Sport and Leisure/Winter Olympics
Figure skating was included in the original programme of the 1900 Summer Olympics, but the competitions never took place. In 1908, four figure skating events were held in London. Sweden refused to include winter sports in the 1912 Games on the grounds that it would threaten their own Nordic Games. The organizers of the 1916 Games planned a separate Skiing Olympia but the Olympics were cancelled due to WWI. Figure skating and ice hockey were included in the 1920 Games
1908 London
Men’s figure skating – Ulrich Salchow
Special figures – Nikolai Panin (Kolomenkin), the first Russian Olympic gold medal winner. This was the only Olympics where Special figures was skated
Women’s figure skating – Madge Syers. Bronze – Dorothy Greenhough-Smith
Madge Syers won the British national championship in 1903 and 1904, when she defeated her husband
Pairs. Silver – Phyllis and James Johnson. Bronze – Madge and Edgar Syers
1920 Antwerp
Ice hockey played by seven-man teams. Two 20-minute periods with no substitutions. Canada won the gold medal round, which consisted of eight teams. The three teams that lost to Canada played off for second place. USA finished second, and Czechoslovakia beat Sweden to win the bronze match
Canada was represented by the Winnipeg Falcons
USA beat Switzerland 29-0 in a gold medal quarter-final match
Men’s figure skating – Gillis Grafstrom (Sweden). Bronze – Martin Stixrud (Norway), aged 44
Pairs. Bronze – Phyllis Johnson and Basil Williams
1924 Chamonix
In 1922, over the objections of Pierre de Coubertin, a motion was passed to stage ‘International Winter Sports Week 1924’ in Chamonix. The event was a success and was retrospectively named the First Olympic Winter Games. The Scandinavians dropped their objections and supported a proposal to continue the Winter Olympics every four years
16 events, 16 nations represented, 294 competitors (13 women)
At the closing of the games 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
First event to be decided was the men’s 500m speed skating. First gold medal won by Charles Jewtraw (USA)
Clas Thunberg (Finland) won medals in all five speed skating events, including three gold medals (1500m, 5000m, and Allround (four races combined event, only raced in 1924))
Canada, represented by the Toronto Granites, won all five ice hockey matches, outscoring their opponents 110-3. Won final match against USA 6-1
Based on medal count, this was Great Britain's best ever performance at a Winter Olympic Games (Gold – curling, silver – four-man bob, bronze – women’s figure skating and ice hockey)
Men’s figure skating – Gillis Grafstrom
Women’s figure skating. Bronze – Ethel Muckelt (GB)
11-year-old Sonja Henie finished last (eighth)
Four-man bob – Switzerland
Ski jumping large hill – Jacob Thams (Norway). Bronze – Anders Haugen (USA), though he was not awarded the medal until 1974 due to a scoring error
1928 St. Moritz
Argentina were the first country from the Southern Hemisphere to compete in the Winter Games
Military patrol and skijoring were demonstration sports
Norway finished on top of the medal table with 15 medals (6 gold medals, 4 silver medals and 5 bronze medals)
Clas Thunberg won two more gold medals in speed skating (500m and 1500m)
Gillis Grafstrom (Sweden) won his third straight gold medal in men’s figure skating
Canada was advanced straight to the final round of the ice hockey, while the other ten nations were divided into three pools. The winners of the three pools joined Canada in the final round. Canada, represented by the Toronto Graduates, won all three matches, outscoring their opponents 38-0
15-year old Sonja Henie won the women’s figure skating
Pairs – Andree Joly and Pierre Brunet (France). Retained the title in 1932
Men’s speed skating 5000m – Ivar Ballangrud (Norway)
In the 10000m speed skating, Irving Jaffee was leading the competition, having outskated Norwegian defending world champion Bernt Evensen in their heat, when rising temperatures thawed the ice. In a controversial ruling, the referee – a Norwegian – canceled the entire competition. Although the International Olympic Committee reversed the decision, and awarded Jaffee the gold medal, the International Skating Union overruled the IOC and restored the referee's ruling
Skeleton. Bronze – David Northesk (GB)
1932 Lake Placid
Games opened by Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt. Eleanor Roosevelt took a run down the bobsled course
Figure skater Mollie Phillips was the first woman to carry a flag at the Opening Ceremony
USA topped the medal tally with a total of 12 medals (6 gold medals, 4 silver medals, and 2 bronze medals)
Sled dog race was a demonstration sport
European speed skaters were unhappy that local officials imposed a different set of rules than those with which they were familiar. Five-time Olympic champion Clas Thunberg refused to participate
Sonja Henie defended her figure skating title
Cecilia Colledge was the youngest ever British competitor at Olympics, aged 11 at 1932 Olympics. Colledge is credited as being the first female skater to perform a double jump, as well as being the inventor of both of the camel spin and the layback spin. Won silver medal in 1936
Only four nations entered the ice hockey, so each team played each other team twice. Canada won gold, USA silver, Germany bronze. The other team to compete was Poland
Men’s figure skating – Karl Schafer (Austria). Silver – Gillis Grafstrom
Men’s speed skating 5000m and 10000m – Irving Jaffee (USA)
Two-man bob raced for the first time. Won by brothers Hubert and Curtis Stevens (USA)
Eddie Eagan won gold in USA four-man bobsleigh team
Jay O’Brien became oldest person to win gold, in USA four-man bob, aged 48
Ski jumping large hill – Birger Ruud (Norway). Retained the title in 1936 and won silver in 1948. Ruud was an accomplished alpine skier and finished fourth in the Alpine combined in 1936
1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Games opened by Hitler
Norway topped the medal table
The largest and heaviest medals ever were awarded to athletes
500,000 people attended the final day’s events
Alpine skiing events were included for the first time, with the combined event. Skiers were penalized six seconds for each gate missed during the slalom competition rather than being disqualified
The IOC declared that ski instructors could not take part in the Olympics because they were professionals. Incensed, the Austrian and Swiss skiers boycotted the events
Germany’s leading hockey player, Rudy Ball, was the only Jewish member of the German Winter Olympics team
Canada’s undefeated streak in ice hockey was halted at 20 by Great Britain
10 of the 12 GB ice hockey players lived in Canada
GB medals: gold – ice hockey, silver – women’s figure skating, bronze – four-man bob
Men’s figure skating – Karl Schafer
Women’s figure skating – Sonia Henie. Silver – Cecilia Colledge (GB)
Ivar Ballangrud won three gold medals in speed skating (500m, 5000m, and 10000m)
1940 Sapporo; St. Moritz; Garmisch-Partenkirchen
The 1940 Winter Olympics were awarded to Sapporo, but when Japan invaded China the games were reassigned to St. Moritz. The continuing dispute about ski instructors caused the Swiss to withdraw. The Germans volunteered Garmisch-Partenkirchen in July 1939, but four months later the event was cancelled due to World War II
1944 Cortina d’Ampezzo
Cortina d'Ampezzo had been awarded the games in June 1939, but due to World War II, the 1944 Winter Olympics were cancelled in 1941
1948 St. Moritz
St. Moritz was selected because it was located in Switzerland, which had remained neutral during the war, and also because it had already hosted a Winter Games
Germany and Japan were barred from competing
There were also two demonstration sports – military patrol and the winter pentathlon
Winter pentathlon involved five competitions: 10 km cross-country ski race, shooting, downhill skiing, fencing and horseback riding
Two American teams turned up to play in the ice hockey – the team from the American Hockey Association were allowed to play, the team from the American Olympic Committee were not allowed to play. Canada won the gold medal. Italy conceded 156 goals in their eight matches. Jaroslav Drobny won a silver medal as a member of the Czech team
For the first time, North America took gold medals in figure skating (Dick Button (USA) and Barbara Ann Scott)
Women’s figure skating – Barbara Ann Scott (Canada). Bronze – Jeannette Altwegg
Skeleton. Bronze – John Crammond (GB)
Men’s downhill raced for the first time. Won by Henri Oreiller (France)
Men’s slalom raced for the first time. Won by Edi Reinalter (Switzerland)
Alpine combined held for the last time until 1988
Women’s slalom raced for the first time. Won by Gretchen Fraser (USA)
1952 Oslo
Alpine skiing events were held at Norefjell, 113 km from the capital
Demonstration sport – bandy
All flags were flown at half-mast during the opening ceremony at Bislett Stadion following the death of George VI on 6 February
The Games closed with the presentation of a flag that would be passed from one Winter Olympics host city to the next. The flag, which became known as the ‘Oslo flag’, has been displayed in the host city during each subsequent Winter Games
Norway topped the medal table
Canada, represented by the Edmonton Mercurys, won the gold medal in ice hockey
Combined event replaced by giant slalom
Cross-country skiing event for women held for the first time
Men’s figure skating – Dick Button. First skater to perform a triple jump
Women’s figure skating – Jeannette Altwegg
Brother-sister pairs took the first four places in the pairs event
Hjalmar Andersen (Norway) won three gold medals in speed skating (1500m, 5000m, and 10000m)
Men’s giant slalom – Stein Eriksen (Norway). First skier from outside of the Alps to win an Olympic men’s Alpine gold medal, and the first skiing superstar
Greek slalom skier Antoin Miliordos fell 18 times on his run and crossed the finish line backwards
Women’s giant slalom and slalom – Andrea Lawrence (USA)
Women’s 10 km classical cross-country held for the first time
1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo
Cortina d'Ampezzo was selected with 75% of the votes, over bids from Montreal, Colorado Springs and Lake Placid
First games to be televised to a multi-national audience
Cortina Games were held before the Hungarian uprising, and the Suez War, which occurred in the autumn of 1956; the Winter Games escaped the boycotts that plagued the Melbourne Olympics
Athletes from West Germany (FRG) and East Germany (GDR) competed together as the United Team of Germany from 1956 to 1964
To remedy the lack of snow at the alpine skiing events, the Italian army transported large amounts of snow to ensure the courses were adequately covered
Last games at which figure skating competitions were held outdoors
First appearance by Soviet Union, who won more medals than any other nation
Soviet Union won ice hockey gold medal
Tony Sailer (Austria) won gold medals in downhill, slalom, and giant slalom
Chiharu Igaya won the silver medal in the men’s slalom, to become the first Japanese athlete to win a medal at the Winter Olympics
Women’s figure skating – Tenley Albright (USA)
Men’s figure skating – Hayes Alan Jenkins (USA). Bronze – David Jenkins, the younger brother of Hayes Alan Jenkins
Men’s 500m speed skating – Yevgeny Grishin (Russia). Retained the title in 1960
Poland won their first medal at the Winter Olympics, bronze in Nordic Combined
1960 Squaw Valley
Squaw Valley, California defeated Innsbruck in the bid process. At the time the Squaw Valley resort consisted of one chair lift, two rope tows, and a fifty-room lodge
In 1957 the United States government threatened to deny visas to athlete from Communist countries, causing the IOC to threaten to revoke Squaw Valley's right to host the 1960 Games. Bowing to international pressure, the United States allowed athletes from Communist countries entry for the Games
China and North Korea did not compete
In the men's slalom event, officials who were unsure if a skier had missed a gate asked CBS if they could review tape of the event. This request gave CBS the idea for what is now known as instant replay
The opening and closing ceremonies were produced by Walt Disney and televised by CBS. The 1960 Games were the first to have television broadcast rights sold to the highest bidder
Walt Disney was chairman of the Pageantry Committee in charge of the Opening and Closing ceremonies
Vice President Richard Nixon represented the United States government and declared the Games open. Carol Heiss took the Athletes’ Oath
Organizing committee refused to build a bobsled run because only nine nations were going to take part. This is the only time in Winter Olympic history that the bobsled events were not held
Biathlon was added to the Olympic programme
Soviet Union dominated the medal count winning 21 medals, 7 of which were gold
Women competed in speed skating for the first time with Lydia Skoblikova winning two gold medals (1500m and 3000m)
USA won ice hockey, and beat the Soviet Union for the first time. Team included the Cleary brothers and the Christian brothers
Men’s figure skating – David Jenkins. Bronze – Don Jackson (Canada), the first skater to perform a triple lutz
Women’s figure skating – Carol Heiss (USA), who married Hayes Alan Jenkins in 1961
Men’s downhill – Jean Vuarnet (France), the first gold medalist to use metal skis and no wax. Also invented the ‘egg position’, now known as the tuck
Kyung Soon-yim (South Korea) had only skied on grass before arriving at the Olympics
1964 Innsbruck
Innsbruck defeated Calgary and Lahti (Finland) in the bid process
Luge made its Olympic debut
North Korea participated in the Winter Games for the first time
Russia topped the medal table
A British lugist (Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypeski, born in Poland) and an Australian downhill skier (Ross Milne) were killed in practice
Lydia Skoblikova won all four women’s speed skating events (500m, 1000m, 1500m, and 3000m) to become the first athlete to win four gold medals in one Winter Olympics
Ice hockey – Soviet Union
Men’s figure skating – Manfred Schnelldorfer (Germany). Bronze – Scott Allen (US), the youngest male to win a medal at the Winter Olympics, aged 14
Pairs – Lyudmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov. Retained the title in 1968
Men’s 500m speed skating – Terry McDermott. The only USA gold medal in 1964
Two-man bob – Tony Nash and Robin Dixon. Suffered a broken axle bolt during their first run, but Italian world champion Eugenio Monti loaned them an axle bolt. Monti won two gold medals in 1968 and was honoured as the first recipient of the Pierre de Coubertin medal for sportsmanship
Women’s giant slalom – Marielle Goitschel (France). Silver – Christine Goitschel, her sister
Women’s slalom – Christine Goitschel. Silver – Marielle Goitschel
Competitors in ski jumping allowed to use the best two of three jumps for the only time
Charles Palmer-Tomkinson, Tara’s father, was a competitor in the giant slalom and downhill events
1968 Grenoble
Grenoble defeated Calgary and four other cities in the bid process
IOC first permitted East and West Germany to enter separately
Sex tests for women and drug tests were introduced
Games opened by President Charles de Gaulle
First Olympiad to adopt a mascot, although unofficially. Schuss, the mascot, is a styled skier
Norway topped the medal table
Jean-Claude Killy (France) won gold medals in downhill, slalom, and giant slalom
Karl Schranz (Austria) claimed that a mysterious man in black crossed his path during the slalom race, causing him to skid to a halt. Given a restart, Schranz beat Killy’s time. However, a Jury of Appeal disqualified Schranz for missing two gates and gave the victory to Killy
Men’s giant slalom decided by a combination of two runs, rather than a single run, for the first time
Women’s giant slalom – Nancy Greene (Canada)
Women’s slalom – Marielle Goitschel. 4th Gina Hathorn
Avery Brundage demanded that all trademarks be removed from the skis used by competitors. The International Ski Federation rejected the ban
Three East German entrants were disqualified from the women’s luge for heating their runners
Franco Nones (Italy) won the 30 km race to become the first non-Scandinavian skier to win a men’s cross–country contest
Ice hockey – Soviet Union
Women’s figure skating – Peggy Fleming
Fleming was the only USA gold medal winner. Signed a $500,000 contract with Ice Follies
Men’s 500m speed skating – Erhard Keller (Germany). Retained the title in 1972
1972 Sapporo
Sapporo defeated Banff, Lahti, and Salt Lake City in the bid process
First Winter Olympics to be held outside Europe or the USA
Games opened by Emperor Hirohito
The Republic of China (Taiwan) participated in their first Winter Olympic Games
Ice hockey – Soviet Union
Canada withdrew from the ice hockey tournament as a protest against the hypocrisy of the eligibility rules. Professionals were not allowed, but the Communist nations used their leading players as there were no ‘professionals’ (their players were employed by the government)
Galina Kulakova (USSR) won all three cross-country skiing events for women
Japan won their first-ever gold medal (Yukio Kasaya) in the Winter Olympics, in the normal hill ski jumping event (and also won silver and bronze in this event)
Women’s figure skating. Bronze – Janet Lynn (USA). The Ice Follies offered her a three-year contract for $1.45 million, which made her the highest-paid female professional athlete of the time
Pairs – Irina Rodnina and Aleksei Ulanov
Ulanov married Lyudmila Smirnova of the number-two USSR team
Ard Schenk (Netherlands) won three gold medals in speed skating (1500m, 5000m, and 10000m)
Connie Carpenter (USA) finished seventh in the 1500m speed skating, and won the gold medal in the cycling road race in the 1984 Summer Olympics
Men’s downhill – Bernhard Russi (Switzerland)
Avery Brundage banned Karl Schranz from competing as he was earning money as a ‘tester and designer’ for ski product manufacturers
Men’s giant slalom – Gustav Thoni (Italy)
Men’s slalom – Paquito Ochoa, the first Spaniard to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics. Silver – Gustav Thoni. Bronze – Roland Thoni (Gustav’s cousin)
Women’s downhill – Marie-Therese Nadig (Switzerland). Silver – Annemarie Proll
Women’s giant slalom – Marie-Therese Nadig. Silver – Annemarie Proll
Ski jumping large hill – Wojciech Fortuna, winning the first-ever gold medal for Poland at the Winter Olympics
Nordic combined – Ulrich Wehling (GDR). Retained the title in 1976 and 1980
1976 Innsbruck
The Games were awarded to Denver, but the people of Colorado voted to prohibit public funds from being used to support the games. The IOC then offered the games to Whistler, but they too declined. Salt Lake City offered itself as a potential host after the withdrawal of Denver. The IOC declined and selected Innsbruck
At the opening ceremony, two flames were lit, to celebrate both Innsbruck Games
The mascot was the Tyrolean snowman
Ice dancing was added to the programme
Canada and Sweden boycotted the ice hockey over the ‘professional’ players from the Communist nations
Ice hockey – Soviet Union
Czechoslovakia’s captain, Frantisek Pospipil, was chosen for a random drug test. The team trainer immediately admitted that Pospipil had been given codeine to contact a virus infection, but he was expelled by the IOC
Men’s figure skating – John Curry, who had moved to Colorado in 1973. Terry Kubicka (USA) became the only skater to legally perform a backflip during Olympic competition. The move was banned immediately afterward
Women’s figure skating – Dorothy Hamill
Hamill became the first female to sign a $1 million-a-year contract, with the Ice Capades
Curry and Hamill were both coached by Carlo Fassi
Pairs – Rodnina and Aleksandr Zaitsev. Retained the title in 1980
Tai Babilonia (who skated with Randy Gardner) was the first black athlete to compete at the Winter Olympics
Ice dance – Lyudmila Pakhomova and Aleksandr Gorshkov. Retained the title in 1980
Men’s 1000m speed skating held for the first time
Speed skater Sheila Young became the first US athlete to win three medals at a single Winter Olympics
East Germany won the four-man bobsleigh in 1976, 1980, and 1984
Luge timings changed from 1/100 of a second to 1/1000 of a second
Men’s downhill – Franz Klammer. Silver – Bernhard Russi
Women’s downhill – Rosi Mittermaier (Germany)
Women’s giant slalom – Kathy Kreiner (Canada). Silver – Rosi Mittermaier
Women’s slalom – Rosi Mittermaier
Men’s 30 km cross-country. Silver – Bill Koch (USA), the first American to win an Olympic Nordic skiing medal
Galina Kulakova (Russia), who won eight Olympic medals, finished third in the 5 km cross-country event, but was disqualified due to taking a nasal spray that contained the banned substance ephedrine, to become the first person in the history of the Winter Olympics to lose a medal because of a positive drug test
Normal hill ski jumping – Hans-Georg Aschenbach (GDR), who later admitted to having taken anabolic steroids for eight years
Large hill ski jumping – Karl Schnabl (Austria)
1980 Lake Placid
The only other candidate city to bid for the Games was Vancouver-Garibaldi; which withdrew before the final vote
The Games were an organizational disaster
The Lake Placid Games saw the only national boycott in the history of the Winter Olympics. People's Republic of China entered the Olympics Games for the first time after the IOC agreed to designate the Republic of China ‘Chinese Taipei’, so they boycotted
The mascots of the Games were Roni and Ronny, two raccoons
First use of artificial snow in Olympic competition
Games opened by Vice President Walter Mondale
Athletes’ Oath taken by Eric Heiden
Ice Hockey – USA. Nine of the USA team were from the University of Minnesota, as was the coach, Herb Brooks. USA bt Russia 4-3 in the match known as the ‘Miracle on Ice’. Winning goal – Mike Eruzione. Jim Craig recorded 39 saves. USA bt Finland in final match
Men’s figure skating – Robin Cousins, who trained in Colorado with Carlo and Christa Fassi
Women’s figure skating – Anett Potzsch (East Germany)
Eric Heiden won all five speed skating events (500m, 1000m, 1500m, 5000m, and 10000m) to become the first person in Olympic history to win five individual gold medals at one Games (three of Mark Spitz’s seven were in relay events)
Women’s speed skating 500m – Karin Enke
Women’s luge – Vera Zozulya (Russia). First non-German-speaking athlete to win a luge gold medal
Men’s downhill – Leonhard Stock (Austria)
Men’s giant slalom – Ingemar Stenmark. Silver – Andreas Wenzel (Liechtenstein)
Men’s slalom – Ingemar Stenmark. Silver – Phil Mahre (USA)
Women’s downhill – Annemarie Moser-Proll. Silver – Hanni Wenzel (Liechtenstein)
Women’s giant slalom decided by a combination of two runs, rather than a single run, for the first time
Women’s giant slalom and slalom – Hanni Wenzel, brother of Andreas
Men’s 30 km cross-country. Bronze – Ivan Lebanov, the first Bulgarian to win a medal in the Winter Olympics
Nikolay Zimyatov (Russia) won three gold medals in cross-country skiing
1984 Sarajevo
Sarajevo defeated Sapporo and Gothenburg in the bid process
The Winter Games took place in a Socialist country for the first time
The Republic of China ended its boycott of the Olympic Games over the controversy regarding the IOC's recognition of the People's Republic of China, and competed as Chinese Taipei for the first time
By 1992, the Olympic bobsled run had been transformed into an artillery position for Serbian guerrillas. The site of the slalom races was a Serb military installation and the Zetra Figure Skating Centre had been reduced to rubble
‘Speed Skater’ – poster by Andy Warhol
Mascot – Vucko, the little wolf
Disabled skiing was a demonstration sport for the first time
Stenmark was not allowed to compete because he was a professional
Marc Girardelli was not allowed to compete because he retained Austrian citizenship while skiing for Luxembourg
Austria won one bronze medal (Anton Steiner in men’s downhill skiing)
Lamine Gueye of Senegal was the first Black African skier to compete in the Winter Olympics
Marja-Liisa Hamalainen won all three individual cross-country races for women
Ice hockey – Soviet Union
Men’s figure skating – Scott Hamilton (USA). Silver – Brian Orser (Canada)
Women’s figure skating – Katarina Witt (GDR)
Ice dance – Torvill and Dean, performing Bolero. Silver – Natalya Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin
Men’s speed skating 5000m – Tomas Gustafson (Sweden)
Women’s speed skating 500m – Christa Rothenburger (GDR)
Women’s speed skating 1000m and 1500m – Karin Enke
Men’s downhill – Bill Johnson (USA). Silver – Peter Muller (Switzerland)
Men’s giant slalom. Silver – Jure Franko, the first Yugoslav to win a Winter Olympics medal
Men’s slalom – Phil Mahre. Silver – Steve Mahre, Phil’s twin brother
Women’s downhill – Michela Figini (Switzerland), the youngest skier (aged 17) ever to win an Olympic gold medal
Women’s giant slalom – Debbie Armstrong (USA)
Normal hill ski jumping – Jens Weissflog (GDR)
Large hill ski jumping – Matti Nykanen (Finland)
1988 Calgary
Calgary defeated Falun (Sweden) and Cortina d'Ampezzo in the bid process
For the first time, the Alpine events were held on artificial snow. The Alpine programme expanded to five events with the inclusion of the super giant slalom and the reintroduction of the Alpine combined
Team events were added in Nordic combined and ski jumping (large hill)
The official mascots of the games were two western-attired polar bears named Hidy and Howdy
Curling, freestyle skiing, and short track speed skating were demonstration events
Disabled skiing was an exhibition sport
The host Canadian team failed to win a gold medal
Wilf O’Reilly won two gold medals in short track speed skating demonstration event
Yvonne van Gennip (Netherlands) won three gold medals in speed skating
In biathlon, Frank-Peter Roetsch (East Germany) became the first person to win both individual events
Ice hockey – Soviet Union
Men’s figure skating – Brian Boitano (USA). Silver – Brian Orser. Bronze – Victor Petrenko, the first Ukrainian to win a medal in an individual event at the Winter Olympics
Women’s figure skating – Katarina Witt. Bronze – Debi Thomas (USA), the first black athlete to win a medal in the Winter Olympics. Witt and Thomas independently elected to skate their long programme to music from Bizet's opera Carmen (known as Battle of the Carmens)
Pairs – Yekaterina Gordeyeva and Sergei Grinkov
Ice Dance – Natalya Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin
Men’s speed skating 5000m and 10000m – Tomas Gustafson
Women’s speed skating 500m – Bonnie Blair (USA). Silver – Christa Rothenburger
Women’s speed skating 1000m – Christa Rothenburger
Women’s speed skating 5000m skated for the first time
12-year-old Jan Hoffman (GDR) competed in figure skating. Youngest-ever male competitor
Bobsleigh event included competitors from countries with little or no snow. These countries included Jamaica (whose involvement spurred the movie Cool Runnings), Mexico, and New Zealand. An informal "Caribbean Cup" of such countries was won by New Zealand. In the two-man event, the best result from a completely snow-less country was 29th by the Netherlands Antilles
Luge. Silver – Georg Hackl (Germany)
Men’s downhill – Pirmin Zurbriggen (Switzerland). Silver – Peter Muller. 8th Martin Bell
Men’s super G – Franck Piccard (France). Named after Frank Sinatra
Men’s giant slalom and slalom – Alberto Tomba (Italy)
Women’s giant slalom – Vreni Schneider (Switzerland)
Women’s slalom – Vreni Schneider
Rusiate Rogoyawa from Fiji entered the men’s 15 km classical cross-country event
Roberto Alvarez (Mexico) was so far behind in the men’s 50 km classical cross-country that race officials thought he had got lost and sent out a delegation to find him
Normal hill and large hill ski jumping – Matti Nykanen
Team ski jumping – Finland, including Matti Nykanen
Michael ‘Eddie the Eagle’ Edwards competed in the 70m and 90m ski jumps
1992 Albertville
A record of seven different locales bid for the Games
Seven other towns in the Savoy Alps hosted medal competitions
Competitions spread over 14 different sites
Short track speed skating, moguls and women's biathlon made their debut as an Olympic sport. The games were the last Winter Games to have demonstration sports, consisting of curling, aerials, ski ballet and speed skiing. It was the last Olympics to have an outdoor speed skating rink
Games opened by President Mitterand
Olympic flame co-lit by Michel Platini
Germany topped the medals table
Nicolas Bochatay was a Swiss speed skier who was killed when he collided with a snow grooming vehicle on the morning of the speed skiing finals
Alpine skiing
Men’s downhill – Patrick Ortlieb (Austria)
Men’s super G – Kjetil Andre Aamodt (Norway). Silver – Marc Girardelli (Luxembourg)
Men’s giant slalom – Alberto Tomba. Silver – Girardelli
Tomba became the first Alpine skier to win the same event twice. Most entrants ever in an event – 131, from 46 different nations
Men’s slalom – Finn Christian Jagge (Norway). Silver – Tomba (also won silver in 1994)
Alejandro Preinfalk Lavagni (Costa Rica) came last in the slalom and giant slalom
Women’s downhill – Kerrin Lee-Gartner (Canada), the first winner from a non-German-speaking country
Women’s super G – Deborah Compagnoni (Italy)
Women’s giant slalom – Pernilla Wiberg (Sweden)
Women’s slalom – Petra Kronberger (Austria). Bronze – Fernandez Ochoa (Spain), brother of Paquito Ochoa who won the slalom in 1972. First Spanish woman to win an Olympic medal in either winter or summer
Annelise Coberger of New Zealand won the southern hemisphere's first Winter Olympic medal – silver in the women's slalom
Women’s combined – Petra Kronberger
Figure skating
Men’s figure skating – Victor Petrenko
Women’s figure skating – Kristi Yamaguchi (USA). Her mother was born in a World War II internment camp for Japanese-Americans
Ice Dance. Silver – Paul and Isabelle Duchesnay, brother and sister from France, choreographed by Christopher Dean, who was Isabelle’s husband
Speed skating and Short track speed skating
Women’s speed skating 500m – Bonnie Blair. Silver – Ye Quaobo, the first Chinese athlete to win a Winter Olympic medal
Women’s speed skating 1000m – Bonnie Blair
Women’s speed skating 1500m. Bronze – Seiko Hashimoto, the first Japanese woman to win a Winter Olympic medal, also competed as a cyclist at three Summer Olympics
Women’s speed skating 3000m and 5000m – Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann (Germany)
Men’s short track 1000m held for the first time. Gold – Kim ki-hoon (Korea). 5th Wilf O’Reilly
Women’s short track 500m – Cathy Turner (USA). Retained the title in 1994
First ice hockey tournament played with a final, instead of pool matches. Soviet Union (Unified Team) bt Canada in the final
Luge – Georg Hackl (Germany), Retained the title in 1994 and 1998
Vegard Ulvang (Norway) and Bjorn Daehlie each won three gold medals in cross-country skiing
Men’s combined pursuit introduced. Won by Bjorn Daehlie. Two competitors from Morocco
Men’s 4x10 km and women’s 4x5 km cross-country relays changed from a freestyle event to an event where two skiers use the classical technique and two use the freestyle technique
Women’s combined pursuit introduced. Won by Lyubov Yegorova (Russia), who retained the title in 1994
Women’s 15 km freestyle cross-country introduced. Won by Lyubov Yegorova
Large hill ski jumping – Toni Nieminen (Finland)
Team ski jumping – Finland, including Toni Nieminen. Aged 16, he became the youngest male to win a Winter Olympics gold medal
Men’s moguls – Edgar Grospiron (France)
Women’s moguls – Donna Weinbrecht (USA)
1994 Lillehammer
The Games were the first to be held in a different year from the Summer Olympics, the first and only one to be held two years after the previous winter games
Lillehammer defeated Ostersund (Sweden), Anchorage, and Sofia in the bid process
The games also saw the introduction of stricter qualifying rules, reducing the number of under-performing participants from warm-weather countries. New events were two new distances in short track speed skating and aerials, while speed skating was moved indoors
Games opened by King Harald V
South Africa competed for the first time since 1960
Alpine skiing
Men’s downhill – Tommy Moe (USA). Silver – Aamodt
Conner O’Brien skied for his fourth different country
Men’s super-G and giant slalom – Markus Wasmeier (Germany)
Men’s slalom – Thomas Stangassinger (Austria)
Men’s combined – Lasse Kjus (Norway). Silver – Aamodt, who became the first Alpine skier to win five medals
Women’s downhill – Katja Seizinger (Germany). Silver – Picabo Street (USA)
Women’s super-G – Diann Roffe (USA)
Women’s giant slalom – Deborah Compagnoni. Retained the title in 1998, to become the first Alpine skier to earn gold medals in three different Olympics
Women’s slalom – Vreni Schneider. First female Alpine skier to win three gold medals
Women’s combined – Pernilla Wiberg. Bronze – Alenka Dovzan, first medal won by Slovenia
Figure skating
Elvis Stojko (Canada) won the silver medal in men’s figure skating in 1994 and 1998
Women’s figure skating – Oksana Baiul (Ukraine). Silver – Nancy Kerrigan. 8th Tonya Harding
On 6 January, Tonya Harding's ex-husband Jeff Gillooly hired Shane Stant to club fellow figure skater Nancy Kerrigan in the knee. Tonya Harding became a boxer
Pairs – Yekaterina Gordeyeva and Sergei Grinkov
Ice dance – Oksana Grischuk and Yevgeny Platov. Retained the title in 1998. Bronze – Torvill and Dean, performing Let’s Face the Music and Dance
Speed skating and Short track speed skating
Men’s 1000m speed skating – Dan Jansen (USA). Jansen had won seven overall World Cup titles and set seven world records, but he had never won an Olympic medal
Johann Olav Koss won three gold medals in speed skating (1500m, 5000m, and 10000m)
Women’s speed skating 500m and 1000m – Bonnie Blair
Women’s speed skating 5000m – Claudia Pechstein (Germany). Retained the title in 1998 and 2002
Men’s short track 500m held for the first time. Bronze – Nicky Gooch
Men’s short track 1000m – Kim ki-hoon. Marc Gagnon (Canada) won the bronze medal despite not taking part in the final. He won the consolation final, and two skaters in the final were disqualified
Ice hockey final – Sweden bt Canada in a shootout. First ice hockey gold medal won by Sweden
USA became the first bobsleigh crew to be disqualified for overheated runners
Bosnia used a sled donated by Netherlands
Women can now enter luge two-seater, but no women have yet entered
Men’s combined pursuit – Bjorn Daehlie, becoming the first male cross-country skier to win five gold medals
Men’s 50 km classical cross-country – Vladimir Smirnov (Kazakhstan)
Women’s 15 km and 30 km cross-country – Manuela Di Centa (Italy)
Large hill ski jumping – Jens Weissflog
Women’s 7.5 km and 15 km biathlon – Myriam Bedard (Canada)
1998 Nagano
Nagano defeated Salt Lake City in the final round of voting. The host city selection was held in Birmingham in 1991
The games saw the introduction of curling and snowboarding
Games opened by Emperor Akihito
For the first time, the best professional hockey players in the world were allowed to compete. Czech Republic won gold, beating Russia 1-0 in the final. Shutout by goaltender Dominik Hasek
Women’s ice hockey made its first appearance. Body checking is not allowed. All women are required to wear full face masks. USA bt Canada in the gold medal match
Ross Rebagliati (Canada) tested positive for marijuana and was stripped of his snowboarding gold medal. It was the first time in Olympic history that an athlete was punished for taking a non-performance-enhancing drug. The IOC decision was appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and Rebagliati’s victory was reaffirmed
Because of Japan’s strict gun control laws, biathlon rifles were kept under lock and key and biathletes had to submit to a retina scan to retrieve them
Curling tournament was held at Karuizawa, which hosted the equestrian events at the 1964 Summer Olympics, becoming the first city to hold events at both the Summer and Winter Olympics
Alpine skiing
Men’s downhill – Jean-Luc Chretier (France). Silver – Lasse Kjus. Martin Bell set a record by competing in his fifth Olympic downhill
Men’s super G – Hermann Maier (Austria). Silver – Didier Cuche (Switzerland)
Men’s giant slalom – Hermann Maier. Silver – Stephan Eberharter (Austria)
Men’s combined – slalom held before the downhill. Because of weather delays, the combined downhill was held on the same day as the regular downhill. Lasse Kjus won silver in both events, becoming the only Alpine skier to win two Olympic medals in one day
Women’s downhill – Katja Seizinger (Germany). First person to win the Olympic downhill twice
Women’s super G – Picabo Street
Women’s slalom – Hilde Gerg (Germany)
Australia won their first individual Winter Olympic medal when Zali Steggall won bronze in the women's slalom
Women’s combined – Katja Seizinger
Figure skating
Steven Cousins (GB) finished sixth in men’s figure skating
Women’s figure skating – Tara Lipinski (USA). Silver – Michelle Kwan (USA)
Tara Lipinski broke Sonja Henie’s record as the youngest winner of an individual event, aged 15. Surya Bonaly performed an illegal backflip
Speed skating and Short track speed skating
500m speed skating changed from a one-race to a two-race format. Final places are determined by the combined total of the two races
Men’s speed skating 5000m and 10000m – Gianni Romme (Netherlands)
Men’s curling – Switzerland
Women’s curling final – Canada bt Denmark, who won their first Winter Olympic medal. 4th GB (skip – Kirsty Hay)
Four-man bobsleigh. Bronze – GB (Sean Olsson, Dean Ward, Courtney Rumbolt, Paul Attwood)
Luge two-seater. Bronze – USA. First medal won by USA in luge
Men’s 50 km classical cross-country – Bjorn Daehlie, winning his eighth gold medal, his twelfth total medal, his ninth medal in an individual event, and his sixth gold medal in an individual event (tying Lydia Skoblikova)
Men’s 10 km classical cross-country saw the first appearance of a Black African in cross-country. Philip Boit and Henry Bitok were Kenyans trained in Finland in order to become competitive skiers. Both were former middle distance runners with no previous skiing experience. Their project was sponsored by Nike
Large hill ski jumping – Kazuyoshi Funaki (Japan)
Team ski jumping – Japan, including Masahiko Harada, who had lost Japan the gold medal in 1994 with a poor final jump. Okabe and Harada both jumped 137 metres, the longest ever jump in an Olympic ski jumping competition
Men’s 10 km biathlon – Ole Einar Bjorndalen (Norway)
Women’s 15 km biathlon – Yekaterina Dafovska, winning Bulgaria’s first gold medal at the Winter Olympics
Women’s moguls – Tae Satoya, becoming the first Japanese woman to earn a gold medal in the Winter Olympics
2002 Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City was chosen over Quebec City, Sion (Switzerland), and, Ostersund
Scandal broke in December 1998, when Swiss IOC member Marc Hodler, head of the coordination committee overseeing the organization of the 2002 games, announced that several members of the IOC had taken bribes. As a result of an investigation, ten members of the IOC were expelled and another ten were sanctioned
Mascots – Powder (a hare), Copper (a coyote), and Coal (a bear)
Emblem – a snow crystal
The opening ceremony featured LeAnn Rimes singing Light the Fire Within, the official song of the 2002 Olympics
John Williams composed a five-minute work for orchestra and chorus, Call of the Champions, that served as the official theme of the 2002 Winter Olympics
Games opened by President George W Bush
The closing ceremony marked the final live performance of KISS
Norway tied the Soviet Union at the 1976 Winter Olympics for most gold medals at a Winter Olympics, with 13
Germany set a record for most total medals at a Winter Olympics, with 36
Men’s skeleton was held in 1928 and 1948, then not until 2002
Women’s skeleton was held for the first time in 2002
Alpine skiing
Men’s downhill – Fritz Strobl (Austria)
Men’s combined and super-G – Aamodt
Men’s giant slalom – Eberharter
Men’s slalom – Jean-Pierre Vidal (France)
Alain Baxter finished third in slalom. He sparked controversy at the time, by dying his hair with the Saltire cross of St Andrew. A few days after his return home, Baxter discovered that he had failed a drug test. The bronze was then awarded to Austrian Benjamin Raich
Bode Miller won silver medals in the combined and giant slalom
Janica Kostelic (Croatia) won gold medals in the combined, giant slalom and slalom, and a silver medal in the super-G. The first Winter Olympic medals ever for an athlete from Croatia and the first three-gold performance by a female
Women’s downhill – Carole Montillet (France)
Women’s super-G – Daniela Ceccarelli (Italy)
Figure skating
Men’s figure skating – Alexei Yagudin (Russia). Silver – Plushenko
American Sarah Hughes won the gold medal in figure skating. Michelle Kwan fell during her long program and received the bronze medal
In the figure skating pairs competition, Yelena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze of Russia had won the short program over Jamie Sale and David Pelletier of Canada. In the free skate, Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze made a minor (but obvious) technical error. Meanwhile, Sale and Pelletier skated a flawless program, albeit one that many experts considered to be of lesser difficulty than that of the Russians, who were awarded the gold medal. There was immediate suspicion of cheating. The French judge, Marie-Reine Le Gougne said that she had been pressured by the head of the French skating organization, Didier Gailhaguet, to vote for the Russian pair regardless of how the others performed. Sale and Pelletier's silver medal was upgraded to a gold medal. The judging system was changed for the 2006 Olympics
Speed skating and Short track speed skating
Men’s and women’s short track 1500m held for the first time
Men’s short track 1500m – Apolo Anton Ohno (USA). Also won silver in 1000m
China won its first and second Winter Olympic gold medals, both by women's short-track speed skater Yang Yang (A)
One of the most memorable stories of the event occurred at the men's short track 1000m. Australian skater Steven Bradbury, a competitor who had won a bronze in 1994 as part of a relay team but well off the pace of the medal favourites, cruised off the pace in his semi-final only to see three of his competitors crash into each other, allowing him to finish second and go through to the final. Bradbury was again well off the pace, but all four other competitors crashed out in the final turn, leaving Bradbury to take the most unlikely of gold medals, the first for Australia – or any other country of the Southern Hemisphere – in the Winter Olympic Games
Two-woman bobsleigh held for the first time, over two runs. Vonetta Flowers (USA) became the first black person to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics
The cross-country skiing events were marred by drug problems. The winners of three races were disqualified after blood tests showed that three skiers had overly high red blood cell counts indicating the use of darbepoetin
Sprint cross-country skiing events held for the first time (1500m freestyle)
Women’s curling final – GB (Rhona Martin, Debbie Knox, Fiona MacDonald, Janice Rankin) bt Switzerland
Both the men's and women's ice hockey tournaments were won by Canada, defeating USA in both games
Luge. Silver – Hackl
Women’s luge – Sylke Otto (Germany). Retained the title in 2006
Women’s skeleton. Bronze – Alex Coomber
Simon Ammann of Switzerland took the double in ski jumping
Adam Małysz (Poland) won the silver medal in the large hill and the bronze medal in the normal hill ski jumping
Glynn Pedersen represented UK in ski jumping
Snowboard parallel giant slalom – Philipp Scoch (Switzerland)
Ole Einar Bjorndalen of Norway won gold in all four men's biathlon events (10 km, 12.5 km, 20 km, 4 x 7.5 km relay
Nordic combined athlete Samppa Lajunen of Finland won three gold medals
2006 Turin
Turin beat Sion (Switzerland) in the bid
The Olympic mascots of Torino 2006 were Neve (‘snow’ in Italian), a female snowball, and Gliz, a male ice cube. The official motto of the XX Olympic Winter Games was ‘Passion lives here’
Events that made their Olympic debut in Turin included mass start biathlon, team sprint cross country skiing, snowboard cross and team pursuit speed skating. The classical men's 50 km and women's 30 km distances, which were held at the previous Winter Games in 2002, were not held in these Games, as these events were alternated with freestyle events of the same distances. Most of the cross country skiing events at these Games involved different distances from those in Salt Lake City
Stefania Belmondo, a 10-time Olympic medalist in cross-country skiing, lit the Olympic Flame during the opening ceremony. Rhona Martin carried the GB flag
In the closing ceremony, Manuela Di Centa, a seven-time Olympic medalist from Italy and then-member of the IOC, was scheduled to present the medals for the men's 50 kilometre cross-country skiing event. This resulted in her presenting the gold medal to her own brother when Giorgio Di Centa won the event to take his second gold medal
Shelley Rudman carried the GB flag at the closing ceremony
Germany topped the medal table
Alpine skiing
Men’s downhill – Antoine Deneriaz (France)
Men’s combined – Ted Ligety (USA). Bode Miller disqualified. 14th Noel Baxter (GB)
Men’s super-G – Aamont
Men’s giant slalom and slalom – Benjamin Raich (Austria)
Women’s downhill – Michaela Dorfmeister (Austria). 11th Chemmy Alcott (GB)
Women’s combined – Janica Kostelic (Croatia)
Chemmy Alcott disqualified from Women’s combined because her skis were too narrow (should be at least 60 mm)
Women’s super-G – Michaela Dorfmeister
Women’s giant slalom – Julia Mancuso (USA)
Women’s slalom – Anja Paerson (Sweden)
Kjetil Andre Aamodt and Janica Kostelic both won their fourth gold medals. Aamodt also set the overall medal record in the sport with eight
Figure skating
Men’s figure skating – Evgeni Plushenko (Russia)
Women’s figure skating – Shizuka Arakawa (Japan)
Speed skating and Short track speed skating
Cindy Klassen (Canada) won five medals in speed skating (one gold, two silver, and two bronze)
Women’s 5000m – Clara Hughes (Canada)
South Korea won six of the eight gold medals in short track speed skating
Men’s 500m – Apolo Anton Ohno
Shani Davis (USA) became the first black athlete from any nation to win a gold medal in an individual sport at the Olympic Winter Games, winning the speed skating 1000m event. Defended the title in 2010
Latvia won its first winter Olympic medal when Martiņs Rubenis took the bronze in the men's luge
Men’s skeleton – Duff Gibson (Canada). Gibson became the oldest individual gold medalist in the history of the Winter Games, aged 39
Women’s skeleton – Maya Pedersen (Switzerland). Silver – Shelley Rudman (GB)
Lascelles Brown became the first Jamaican-born competitor to win a medal at the Winter Olympics, competing on the Canadian two-man bobsleigh team which finished second
Women’s ice hockey final – Canada bt Sweden
Men’s ice hockey final – Sweden bt Finland
Women’s curling final – Sweden bt Switzerland
Men’s curling third-place play-off – USA bt GB (skip – David Murdoch)
Men’s curling final – Canada bt Finland
Women’s cross country 10 km and 15 km pursuit – Kristina Smigun (Estonia), the first Estonian woman to win a medal at the Winter Olympics
Ski jumping large hill – Thomas Morgenstern (Austria)
Snowboard halfpipe – Shaun White
Snowboard parallel giant slalom – Philipp Scoch (Switzerland), defeated his brother Simon in the final
Snowboard cross – Seth Westcott (USA). Retained the title in 2010
2010 Vancouver
Vancouver beat Pyeongchang and Salzburg in the bid
Opening ceremony – flame lit by Wayne Gretsky, GB flag carried by Shelley Rudman, Canada flag carried by Clara Hughes
Games motto – ‘with glowing hearts’ / ‘des plus brilliants exploits’
Mascots – Miga (sea bear), Quatchi (sasquatch) and Sumi (animal spirit, mascot for Paralympics)
Emblem – Ilanaaq (Inuktitut word for ‘friend’), a traditional stone sculpture
Alpine events held in Whistler
Closing ceremony – Amy Williams carried GB flag, Joannie Rochette carried Canadian flag
For the first time, Olympic ice hockey matches were played on a narrower NHL-sized ice rink, instead of the international size
Luge competitor Nodar Kumaritashvili (Georgia) died in a training accident
Canada became the first host nation since Norway in 1952 to lead the gold medal count. With 14, Canada broke the record for the most gold medals won at a single Winter Olympics. The United States broke the record for the most medals won at a single Winter Olympics, with 37
Leading individual medal winners – Marit Bjoergen (Norway, women’s cross country skiing, 3-1-1), Meng Wang (China, short track, 3-0-0), Petter Northug (Norway, cross country skiing, 2-1-1)
Alpine skiing
Men’s downhill – Didier Defago (Switzerland). Silver – Aksel Lund Svindal, Bronze – Bode Miller
Men’s super-G – Svindal
Men’s giant slalom – Carlo Janka (Switzerland)
Men’s slalom – Guiliano Razzoli (Italy)
Men’s super combined – Miller
Ivaka Kostelic (Croatia) won two silver medals. He is the elder brother of Janica Kostelic
Women’s downhill – Vonn. Silver –Mancuso, Bronze – Goergl. 13th Chemmy Alcott
Anja Paerson crashed after flying for nearly 60m off the final jump. Marion Rolland crashed after five seconds
Women’s super-G – Andrea Fischbacher (Austria)
Women’s giant slalom – Viktoria Rebensburg (Germany)
Women’s slalom – Maria Riesch
Women’s super combined – Reisch. Silver – Mancuso. Bronze – Paerson (winning her sixth Olympic medal)
Tina Maze (Slovenia) won two silver medals
Figure skating
Men’s figure skating – Evan Lysacek (USA). Silver – Plushenko
Women’s figure skating – Kim Yu-Na (South Korea). Silver – Mao Asada, Bronze – Joannie Rochette (Canada), whose mother died the previous week
First time after 1960 that a Russian, Soviet or Unified Team (CIS) flagged team did not win the pair skating gold medal. Won by Chinese team of Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo
Ice Dance – Moir and Virtue (Canada). 8th John and Sinead Kerr
Speed skating and Short track speed skating
Apolo Anton Ohno won his seventh and eighth speed skating Olympic medals, beating Bonnie Blair’s record for most medals won by a US Winter Olympian
John Eley (GB) finished sixth in 500m short track
Mens’s 10000m speed skating – Lee Seunh-Hoon (South Korea). Sven Kramer (Netherlands), who had not lost a 10000m race since 2006, finished first but was disqualified due to a missed lane change
Men’s 5000m speed skating – Sven Kramer
Haralds Silovs (Latvia) competed in the 1500m short track and 5000m long track speed skating events in the same day. He is the only athlete in the history of the Winter Olympics to compete in both short track and long track events at the same Games, and the only athlete to compete in two different disciplines on the same day
Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen won his 11th Olympic medal. Only fellow Norwegian Bjorn Daehlie has won more Olympic medals, with 12 in total
Four-man bobsleigh – USA. Bobsled known as the ‘night train’
Men’s curling play-off – Sweden bt GB (skip – David Murdoch)
GB women’s curling team eliminated by Canada. GB Skip – Eve Muirhead
Women’s curling final – Sweden bt Canada
Men’s curling final – Canada bt Norway. Skip – Kevin Martin
Alexandre Bilodeau won Canada’s first ever Olympic gold medal on home soil in the men’s mogul event
Jeret Petersen performed a trick known as the ‘hurricane’ in Men’s Aerials
Men’s halfpipe – Shaun White, known as the ‘flying tomato’, who included the ‘double McTwist 1260’, also known as the ‘tomahawk’
Women’s halfpipe – Torah Bright (Australia)
Men’s ice hockey final – Canada bt USA. Winning goal scored by Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
Women’s ice hockey final – Canada bt USA
Men’s luge – Felix Loch (Germany)
Women’s skeleton – Amy Williams, 6th Shelley Rudman. A Canadian complaint about the helmet worn by Williams was rejected. Williams’ sled is known as ‘Arthur’
Men’s skeleton – Jon Montgomery (Canada), 6th Kristan Bromley
Simon Ammann won both ski jumping hills, having won the double eight years ago. Adam Malysz won silver medals on both hills
2014 Sochi
Sochi beat Pyeongchang and Salzburg in the bid process
Opening ceremony held at Fisht Olympic Stadium. Flame lit by Vladislav Tretiak and Irina Rodnina. GB flag carried by Jon Eley. Games motto – ‘Hot. Cool. Yours.’ Mascots – a polar bear, a European hare, and an Amur leopard
Events held at Sochi Olympic Park (Coastal Cluster) and Krasnaya Polyana (Extreme Park)
New events approved – Ski slopestyle, snowboard slopestyle, and snowboard parallel special slalom
Sochi 2014's organizers make a joke at their own expense during the Winter Olympics closing ceremony after the fifth Olympic ring ‘fails’ to unfurl
Lizzy Yarnold carried GB flag at closing ceremony
Russia topped the medal table
Alpine skiing
Men’s downhill – Matthias Mayer (Austria)
Men’s super-G – Kjetil Jansrud (Norway). Bronze – Bode Miller
Bode Miller, 36, became the oldest alpine skier to win an Olympic medal and became the joint-second most successful US Winter Olympian alongside Bonnie Blair, with six medals
Men’s giant slalom – Ted Ligety. First non-European winner of this event
Men’s slalom – Mario Matt (Austria). Aged 34, Matt became the oldest champion in Olympic alpine skiing
Men’s super-combined – Sando Viletta (Switzerland)
Women’s downhill – Dominique Gisin (Switzerland) and Tina Maze shared the gold medal
Women’s super-G – Anna Fenninger (Austria)
Women’s giant slalom – Tina Maze. Vanessa-Mae, competing as Vanessa Vanakorn (Thailand), finished last
Women’s slalom – Mikaela Shiffrin (USA). Aged 18, Shiffrin became the youngest champion in Olympic alpine skiing
Women’s super-combined – Maria Hofl-Riesch
Figure skating
Men’s figure skating – Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan)
Women’s figure skating – Adelina Sotnikova (Russia). Silver – Kim Yuna. This event led to a controversy on the scoring and judging
Ice dance – Meryl Davis and Charlie White (USA). Silver – Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (Canada). 10th Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland
Davis and White were the first ice dance gold medalists from USA
Speed skating and Short track speed skating
Speed skating 500m – Michel Mulder (Netherlands). Bronze – Ronald Mulder, his twin brother
Elise Christie failed to finish in all three short track speed skating events
Bjoerndalen won his 13th Olympic medal – gold in mixed biathlon relay
Marit Bjorgen won her third gold medal in cross-country skiing and equaled the record for most Winter Olympic medals by a woman, with 10, six of them gold
Alex Bilodeau retained moguls Olympics title
Slopestyle snowboard – Sage Kotsenburg (USA). First gold medal to be awarded
Women’s moguls – Canadian sisters Justine Dufour-Lapointe and Chloe Dufour-Lapointe won gold and silver
Women’s slopestyle snowboard – Jamie Anderson (USA). Bronze – Jenny Jones. GB’s first-ever medal on snow
Ski jumping normal hill and large hill both won by Kamil Stoch (Poland)
Women’s normal hill – Carina Vogt (Germany). First women’s ski jumping competition
Women’s skeleton – Lizzie Yarnold. Sled is called ‘Mervyn’
Felix Loch retained men's luge title
Women’s luge – Natalie Geisenberger. Retained the title in 2018
Men's four-man bobsleigh - GB upgraded to bronze after two Russian crews were disqualified
Women’s bobsleigh – Canada. Silver – USA-2, with Olympic sprinter Lauren Williams
Williams became the fifth person to have won a medal in both the Summer and Winter Olympic games
Former Olympic hurdler Lolo Jones represented USA-3 in bobsleigh
Women’s curling final – Canada bt Sweden. Skip – Jennifer Jones. Canada were unbeaten in the tournament
Bronze medal match – GB (Muirhead, Sloan, Adams, Hamilton) bt Switzerland
Men’s curling final – Canada bt GB (Murdoch, Drummond, Andrews, Goodfellow). Canada skip – Brad Jacobs
Men’s ice hockey final – Canada bt Sweden
Women’s ice hockey final – Canada bt USA
2018 Pyeongchang
The winning bid by Pyeongchang was announced in 2011 after the 123rd IOC Session in Durban. The two other candidates which applied to host the games were Annecy (France) and Munich
Opening ceremony – flame lit by Kim Yuna. GB flag carried by Lizzy Yarnold. Korea march under one flag. Games motto – ‘Passion. Connected.’ Mascot – Soohorang, a white tiger. Tonga flag bearer is bare-chested Pita Taufatofua. US decide flag carrier by toss of coin, won by Erin Hamlin. Shani Davis boycotts ceremony after losing the toss. Olympic rings made by drones, using augmented reality
92 nations took part, including Olympic Athletes from Russia
102 gold medals on offer across 15 disciplines
Closing ceremony. Billy Morgan carries GB flag
Final medal table – 1st Norway (14-14-11) 39 2nd Germany (14-10-7) 31 3rd Canada (11-8-10) 29 19th GB (1-0-4) 5
Mountain cluster venue – Alpensia Sports Park
Coastal cluster venues – Gangneung
Alpine skiing
Men’s downhill – Aksel Lund Svindal
Men’s super-G – Matthias Mayer
Men’s giant slalom – Marcel Hirscher
Men’s slalom – Andre Myhrer (Sweden) 9th Dave Ryding
Men’s combined – Marcel Hirscher
Women’s downhill – Sofia Goggia (Italy). Bronze – Lindsey Vonn
Women’s super-G – Ester Ledecka (Czech Republic)
Women’s giant slalom – Mikaela Schiffren
Women’s slalom – Frida Hansdotter (Sweden)
Women’s combined – Michelle Gisin (Switzerland). Sister of Dominique, who won the downhill in 2014
Alpine team – Switzerland. Parallel slalom event with two males and two females on each team
Figure skating
Men’s figure skating – Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan)
Fans throw Winnie the Pooh toys onto the ice after Hanyu has skated
Women’s figure skating – Alina Zagitova (OAR), aged 15. 2nd Medvedeva
Ice dance – Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. 11th Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland
Speed skating and Short track speed skating
Speed skating 5000m – Sven Kramer. Third successive title
Women’s 1500m speed skating – Ireen Wust (Netherlands). Tenth Olympic medal
Elise Christie failed to finish in all three short track speed skating events
Short track speed skating 5000m relay – Hungary. First ever gold medal. Team contains Shaoang Liu, who was Elise Christie’s boyfriend
Snowboarding
Snowboard slopestyle – Red Gerard (USA). Aged 17
Snowboard halfpipe – Sean White. Third gold medal
Women’s snowboard halfpipe – Chloe Kim (USA). Aged 17
Women’s snowboarding parallel giant slalom – Ledecka
Big air. Bronze – Billy Morgan
First Olympic big air competition won by Anna Gasser (Austria)
Ski slopestyle. 4th James Wood
Women’s ski slopestyle. Bronze – Isabel Atkin
First gold medal – Charlotte Kalla (Sweden), in women’s skiathlon
Skiathlon. 7th Andrew Musgrave
Ski jumping large hill – Stoch
Ski jumper Norai Kasai competes in eighth Olympics for Japan
Luge – David Gleirscher (Austria). 5th Felix Loch
Skeleton – Yun (South Korea). Bronze – Dom Parsons. Britain's first men's skeleton medal since John Crammond in 1948
Akwasi Frimpong represents Ghana in skeleton
Women’s skeleton – Yarnold. Bronze – Laura Deas
Two-man bobsleigh finishes in dead heat between Canada and Germany
Jamaica and Nigeria competed in women's bobsleigh
GB women’s bobsleigh crowdfunded by £40,000
Men’s ice hockey semi-final – Germany bt Canada
Men’s ice hockey final – OAR bt Germany
Korea women’s ice hockey team lose first match 8-0 to Switzerland
Women’s ice hockey final – USA bt Canada. Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson scores the winning penalty in the shootout
Men’s curling play-off – Switzerland bt GB (skip – Kyle Smith)
Men’s curling final – USA bt Sweden
South Korea women’s curling team are all named Kim, and are known as ‘the Garlic girls’. Their nicknames are Steak, Yogurt, Pancake, Sunny and Chocho
Women’s curling semi-final – Sweden bt GB
Eve Muirhead penalized for not releasing final stone before hogline against Sweden
Women’s curling bronze medal match – Japan bt GB
Women’s curling final – Sweden bt South KoreaEster Ledecka becomes the first person to win two gold medals at the same Winter Olympics using two different types of equipment (skis and snowboard)
Marit Bjorgen won five medals taking her total number of medals up to a record 15
Alexander Krushelnitskiy of the Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR) team is stripped of his bronze medal in mixed doubles curling after testing positive for meldonium
2022 Beijing
The host city was elected in July 2015, at the 128th IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur. Beijing beat Almaty by 44 votes to 40 with one abstention. Beijing became the first city to host both a summer and winter Games. The Games took place from 4 to 20 February 2022. A number of countries staged a diplomatic boycott of the Games. Russia competed as ROC and was represented by the flag of the Russian Olympic Committee
Seven new medal events were added, including men's and women's big air freestyle, women's monobob, mixed team competitions in freestyle skiing aerials, ski jumping, and snowboard cross, and the mixed relay in short track speed skating. Women's Nordic Combined was not added, and remains the only Winter Olympic sport only contested by men
Opening ceremony – held in Beijing National Stadium. Games opened by President Xi Jinping. Directed by Zhang Yimou. In lieu of a cauldron, the Olympic torch was mounted in the centre of a large snowflake sculpture. Games emblem – “Winter Dream”. Games slogan – “Together for a Shared Future”. Mascot – Bing Dwen Dwen, a giant panda. GB flagbearers – Eve Muirhead and Dave Ryding
91 nations took part. Haiti and Saudi Arabia made their Winter Olympic debuts
109 gold medals were on offer across 15 disciplines
Beijing Zone – includes Beijing National Aquatics Centre (curling) and Beijing National Indoor Stadium (ice hockey). Competitions for luge, skeleton, bobsleigh and alpine skiing were held in Yanqing District, using artificial snow
Zhangjiakou Zone – location for all other skiing events. 220 km from Beijing
Closing ceremony – Directed by Zhang Yimou. GB flagbearer – Bruce Mouat
Final medal table – 1st Norway (16-8-13) 37 2nd Germany (12-10-5) 27 3rd China (9-4-2) 15 19th GB (1-1-0) 2
Norway broke the record for most gold medals at a single Winter Games
ROC won the second largest number of medals at the Games (32), but finished ninth on the medal table, as only six were gold medals
Most medals won by a single athlete (5) – Norwegian biathletes Johannes Thingnes Bo and Marte Olsbu Roeiseland, French biathlete Quentin Fillon Maillet and ROC cross-country skier Alexander Bolshunov
Most gold medals won by a single athlete (4) – Johannes Thingnes Bo
Alpine skiing
Men’s downhill – Beat Fuez (Switzerland). Silver – Johan Clarey (France), aged 41
Men’s super-G – Matthias Mayer (Austria). Retained the title
Men’s giant slalom – Marco Odermatt (Switzerland)
Men’s slalom – Clement Noel (France). 13th Dave Ryding
Men’s combined – Johannes Strolz (Austria)
Women’s downhill – Corinne Suter (Switzerland). Silver – Sofia Goggia (Italy)
Women’s super-G – Laura Gut-Behrami (Switzerland)
Women’s giant slalom – Sara Hector (Sweden)
Women’s slalom – Petra Vlhova (Slovakia)
Women’s combined – Michelle Gisin (Switzerland). Retained the title
Alpine team – Austria
Biathlon
Men’s sprint – Johannes Thingnes Bo (Norway)
Men’s mass start – Johannes Thingnes Bo
Men’s individual – Quentin Fillon Maillet (France)
Men’s pursuit – Quentin Fillon Maillet
Women’s sprint – Marte Olsbu Roeiseland (Norway)
Women’s pursuit – Marte Olsbu Roeiseland
Tarjei Bø, the brother of Johannes Thingnes Bo, won four medals
Bobsleigh
Two-man bob – Germany. Only podium sweep of the Games
Four-man bob – Germany. 6th GB, piloted by Brad Hall
Women’s monobob – Kaillie Humphries (USA)
Two-woman bob – Germany. 17th GB (Mica McNeill and Montell Douglas)
Montell Douglas became the first female Briton to compete at the Summer and Winter Olympics
Cross-country skiing
Men’s 30km skiathlon – Alexander Bolshunov (ROC)
Men’s 50km freestyle – Alexander Bolshunov
Women’s 15km skiathlon – Therese Johaug (Norway). First gold medal to be awarded
Women’s 10km classical – Therese Johaug
Women’s 30km freestyle – Therese Johaug
Curling
Men’s final – Sweden (skip – Niklas Edin) bt GB (skip – Bruce Mouat)
Women’s final – GB (skip – Eve Muirhead) bt Japan
Mixed doubles – Italy. GB (Bruce Mouat and Jenn Dods) lose bronze medal game to Sweden
Mixed doubles started on 2 February, two days before the Opening Ceremony
Figure skating
Men’s singles – Nathan Chen (USA)
Women’s singles – Anna Shcherbakova (ROC). 4th Kamila Valieva (ROC, aged 15)
A sample that Valieva had submitted for a drug test in December tested positive for trimetazidine, which is banned. The ROC team won the team event, but the medal ceremony was postponed pending official investigation of filed allegations concerning possible doping, though Valieva was given permission to compete while the investigation is still in progress. In the individual event, she led after the short program, but stumbled or fell four times during the free skate, and finished in fourth place
Pairs skating – Sui Wenjing and Han Cong (China)
Ice dance – Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron (France). 10th Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson
Freestyle skiing
Men’s halfpipe – Nico Porteous (New Zealand)
Women’s big air – Eileen Gu (China). 5th Kirsty Muir
Women’s halfpipe – Eileen Gu
Women’s moguls – Jakara Anthony (Australia)
Ice hockey
Men’s quarter finals – Slovakia bt USA
Men’s final – Finland bt ROC. First ever ice hockey Olympic gold medal for Finland
Women’s final – Canada bt USA
Luge
Woman’s singles – Natalie Geisenberger (Germany). Third successive gold medal
Germany won all four gold medals
Nordic combined
Jorgen Graabak (Norway) won medals in all three events
Jarl Magnus Riiber (Norway) was leading in the combined large hill/10km event but went the wrong way, eventually finishing in eighth place
Short track speed skating
Men’s 500m – Shaoang Liu (Hungary)
Women’s 1000m – Suzanne Schulting (Netherlands). Set a new world record time in the quarter-finals
2000m mixed relay – China
Skeleton
Men’s – Christopher Grotheer (Germany)
Woman’s – Hannah Neise (Germany). 19th Laura Deas
First time in history of Women's Skeleton at the Olympics that no British athlete has won a medal
Ski jumping
Men’s normal hill individual – Ryoyu Kobayashi (Japan)
Men’s large hill individual – Marius Lindvik (Norway)
Men’s large hill team – Austria
Women’s normal hill individual – Ursa Bogataj (Slovenia)
Mixed normal hill team – Slovenia
Snowboarding
Men’s halfpipe – Ayumu Hirono (Japan). 4th Sean White
Sean White's last Olympics as he announced his upcoming retirement before the games began
Women’s big air – Anna Gasser (Austria). Retained her title. Silver – Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (New Zealand)
Women’s halfpipe – Chloe Kim (USA). Retained her title
Women’s slopestyle – Zoi Sadowski-Synnott. She landed a huge 1080 spin with her final trick. This was New Zealand's first gold medal at the Winter Olympics
Women’s snowboard cross – Lindsey Jacobellis (USA). Charlotte Bankes eliminated in quarter-finals
Lindsey Jacobellis won the silver medal at the 2006 Games, when she started celebrating her win too early and was overtaken at the finish line
Women’s parallel giant slalom – Ester Ledecka (Czech Republic). Retained her title
Mixed team snowboard cross – USA (Nick Baumgartner and Lindsey Jacobellis)
Speed skating
Men’s 5000m – Nils van der Poel (Sweden). 6th Sven Kramer
Men’s 10,000m – Nils van der Poel, in a new world record time
Men’s mass start – Bart Swings (Belgium)
Women’s 1500m – Irene Wust (Netherlands). Wust has won at least one gold medal in each of five consecutive Winter Olympic appearances
Women’s 3000m – Irene Schouten (Netherlands). Silver – Francesca Lollobrigida (Italy). Actress Gina Lollobrigida is her great-aunt
Women’s 5000m – Irene Schouten
Women’s mass start – Irene Schouten
2026 Milan Cortina (XXV)
Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo were elected in June 2019, at the 134th IOC Session in Lausanne. This will be the first Olympic Games featuring two host cities. The Games are scheduled to take place from 6 to 22 February 2026
Medals won by Great Britain
1924 – Gold, curling. Silver, four-man bob. Bronze – women’s figure skating (Ethel Muckelt) and ice hockey
1928 – Bronze, skeleton (David Northesk)
1936 – Gold, ice hockey. Silver – women’s figure skating (Cecilia Colledge). Bronze – four-man bobsleigh
1948 – Bronze, skeleton (John Crammond)
1952 – Gold, women’s figure skating (Jeanette Altwegg)
1964 – Gold, two-man bobsleigh (Tony Nash and Robin Dixon)
1976 – Gold, men’s figure skating (John Curry)
1980 – Gold, men’s figure skating (Robin Cousins)
1984 – Gold, ice dance (Torvill and Dean)
1994 – Bronze, 500m short-track speed skating (Nicky Gooch), ice dance (Torvill and Dean)
1998 – Bronze, four-man bobsleigh
2002 – Gold, women’s curling (skip – Rhona Martin). Bronze – women’s skeleton (Alex Coomber)
2006 – Silver, women’s skeleton (Shelley Rudman)
2010 – Gold, women’s skeleton (Amy Williams)
2014 – Gold, women’s skeleton (Lizzy Yarnold). Silver, men’s curling (skip – David Murdoch). Bronze, women’s slopestyle snowboard (Jenny Jones), women’s curling (skip – Eve Muirhead)
In March 2019, the GB four-man bobsleigh team (John Jackson, Bruce Tasker, Joel Fearon and Stuart Benson) who finished fifth in 2014 were upgraded to bronze, after two Russian crews were disqualified for doping
2018 – Gold, women’s skeleton (Lizzy Yarnold). Bronze, women’s skeleton (Laura Deas), men’s skeleton (Dom Parsons), men’s big air (Billy Morgan), women’s ski slopestyle (Isabel Atkin)
2022 – Gold, women’s curling (skip – Eve Muirhead). Silver, men’s curling (skip – Bruce Mouat)
Olympic trivia
Most gold medals – Bjorn Daehlie, Ole Einar Bjorndahlen and Marit Bjorgen (8)
Most medals – Ole Einar Bjorndahlen (13)
Liechtenstein is the only country to have won Medals in the Winter Olympics but not at the Summer Olympics
India is the biggest country, in terms of population, to have contested the Winter Olympics but never won a medal
Ice stock sport, also known as Bavarian curling, was a demonstration event in 1936 and 1964
The first participation of a warm weather nation in the Winter Games was Mexico, which made its Winter debut at the 1928 Winter Olympics with a five-man bobsleigh team
The first truly tropical nation to compete in the Winter Olympic Games is the Philippines, which sent two alpine skiers to the 1972 Winter Olympics
The 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary attracted a large number of tropical nations. The Jamaican Bobsled Team became a fan favourite at these Games and were later the inspiration behind the 1993 motion picture Cool Runnings. In the 1994 Games, the Jamaican four-man sled placed a creditable fourteenth, ahead of the United States and Russia, while a Jamaican bobsledder won silver for Canada in 2006
Beginning with the 1988 Winter Olympics, Bernhard Russi has been noted as the designer of the downhill courses for the Olympics
Romania has only won one medal, a bronze in the two-man bob in 1968
Alpine Skiing
Best GB skiing finish was Gina Hathorn who was fourth in the slalom in 1968
Davina Galica participated in her first Olympic games at Innsbruck in 1964, competing in downhill skiing and the slalom. She also participated at Grenoble in 1968 and Sapporo in 1972. On both occasions Galica was captain of the British Women’s Olympic Ski Team, and finished in the top-ten in the Giant Slalom (8th and 7th)
Alpine skiing debuted at the Winter Olympics in 1936; the combined was the only event. The combined was one of three medal events included in the next Olympics in 1948, along with downhill and slalom. The combined used the results of a downhill race with two runs of combined slalom. With the introduction of the giant slalom in 1952, the combined event disappeared from the Olympics for four decades, until re-introduced in 1988. The winner is the skier with the fastest aggregate time of the three races (until the 1990s, a complicated point system was used to determine placings in the combined event)
In 2005, the International Ski Federation (FIS) introduced the super combined, consisting of a single run of slalom and normally a shortened downhill run (or a super G run). The super combined format debuted at the Winter Olympics in 2010
Erika Schinegger was the world champion women's downhill skier in 1966. As she was preparing for the 1968 Winter Olympics, a medical test by the IOC determined that Schinegger was male, with internal male sex organs, and disqualified him
Noel Harrison represented GB in giant slalom in 1952 and 1956. Had a Top 10 hit with The Windmills of Your Mind in 1968
Biathlon
Uschi Disl was a 19 year veteran of biathlon and was a five time Olympian, with two Olympic gold medals from the 4 x 7.5 km relays in 1998 and 2002. She also has four silver medals and three bronze medals. Nicknamed ‘Turbo-Disl’
Biathlon debuted at the 1960 Winter Olympics with the men's 20 km individual event. At the 1968 Winter Olympics, the men's 4 x 7.5 km relay debuted, followed by the 10 km sprint event at the 1980 Winter Olympics. Beginning at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, women's biathlon debuted with the 15 km individual, 3 x 7.5 km relay (4 x 7.5 km during 1994 – 2002, and 4 x 6 km in 2006), and 7.5 km sprint. A pursuit race (12.5 km for men and 10 km for women) was included at the 2002 Winter Olympics. The top 60 finishers of the sprint race (10 km for men and 7.5 km for women) would qualify for the pursuit event. The sprint winner starts the race, followed by each successive biathlete at the same time interval he/she trailed the sprint winner in that event. At the 2006 Winter Olympics, a mass start (15 km for men and 12.5 km for women) was introduced where the top 30 biathletes from the previous four events were allowed to start together for the competition
Prior to the biathlon debut at the 1960 Winter Olympics, there was a military patrol event that was held at four Winter Olympic Games: 1924, 1928, 1936, and 1948. Medals were awarded for military patrol in 1924, but it was a demonstration event for the other three Games
Men’s 10 km biathlon and women’s 7.5 km – five shots prone at first stop, five shots standing at second stop. Each missed target is penalized by forcing the skier to ski a 150m penalty loop
Men’s 20 km biathlon and women’s 15 km – five shots prone at first and third stops, five shots standing at second and fourth stops. Each missed target incurs a one-minute penalty
In a biathlon relay, each skier has to hit five shots out of eight, and skis a 150m penalty loop for each miss beyond three
Bobsleigh
Prince Albert of Monaco was a bobsled driver in five Olympics, between 1988 and 2002
In 1984 bobsledder Carl-Erik Eriksson (Sweden) became the first person to compete in six Winter Olympics
Andre Lange is a retired German bobsledder and the most successful bob pilot of all time who competed at senior level from 1998 to 2010. Competing in three Winter Olympics, he won four gold medals
Winston Watts is a member of the Jamaica national bobsleigh team. He has been a participant at four Olympics, most recently the 2014 Winter Olympics
Cross-country skiing
Cross-country skiing is also known as langlauf. Two skiing techniques are used in Nordic events – classical (diagonal stride) and freestyle (skating style)
Men’s classical cross-country race is either 15 km or 18 km
In the men’s combined pursuit event, skiers race 10 km using the classical technique. Then, setting out on a staggered start based on the results of the first race, they race another 10 km freestyle. Prior to 2002, this was a two-day event and the second event was 15 km rather than 10 km
In the women’s combined pursuit event, skiers race 5 km using the classical technique. Then, setting out on a staggered start based on the results of the first race, they race another 5 km freestyle. Prior to 2002, this was a two-day event and the second event was 10 km rather than 5 km
Men’s 30 km cross-country was an event from 1956 to 2002 (freestyle, but some races used classical style)
Men’s 10 km classical cross-country was an event from 1992 to 1998. Won by Bjorn Daehlie in 1994 and 1998
Women’s 5 km classical cross-country was an event from 1964 to 1998
Women’s 20 km freestyle cross-country changed to 30 km in 1992, classical in 1994
In 2011, the name of the pursuit event was changed to skiathlon
Sixten Jernberg (Sweden) won nine medals, including four gold medals, in cross-country skiing. Won the 50 km classical in 1956 and 1964, and the 30 km in 1960
Russian cross-country skier Lyubov Yegorova won a total of nine medals at the Winter Olympics, earning six golds and three silver medals. She was the most successful athlete at both the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympics. Yegorova's career ended at the 1997 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships when she was disqualified for doping on bromantan, an anabolic steroid
Raisa Smetanina is a cross-country skier and the first woman in history to win ten Winter Olympic medals, including four gold medals. Smetanina took part in five Olympics, representing the USSR team four times and the Unified Team once
Stefania Belmondo is an Italian cross-country skier who won ten Winter Olympic medals, including two gold medals, in 1992 and 2002
Passing skier shouts “track” in cross country skiing
Curling
In February 2006, a few days before the start of the 2006 Winter Olympics, the International Olympic Committee ruled that the curling medals were part of the official Olympic programme in 1924, and not a demonstration event as many authoritative sources had previously claimed
Curling was a demonstration sport at the 1932 Games, and then again after a lengthy absence in 1988 and 1992. The sport was finally added to the official program for the 1998 Nagano Games
Figure skating
Figure skating was first contested as an Olympic sport at the 1908 Summer Olympics
Ice dance joined as a medal sport in 1976 and a team event debuted at the 2014 Olympics
Freestyle skiing
Freestyle skiing has been contested at the Winter Olympic Games since 1992. It was a demonstration sport at the 1988 Winter Olympics, with moguls, aerials, and ballet events. Moguls became an official medal sport at the 1992 games, while aerials and ballet were still demonstration events. At the 1994 Games, aerials also became an official medal event and the ski ballet competition was dropped. For the 2010 Winter Olympics, ski cross was added to the program while the 2014 Winter Olympics had ski halfpipe added
Aerial competitors receive a score based on jump takeoff (20%), jump form (50%) and landing (30%). A degree of difficulty (DD) is then factored in for a total score. Skiers are judged on a cumulative score of two jumps
Mogul competitors receive a score based on turns (50%), two aerial manouvres (25%) and time (25%)
Ice hockey
Tied ice hockey playoff games are followed by ten minutes of sudden death overtime. If the game remains tied, it is decided by a shootout. If the game remains tied after the first three shooters, any player can be chosen to shoot any number of times
An Olympic ice hockey rink is wider than an NHL rink
In 1987 the International Ice Hockey Federation voted to make all professionals, including those from the NHL, eligible for the Olympics. The NHL owners refused to allow their best players to leave in the middle of the season. The 1998 Games were the first in which the best professional players in the world took part
Luge
Luge was first contested at the 1964 Winter Olympics
Germany has dominated the competition
Nordic combined
The Nordic combined events have been contested since 1924. The first competition involved 18 km cross-country skiing, followed by ski jumping (two jumps on a normal hill). Whoever earned the most points from both competitions won the event. At the 1952 Winter Olympics, the ski jumping was held first, followed by 18 km cross-country skiing. The cross-country skiing portion was reduced to 15 km at the 1956 Winter Olympics. At the 1988 Winter Olympics the scoring was changed with the Gundersen method, meaning the 15 km cross country portion would go from an interval start race to a pursuit race, so that whoever crossed the finish line first won the event
The Nordic combined team event with a 3 x 10 km cross country relay started at the 1988 Winter Olympics, changing to the current 4 x 5 km cross-country relay at the 1998 Winter Olympics. The starting order is based on the results of the ski jumping
The 7.5 km Nordic combined sprint event was added at the 2002 Winter Olympics
Short track speed skating
Short track speed skating races are held on a 111 metres oval track
Men’s short track relay is raced over 5000 metres
Women’s short track relay is raced over 3000 metres
Kim Yun-Mi (Korea) won her first Olympic gold medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer in short track at only thirteen years of age. She is the youngest female Olympic Gold Medalist and the youngest Winter Olympic Gold Medalist
There were two Chinese short track skaters named Yang Yang. Originally, Yang Yang (A) was known as Yang Yang (L) for ‘large’ as she is older than Yang Yang (S) (for ‘small’); however, she objected to the ‘L’ identifier, changing it to ‘A’ for ‘August’, her birth month
Skeleton
Skeleton is similar to luge, but the competitor rides head-first and prone (lying face down) on a flat sled
Ski jumping
Individual Olympic competition in ski jumping consists of a training jump and two scored jumps. The team event consists of four members of the same nation, who each jump twice
Jumps are scored according to distance and style (scored by five judges)
In 1964 the ski jump was split into normal hill (70m jump) and large hill (90m jump)
Japan is the only non-European nation to win a ski jumping gold medal
Prior to 1994, the lowest score of each round was dropped for each team in the ski jumping team event
In April 2011 the International Olympic Committee officially accepted women ski jumping into the official Olympic program for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi
Janne Ahonen (Finland) has never won an Olympic medal from an individual ski jumping competition: he has placed 4th three times. He won silver medals in team competitions in 2002 and 2006
Snowboarding
Snowboarding was one of five new sports or disciplines added to the Winter Olympic program between 1992 and 2002, and was the only one not to have been a previous medal or demonstration event. In 1998, four events, two for men and two for women, were held in two specialities: the giant slalom, a downhill event similar to giant slalom skiing; and the half-pipe, in which competitors perform tricks while going from one side of a semi-circular ditch to the other. Canadian Ross Rebagliati won the men's giant slalom and became the first athlete to win a gold medal in snowboarding. For the 2002 Winter Olympics, the giant slalom was dropped in favour of the parallel giant slalom, an event that involves head-to-head racing. In 2006, a third event, the snowboard cross, was held for the first time. In this event, competitors race against each other down a course with jumps, beams and other obstacles
The International Snowboard Federation (ISF) set the standard for snowboarding competition, which contributed to the development of it as an Olympic sport in the 1998 Winter Olympics. In a controversial move, the International Olympic Committee recognized the Federation International Ski (FIS) as the sport's official governing body. Three-time world champion Terje Haakonsen boycotted the Olympics as a result of the FIS being appointed to oversee the officiating
Speed skating
All Olympic speed skating races are held on a 400 metres oval track
Bonnie Blair was the first American to earn six medals in the Winter Olympics (five gold and one bronze)
Karin Enke won eight medals at the Winter Olympics (three gold, four silver and one bronze)
Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann won eight medals at the Winter Olympics (three gold, four silver and one bronze)
With a total of five Olympic gold medals, two silver, and two bronze medals, speed skater Claudia Pechstein is the most successful German Winter Olympian of all time. Pechstein is the first female Winter Olympian to win medals in five consecutive Olympics (1992 to 2006)
Speed skaters must be 15 by 1 July of the Olympic Year
