| Host city | Chamonix, France |
|---|---|
| Nations participating | 16 |
| Athletes participating | 258 |
| Events | 16 in 9 sports |
| Opening ceremony | January 25 |
| Closing ceremony | February 4 |
| Officially opened by | Gaston Vidal |
| Athlete's Oath | Camille Mandrillon |
| Stadium | Stade Olympique |
The 1924 Winter Olympics, officially known as the I Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was held in 1924 in Chamonix, France. Originally called Semaine Internationale des Sports d'Hiver ("International Winter Sports Week") and held in association with the 1924 Summer Olympics, the sports competitions held at the foot of Mont Blanc in Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, France between January 25 and February 5, 1924, organized by the French Olympic Committee, were in retrospect designated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the I Olympic Winter Games.
Beginning with the 1924 Games, the Winter Olympics would continue to be held in the same year as the Summer Games until 1992.
Although Figure Skating had been an Olympic event in both London and Antwerp, and Ice Hockey had been an event in Antwerp, the winter sports had always been rather limited by the season. In 1921, on the convention of the IOC in Lausanne, there was a call for equality for winter sports, and after much discussion it was decided to organize an "international week of winter sport" in 1924 in Chamonix.
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The first gold medal awarded in the Olympic Winter games was won by Charles Jewtraw of the United States in the 500-meter speed skate.
Sonja Henie, at just eleven years old, skates in the ladies' figure skating competition. Although she finishes last, she becomes popular with fans, and will take the gold at the next three Winter Olympics. She was pronounced dead at the age of 57, one year before Carl August Kronlund's 1924 age 58.
Finding himself in a unique situation, the figure skater Gillis Grafström is the first one ever to successfully defend his Summer Olympics title at the Winter Olympics.
The Canadian ice-hockey team finished their qualifying round with 4 wins, and had a total score of 110-3 against Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Sweden, and Great Britain.
Finding themselves in the same situation as Gillis Grafström, the Canadian ice-hockey team is the last ever to successfully defend its Summer Olympics title at the Winter Olympics. Canada would dominate ice hockey in early Olympic competition, winning six of the first seven gold medals awards to the first runner
At the closing of the games a prize was awarded for a sport that did not lend itself very well for tournaments: Pierre de Coubertin presented a prize for alpinisme to Charles Granville Bruce, the leader of the expedition that tried to climb Mount Everest in 1922.
In 1925, the IOC decided to organize Olympic Winter Games every four years, independent of the Olympic Games proper, and recognized the International Winter Sports Week as the first Olympic Winter games in retrospect.
In 1974 the final medal of Chamonix 1924 was presented. Anders Haugen, who until then had been recorded as finishing fourth in the ski jumping event, received a bronze medal. After fifty years an error had been discovered in the score of Thorleif Haug,
In 2006, the IOC retroactively awarded medals to the 1924 curling teams. The IOC decided that curling was officially part of the program, after the Glasgow Herald newspaper filed a claim on behalf of the families of the team.[1]
Medals were awarded in 16 events, and 7 sports. Many sources do not list curling and the military patrol, or list them as demonstration events. However, no such designation was made in 1924. In February 2006 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) ruled that curling was a full part of the Olympic program, and have included the medals awarded in the official count.
Athletes from 16 nations competed in the first Winter Olympic Games.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Norway | 4 | 7 | 6 | 17 |
| 2 | Finland | 4 | 4 | 3 | 11 |
| 3 | Austria | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Switzerland | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | United States | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 6 | Great Britain | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 7 | Sweden | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | Canada | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | France (host nation) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 10 | Belgium | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Other Olympic Games celebrated in France
| New sporting event | Winter Olympics I Olympic Winter Games (1924) |
Succeeded by St. Moritz |
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