1936 Winter Olympics

Opening Ceremony with Rudolf Hess, president of IOC count Henri de Baillet-Latour, and Adolf Hitler

The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games (French: Les IVes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) (German: Olympische Winterspiele 1936), were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, Germany. Germany also hosted that year's Summer Olympics in Berlin. 1936 is the last year in which the Summer and Winter Games were both held in the same country (the cancelled 1940 games would have been held in Japan, with that country likewise hosting the Winter and Summer games).

The 1936 Winter Olympics were organized on behalf of the German League of the Reich for Physical Exercise (DRL) by Karl Ritter von Halt. Von Halt had been named President of the Committee for the organization of the Fourth Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen by Reichssportführer Hans von Tschammer und Osten.

Highlights

• German skier Willy Bogner took the Olympic oath during the opening ceremonies.
• Alpine skiing made its first appearance in the winter Olympics as the combined, which added a skier's results in both the downhill and slalom. German athletes Franz Pfnür won men's alpine and Christl Cranz won women's alpine events.
• Ivar Ballangrud won three out of the four speed skating races.
• Sonja Henie won her third consecutive gold medal in woman's figure skating.
• Switzerland won the 4 man bobsled in a time of 5:19.85.
• Great Britain upset 1932 gold medalists Canada in ice hockey when Edgar Brenchley scored the winning goal within the last ninety seconds.
• The country who won the overall games was Norway with a total of 7 gold medals, 5 silver medals and 3 bronze medals.
• These games had the largest and heaviest medals ever awarded to athletes: 100 mm diameter, 4 mm thick, weighing 324 g.

Sports

Medals were awarded in 17 events contested in 4 sports (8 disciplines).

• Bobsleigh (2) ()
• Ice hockey (1) ()
• Skating
  • Figure skating (3) ()
  • Speed skating (4) ()
• Skiing
  • Alpine skiing (2) ()
  • Nordic skiing ()
    • Cross-country skiing (3) ()
    • Nordic combined (1) ()
    • Ski jumping (1) ()

Demonstration sports

• Military patrol
• Ice Stock Sport

Venues

• Große Olympiaschanze – Cross-country skiing, Nordic combined, Opening and Closing Ceremonies, and Ski Jumping.
• Gudiberg – Alpine skiing (combined – slalom)
• Kreuzjoch – Alpine skiing (combined – downhill)
• Kreuzeck – Alpine skiing (downhill finish line)
• Olympia-Kunsteisstadion – Figure skating and Ice hockey
• Riessersee and surrounding areas – Bobsleigh, Ice hockey, and Speed skating

Participating nations

28 nations sent athletes to compete in Germany. Australia, Bulgaria, Greece, Liechtenstein, Spain, and Turkey all made their Winter Olympic debut in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Yugoslavia all returned to the Games after having missed the 1932 Winter Olympics.

Number of athletes by National Olympic Committees

IOC	Country	Athletes
AUT	Austria	60
GER	Germany	55
USA	United States	55
TCH	Czechoslovakia	48
ITA	Italy	40
GBR	Great Britain	38
SUI	Switzerland	34
SWE	Sweden	32
JPN	Japan	31
NOR	Norway	31
CAN	Canada	29
FRA	France	28
BEL	Belgium	27
LAT	Latvia	26
HUN	Hungary	25
POL	Poland	20
FIN	Finland	19
YUG	Yugoslavia	17
ROM	Romania	15
NED	Netherlands	8
ESP	Spain	6
SUI	Switzerland	6
TUR	Turkey	6
LIE	Liechtenstein	4
LUX	Luxembourg	4
BUL	Bulgaria	7
EST	Estonia	5
AUS	Australia	1
GRE	Greece	1
Total	646

Medal count

Norwegian figure skater Sonja Henie

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Norway	7	5	3	15
2	Germany (host nation)	3	3	0	6
3	Sweden	2	2	3	7
4	Finland	1	2	3	6
5	Switzerland	1	2	0	3
6	Austria	1	1	2	4
7	Great Britain	1	1	1	3
8	United States	1	0	3	4
9	Canada	0	1	0	1
10	France	0	0	1	1
	Hungary	0	0	1	1
Total		17	17	17	51

See also

• 1936 Summer Olympics

• Winter Olympic Games
• Olympic Games
• International Olympic Committee
• List of IOC country codes
• Sports Office of Nazi Germany

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1936 Winter Olympics.

• "Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee. 
• "Results and Medalists". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee. 
• Complete official IOC report. In German
• The program of the 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Winter Olympics

Further reading

• Berlin Games – How Hitler Stole the Olympic Dream, by Guy Walters ISBN 0-7195-6783-1 (UK) 0060874120 (USA)

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