spread Hellenistic culture throughout the Mediterranean. The Olympics also featured religious celebrations. The statue of Zeus at Olympia was counted as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world . Sculptors and poets would congregate each Olympiad to display their works of art to would-be patrons. The ancient Olympics had fewer events than

12264-554: The games, and the violators of the truce were fined 2,000 minae for assaulting the city of Lepreum during the period of the ekecheiria . The Spartans disputed the fine and claimed that the truce had not yet taken hold. The games faced a serious challenge during the Peloponnesian War , which primarily pitted Athens against Sparta, but in reality touched nearly every Hellenic city-state. The Olympics were used during this time to announce alliances and offer sacrifices to

12410-688: The giant slalom. Another sporting highlight was the free dance performance of British ice dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean ; their Boléro routine received unanimous perfect scores for artistic impression, earning them the gold medal. In 1988, the Canadian city of Calgary hosted the first Winter Olympics to span three weekends, lasting for a total of 16 days. New events were added in ski-jumping and speed skating, while future Olympic sports curling, short track speed skating and freestyle skiing made their debut appearance as demonstration sports. The speed skating events were held indoors for

12556-440: The gods for victory. While a martial truce was observed by all participating city-states, no such reprieve from conflict existed in the political arena. The Olympic Games evolved the most influential athletic and cultural stage in ancient Greece, and arguably in the ancient world. As such the games became a vehicle for city-states to promote themselves. The result was political intrigue and controversy. For example, Pausanias ,

12702-483: The gold medal. Sapporo , Japan, and Gothenburg , Sweden, were front-runners to host the 1984 Winter Olympics . It was therefore a surprise when Sarajevo , Yugoslavia, was selected as host. The Games were well-organised and not affected by the run-up to the war that engulfed the country eight years later. A total of 49 nations and 1,272 athletes participated in 39 events. Host nation Yugoslavia won its first Olympic medal when alpine skier Jure Franko won silver in

12848-446: The ground. Although the only prohibitions were against biting and gouging, the pankration was regarded as less dangerous than boxing. It was one of the most popular events: Pindar wrote eight odes praising victors of the pankration . A famous event in the sport was the posthumous victory of Arrhichion of Phigalia who "expired at the very moment when his opponent acknowledged himself beaten". The discus ( diskos ) event

12994-410: The hosts. The opening ceremony was held in a blizzard while warm weather conditions plagued sporting events throughout the rest of the games. Because of the weather the 10,000 metre speed-skating event had to be abandoned and officially cancelled. The weather was not the only noteworthy aspect of the 1928 games: Sonja Henie of Norway returned to the Winter Olympics to make history when she won

13140-471: The immediate locality and that there is a "paucity of victor statues in the Altis" from this period suggests the games were somewhat neglected. In 86 BC the Roman general Sulla robbed Olympia and other Greek treasuries to finance a war. He was the only Roman to commit violence against Olympia. Sulla hosted the games in 80 BC (the 175th Olympiad) as a celebration of his victories over Mithridates . Supposedly

13286-517: The island of Crete and Thera , and Archaic literary texts. The Minoan culture centered on Crete engaged in gymnastics, with bull-leaping , tumbling, running, wrestling and boxing shown on their frescoes. The Mycenaeans adopted Minoan games and also raced chariots in religious or funerary ceremonies. The exact relation between the early Minoan and Mycenaean sporting activities and the later Greek practicies remains elusive. The heroes of Homer 's epics, composed around 750 BC and held to represent

13432-449: The king's chariot horses were a present from the god Poseidon and therefore supernaturally fast. The king's daughter fell in love with a man called Pelops. Before the race however, Pelops persuaded Oenomaus' charioteer Myrtilus to replace the bronze axle pins of the king's chariot with wax ones. Naturally, during the race, the wax melted and the king fell from his chariot and was killed. After his victory, Pelops organized chariot races as

13578-456: The layout would incorporate the best possible venues for television broadcasts at the athletes' expense. The 1972 Winter Games , held in Sapporo , Japan, 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 at Mammoth Mountain in

13724-548: The leg distance was set to 6 km. Medal table This event, a patrol race, was held from 1989 to 1998. 1989–93: 15 km. 1994–98: 7.5 km. Medal table Bold numbers in brackets denotes record number of victories in corresponding disciplines. This event was first held in 2005, at the Biathlon World Cup finals in Khanty-Mansiysk . In 2005–20, the women biathletes did the first two legs and

13870-471: The men did the following two (except 2006 when sequence was woman–man–woman–man), the women's ski legs were 6 km each while men ski legs were 7.5 km each (except 2005, 2006 and 2020 when ski legs were 6 km each for all relay members). In 2021 , the starting gender became the result of an alternation: for the first time, men opened the relay and women closed it. Since then, this sequence alternates for each following edition. The distance skied became

14016-413: The men's and women's ice hockey gold medals. Canada became embroiled with Russia in a controversy that involved the judging of the pairs figure skating competition. The Russian pair of Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze competed against the Canadian pair of Jamie Salé and David Pelletier for the gold medal. The Canadians appeared to have skated well enough to win the competition, yet

14162-442: The middle day of the games, 100 oxen would be sacrificed to him. Over time, Olympia, the site of the games, became a central spot for the worship of the head of the Greek pantheon and a temple, built by the Greek architect Libon , was erected on the mountaintop. The temple was one of the largest Doric temples in Greece. The sculptor Pheidias created a statue of Zeus made of gold and ivory. It stood 42 feet (13 m) tall. It

14308-563: The modern Winter Olympic sport of biathlon is descended from it. Still others, such as speed skiing , bandy and skijoring , were demonstration 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

14454-442: The modern games, and for many years only freeborn Greek men were allowed to participate, although there were victorious women chariot owners. Moreover, throughout their history, the Olympics, both ancient and modern, have occasionally become arenas where political expressions, such as demonstrations, boycotts, and embargoes, have been employed by nations and individuals to exert influence over these sporting events. As long as they met

14600-507: The most decorated Winter Olympic athlete, with eight gold medals and twelve medals overall. Austrian Hermann Maier survived a crash during the downhill competition and returned to win gold in the super-G and the giant slalom. Tara Lipinski of the United States , aged just 15, became the youngest ever female gold medallist in an individual event when she won the Ladies' Singles , a record that had stood since Sonja Henie of Norway won

14746-465: The need to define themselves not only as members of a certain polis but also as Hellenes . That was made possible on the basis of a common language, a body of shared myths and legends, their religious observance and fondness in athletic festivals, which functioned as important factors for the Greek self-definition. As a result, a small number of religious festivals assumed a panhellenic character and were reserved for members of all Greek city-states;

14892-401: The newborn Zeus. He crowned the victor with an olive wreath (which thus became a peace symbol), which also explains the four-year interval, bringing the games around every fifth year (counting inclusively). The other Olympian gods (so named because they lived permanently on Mount Olympus ) would also engage in wrestling, jumping and running contests. Another myth of the origin of the games

15038-539: The next were to be held in 1998 when the four-year Olympic Cycle resumed. The Winter Olympic Games have evolved since their inception. Sports and disciplines have been added and some of them, such as alpine skiing , luge , short track speed skating , freestyle skiing , skeleton , and snowboarding , have earned a permanent spot on the Olympic program. Some others, including curling and bobsleigh , have been discontinued and later reintroduced; others have been permanently discontinued, such as military patrol , though

15184-516: The oldest among the rest, were considered the most prestigious. The Olympic games were held to be one of the two central rituals in ancient Greece , the other being the much older religious festival, the Eleusinian Mysteries . Participation in the Olympic Games was reserved for freeborn Greek men, although there were also Greek women who were victorious as chariot owners. Authorities differ as to whether females were allowed to attend

15330-459: The oldest of them being the Olympic Games. A body of officials, known as Hellanodikai , was responsible for determining the city-state of origin and the Greek identity of the competitors. The spread of Greek colonies in the 6th and 5th centuries BC is repeatedly linked to successful Olympic athletes. For example, Pausanias recounts that Cyrene was founded c. 630 BC by settlers from Thera with Spartan support. The support Sparta gave

15476-468: The only contest held was the stadion race because all the athletes had been called to Rome. Under the rule of emperor Augustus the Olympics underwent a revival. Before he came to full power, Augustus' right-hand man Marcus Agrippa restored the damaged temple of Zeus and in 12 BC Augustus asked King Herod of Judea to subsidize the games. After Augustus was declared a god by the Senate after his death,

15622-426: The participant cities at each set of games to announce the beginning of the truce. During this period, armies were forbidden from entering Olympia. Legal disputes and the use of the death penalty were forbidden. The truce — primarily designed to allow athletes and visitors to travel safely to the games — was, for the most part, observed. Thucydides wrote of a situation when the Spartans were forbidden from attending

15768-411: The period between two games. Previously, the local dating systems of the Greek states were used (they continued to be used by everyone except historians), which led to confusion when trying to determine dates. For example, Diodorus states that there was a solar eclipse in the third year of the 113th Olympiad, which must be the eclipse of 316 BC. This gives a date of (mid-summer) 765 BC for the first year of

15914-472: The record for most individual golds in a single Olympics (both Summer and Winter). Hanni Wenzel won both the slalom and giant slalom and her country, Liechtenstein , became the smallest nation to produce an Olympic gold medallist. In the " Miracle on Ice ", the American hockey team composed of college players beat the favoured seasoned professionals from the Soviet Union , and progressed to eventually win

16060-473: The regard that their competitions were often held in grand facilities, with prizes and nudity that stressed the Greek idealisms of training one's body to be as fit as their mind. It is this ideology and athletic exceptionalism that resulted in theories claiming the Greeks were the inventors of sport. In the first 200 years of the games' existence, they only had regional religious importance. Only Greeks in proximity to Olympia competed in these early games. This

16206-517: The same event, also aged 15, in St. Moritz in 1928 . New world records were set in speed skating largely due to the introduction of the clap skate . After a tumultuous host city process , the 2002 Winter Olympics were held in Salt Lake City , United States. 2,399 athletes from 77 National Olympic Committees participated in 78 events in 7 sports. These Games were the first to take place since

16352-417: The same for all genders and depending on the one running the first leg (7.5 km if men run first, 6 km if women do), but in 2024 it became 6 km for every relay member no matter who runs first leg. Medal table This event was first held in 2019. Each team consists of two members - man and woman. The first of the team members runs the first and third legs (3 km each), the other team member –

16498-670: The second and fourth legs (3 km and 4.5 km respectively). In 2019 and 2020 the women biathletes started single mixed relay and the men biathletes finished it, in 2021 this order was reversed. Since then, this order alternates for each following edition. Medal table Updated after the 2024 Championships . Boldface denotes active biathletes and highest medal count among all biathletes (including these who not included in these tables) per type. [REDACTED] Media related to Biathlon World Championships at Wikimedia Commons Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (French: Jeux olympiques d'hiver ) , also known as

16644-437: The second century. Once again, "philosophers, orators, artists, religious proselytizers, singers, and all kinds of performers went to the festival of Zeus." The 3rd century saw a decline in the popularity of the games. The victory list of Africanus ends at the 249th Olympiad (217), though Moses of Chorene 's History of Armenia lists a boxing winner from as late as 369 (the 287th Olympiad). Excavated inscriptions also show

16790-409: The short-track speed skating events. Sun-Yu Jin won three gold medals while her teammate Hyun-Soo Ahn won three gold medals and a bronze. In the women's Cross-Country team pursuit Canadian Sara Renner broke one of her poles and, when he saw her dilemma, Norwegian coach Bjørnar 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

16936-565: The six cross-country events on the women's programme. She finished the Olympics with three golds, a silver and a bronze. For the first time, Canada won a gold medal at an Olympic Games it hosted, having failed to do so at both the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary . In contrast to the lack of gold medals at these previous Olympics, the Canadian team finished first overall in gold medal wins, and became

17082-473: The son of Zeus: According to Pindar, Heracles established an athletic festival to honor his father, Zeus, after he had completed his labors . Areas around the Mediterranean had a long tradition of physical activities, eventhough they did not seem to hold regular competitions, with the events being probably the preserve of kings and upper classes. The earliest evidence of athletic tradition in Greece come from late Bronze Age artistic represenations, such as from

17228-430: The then new event of Mixed Relay (two legs done by women, two legs by men) was arranged separately from the ordinary Championships. Past Championships: Upcoming: Bold numbers in brackets denotes record number of victories in corresponding disciplines. This event was first held in 1958. Medal table This event was first held in 1974. Medal table This event was first held in 1997. Medal table This event

17374-419: The time of the ancient games their origins were attributed to the gods, and competing legends persisted as to who actually was responsible for the genesis of the games. The patterns that emerge from these legends are that the Greeks believed the games had their roots in religion, that athletic competition was tied to worship of the gods, and the revival of the ancient games was intended to bring peace, harmony and

17520-468: The track, around 7.5 km to 9 km (4.6 to 5.6 mi), although it may have been lengths rather than laps and thus half as far. The last running event added to the Olympic program was the hoplitodromos , or " hoplite race", introduced in 520 BC and traditionally run as the last race of the games. Competitors ran either a single or double diaulos (approximately 400 or 800 metres, 0.25 or 0.5 miles) in full military armour. The hoplitodromos

17666-663: The valley of the Alfeiós River (Romanized as Alpheus) in the western part of the Peloponnese , today around 18 km (11 mi) away from the Ionian Sea but perhaps, in antiquity, half that distance. The Altis, as the sanctuary as was originally known, was an irregular quadrangular area more than 180 meters (590.5 feet) on each side and walled except to the North where it was bounded by the Mount Kronos. It consisted of

17812-631: The women's 1,000 metre speed skating event. Seven months later she would earn a silver in track cycling at the Summer Games in Seoul , to become the only athlete to win medals in both a Summer and Winter Olympics in the same year. The 1988 games are well remembered in popular culture from two films based on its events: Cool Runnings about the Jamaican bobsled team; and Eddie the Eagle about British ski jumper Michael Edwards , who finished last but set

17958-572: The year, when the games were held the site became over congested. There were no permanent living structures for spectators, who, rich or poor, made do with tents. Ancient visitors recall being plagued by summer heat and flies; such a problem that sacrifices were made to Zeus Averter of Flies. The site's water supply and sanitation were finally improved after nearly a thousand years, by the mid-second century AD. But you may say, there are some things disagreeable and troublesome in life. And are there none at Olympia? Are you not scorched? Are you not pressed by

18104-560: The youngest male Winter Olympic champion. New Zealand skier Annelise Coberger became the first Winter Olympic medallist from the southern hemisphere when she won a silver medal in the women's slalom. The 1994 Winter Olympics , held in Lillehammer , 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 the 91st IOC Session (1986) to separate

18250-501: The youngest medallist on snow at the Winter Games when he took a silver in the halfpipe competition at the age of fifteen. 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

18396-550: 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. The 1998 Winter Olympics were held in

18542-586: Was a charter member of the IOC and a close friend of Olympic Games founder Pierre de Coubertin . He attempted to have winter sports, specifically figure skating , added to the Olympic programme but was unsuccessful until the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. Four figure skating events were contested, at which Ulrich Salchow (10-time world champion) and Madge Syers won the individual titles. Three years later, Italian count Eugenio Brunetta d'Usseaux proposed that

18688-433: Was a major part of the games. Sculptors, poets, painters and other artisans would come to the games to display their works in what became an artistic competition. Poets would be commissioned to write poems in praise of the Olympic victors. Such victory songs or epinicians, were passed on from generation to generation and many of them have lasted far longer than any other honor made for the same purpose. Pausanias claimed that

18834-400: Was based on a war tactic of soldiers running in full armor to surprise the enemy. Wrestling ( pale ) is recorded as being introduced at the 18th Olympiad. Three throws were necessary for a win. A throw was counted if the body, hip, back or shoulder (and possibly knee) touched the ground. If both competitors fell nothing was counted. Unlike its modern counterpart Greco-Roman wrestling , it

18980-479: Was commissioned by the town of Pisa to capture the sanctuary from the town of Elis , which he did and then personally controlled the games for that year. The next year, Elis regained control. Greek sports also derived its origins from the concept that physical energy was being expended in a ritualistic manner, in which Paleolithic age hunting practices were turned into a more socially and glamorized function, thus becoming sport. The Greeks in particular were unique in

19126-430: Was enlisted to transport snow and ice from other places to the sports venues. Soviet speed-skater Lidia Skoblikova made history by winning all four-speed skating events. Her career total of six gold medals set a record for Winter Olympics athletes. Also, for the first time Luge was added to the Olympic program, but the sport received bad publicity when a competitor was killed in a pre-Olympic training run. Held in

19272-424: Was first held in 1984. Through 1988 the distance was 10 km. Medal table This event was first held in 1984. Through 1988 the distance was 5 km. Medal table This event was first held in 1997. Medal table This event was first held in 1999. Medal table This event was first held in 1984. Through 1988, the event was 3 × 5 km. 1989–91: 3 × 7.5 km. 1993–2001: 4 × 7.5 km. In 2003,

19418-586: Was first held in 1999. Medal table This event was first held unofficially in 1965 . It was a success, and replaced the team competition as an official event in 1966. Medal table This event was held from 1958 to 1965. The times of the top 3 athletes from each country in the 20 km individual were added together (in 1958 the top 4). Medal table This event, a patrol race, was held from 1989 to 1998. 1989–93: 20 km. 1994–98: 10 km. Medal table Bold numbers in brackets denotes record number of victories in corresponding disciplines. This event

19564-404: Was held . The Austrian city of Innsbruck was the host in 1964 . 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

19710-424: Was injured on 6 January 1994, in an assault planned by the ex-husband of opponent Tonya Harding . Both skaters competed in the Games, but the gold medal was narrowly won by Oksana Baiul who became Ukraine 's first Olympic champion, while Kerrigan won the silver medal. Johann Olav Koss of Norway won three gold medals, coming first in all of the distance speed skating events. 13-year-old Kim Yoon-Mi became

19856-466: Was limited to male athletes, except for women who were allowed to take part by entering horses in the equestrian events. Youth events are recorded as starting in 632 BC. Our knowledge of how the events were performed primarily derives from the paintings of athletes found on many vases, particularly those of the Archaic and Classical periods. Competitors had access to two gymnasiums for training purposes:

20002-585: Was made in 1986, when during the 91st 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 that 1992 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 to 1994 . After those games,

20148-497: Was more than twice the cost of the broadcast rights for the Innsbruck Games. 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

20294-602: Was not enough snow to hold all the events until mid-January. Sonja Henie defended her Olympic title, and Eddie Eagan of the United States, who had been an Olympic champion in boxing in 1920, won the gold medal in the men's bobsleigh event to join Gillis Grafström as the only athletes to have won gold medals in both the Summer and Winter Olympics. Eagan has the distinction as the only Olympian as of 2020 to accomplish this feat in different sports. The German towns of Garmisch and Partenkirchen joined to organise

20440-542: Was placed on a throne in the temple. The statue became one of the seven wonders of the ancient world . As the historian Strabo put it, ... the glory of the temple persisted ... on account both of the festal assembly and of the Olympian Games, in which the prize was a crown and which were regarded as sacred, the greatest games in the world. The temple was adorned by its numerous offerings, which were dedicated there from all parts of Greece. Artistic expression

20586-437: Was primarily the loan of three-time Olympic champion Chionis. The appeal of settling with an Olympic champion helped to populate the colonies and maintain cultural and political ties with the city-states near Olympia. Thus, Hellenic culture and the games spread while the primacy of Olympia persisted. During the Olympic Games, a truce, or ekecheiria was observed. Three runners, known as spondophoroi , were sent from Elis to

20732-490: Was selected to host the first 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. Twenty-eight countries competed in Switzerland, but athletes from Germany and Japan were not invited. Controversy erupted when two hockey teams from

20878-413: Was similar to the modern competition. Stone and iron diskoi have been found, although the most commonly used material appears to be bronze. To what extent the diskos was standardized is unclear, but the most common weight seems to be 2 kg (4.4 lbs) size with a diameter of approximately 21 cm (8 in), roughly equivalent to the modern discus. In the long jump ( halma ) competitors swung

21024-466: Was the first time that Russia had hosted a Winter Olympics. The Games took place from 7 to 23 February 2014. A record 2,800 athletes from 88 countries competed in 98 events. The Olympic Village and Olympic Stadium were located on the Black Sea coast. All of the mountain venues were 50 kilometres (31 mi) away in the alpine region known as Krasnaya Polyana . The Games were the most expensive until

21170-474: Was the first to be hosted outside of Europe. Seventeen nations and 252 athletes participated. This was less than in 1928, as the journey to Lake Placid was too long and expensive for some European nations that encountered financial problems in the midst of the Great Depression . The athletes competed in fourteen events in four sports. Virtually no snow fell for two months before the Games, and there

21316-445: Was won by Charles 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 in men's figure skating, becoming the first Olympian to win gold medals in both Summer and Winter Olympics. Germany remained banned until 1925, and instead hosted

#610389