Winter Olympic Games

Demonstration sports, in which contests were held but for which no medals were awarded, have also taken place. The following joke circulates for quite some time, with many different versions for <President> and <Other Country>. Through the years, the number of sports and events conducted at the Winter Olympic Games has increased. A related subcategory is lawyer jokes plays on the commonly-held stereotypes about lawyers. [3] The host city for 2014 will be chosen in July 2007 in Guatemala City among the cities of: Almaty (Kazakhstan), Borjomi (Georgia), Jaca (Spain), PyeongChang (Republic of Korea), Salzburg (Austria), Sochi (Russia), Sofia (Bulgaria). The second one makes fun of political cliches, mottos, catch phrases or simply blunders of politicians. In a 2003 IOC vote, the 2010 Winter Olympics were awarded to Vancouver, allowing Canada to host its second Winter Olympics as well, but the first for the province of British Columbia. The first one makes fun of a negative attitude to political opponents or to politicians in general.

The opening ceremonies for the Olympics are the last ones to be held outdoors for a Winter Olympics until at least the 2014 Winter Olympics because the ones for the 2010 Winter Olympics will be held indoors. There are two large categories of this type of jokes. It is the second time Italy has hosted the Winter Olympic Games, after Cortina d'Ampezzo in 1956. Political jokes tell about politicians and heads of states. The Italian city of Turin (Torino) is hosting the 2006 Winter Olympics. The target of the traded insults is most often the opponents' mothers, but can involve other family members as well. As of 2004 they had all been officially stripped of all medals won at the 2002 Games. Main article: The dozens. Jokes of this kind originate in the dozens, an African-American custom with West African roots in which two competitors -- usually males -- go head to head in a competition of comedic, often ribald, trash-talk.

Cross-country skiers accounted for a second scandal, as Johann Mühlegg (Spain) and Olga Danilova and Larissa Lazutina (both Russia), who had already medalled in earlier events, where shown to have used doping. Jokes in a certain category superficially look like math, but their essence is more akin to chemical composition. Combined with several other referee decisions that came out negatively for Russian athletes, there was a brief threat by the Russians of withdrawing from the Games. A series of them parodies mathematical/logical chains of reason. However, it was decided that a French jury member had favoured the winning Russian pair, and the IOC and the International Skating Union decided to award both pairs the gold medal, after much discussion. Many of them are in-jokes, but may also be understandable by laymen. Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier initially placed second. There are numerous jokes related to mathematics.

A major scandal evolved around the pair figure skating contest. Main article: Mathematical joke. Alisa Camplin won Australia's second gold medal in freestyle skiing without the need for such incredible luck. Many jokes fit into more than one category. The phrase "to do a Bradbury" has since entered the Australian lexicon meaning to succeed through the failure of others. Jokes often depend for humour on the unexpected, the mildly taboo (which can include the distasteful or socially improper), or the playing on stereotypes and other cultural myths. Many Australians saw this as a painfully humorous example of the country's struggle for competitiveness in winter sports, being that it took for all other competitors to crash for an Aussie to win. One of the most complete and informative books on different types of jokes and how to tell them is Isaac Asimov's Treasury of Humor, which encompasses several broad categories of humor, and gives useful tips on how to tell them, who to tell them to, and ways to change the joke to fit your audience.

Bradbury was able to avoid the pileup, becoming the first Winter Olympic gold medallist from the Southern Hemisphere. Laughter, the intended human reaction to jokes, is healthful in moderation, uses the stomach muscles, and releases endorphins, natural happiness-inducing chemicals, into the bloodstream. In the final, Bradbury was fifth going into the final lap, when another collision left him the last man standing. Why we laugh has been the subject of serious academic study, examples being:. Australian Steven Bradbury, who would have been eliminated in the quarterfinals but for the disqualification of Marc Gagnon, advanced to the final when the four other competitors in his semifinal collided on the final lap. . The men's 1000 m short track speed skating event saw one of the unlikeliest results in sports history. Most jokes contain two components: joke setup (for example, "A man walks into a bar...") and a punchline, which, when juxtaposed with the setup, provides the necessary irony to elicit laughter from the audience.

Great Britain won their first Winter Olympic gold medal since 1984; the ladies Curling team springing a surprise result by beating the highly fancied Canadians in the gold medal match. putting a custard pie in somebody's face). Canadians jubilated as both their men's and their women's hockey teams defeated the United States to win the gold; the men's team thus ended a medal drought that had lasted 50 years to the day. A practical joke differs in that the humour is not verbal, but mainly visual (e.g. Jochem Uytdehaage broke three world records, winning two golds and a silver; Claudia Pechstein won the 5000 m for the third time in a row, while also winning the 3000 m. A joke is a short story or short series of words spoken or communicated with the intent of being laughed at or found humorous by the listener or reader. In speed skating, the high altitude of the skating rink assured several new world records. Yo mama's glasses are so thick, she can see the future.

Simon Ammann won both individual ski jumping events, while Georg Hackl won his fifth consecutive medal in the same event (luge singles), a feat never before achieved by any Olympian. Yo mama so fat, when her pager goes off, people think she's backing up. Croatia's Janica Kostelic won four medals in alpine skiing, of which three were gold. Yo mama so fat when she gets on the scale it says to be continued. Ole Einar Bjørndalen won all four biathlon events, while Samppa Lajunen took all three Nordic combined medals. Yo mama so dark that she can leave fingerprints on charcoal. The Salt Lake City Olympics had many stars. Yo mama's so dumb when your dad said it's chilly outside, she ran out with a spoon.

[2]. Logic

Skeleton made its return on the Olympic podium after 54 years, while new events were added in biathlon, bobsleigh, cross-country skiing, Nordic combined and short track speed skating. Sigmund Freud's "Jokes and Their Relationship to the Unconscious". Again, the programme was expanded. This resulted in a change of the host city election procedures and several IOC members resigned or were punished. Prior to the opening of the Games, it was found that Salt Lake organisers had bribed several IOC members in order to be elected.

The 19th Olympic Winter Games were held in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. [1]. In 2006, a report ordered by the Nagano region's governor said the Japanese city provided millions of dollars in an "illegitimate and excessive level of hospitality" to IOC members, including $4.4 million spent on entertainment alone. Snowboarding's introduction into the Olympics did not come without a scandal, as gold medallist Ross Rebagliati (Canada) was initially disqualified for cannabis use, but his disqualification was overturned later.

Jonny Moseley won the first gold of the Nagano games for the United States, capturing first place in freestyle mogul skiing with a spectacular "360 mute grab.". German luger Georg Hackl won his third straight singles title, while Austria's Hermann Maier won two gold medals in alpine skiing, after a spectacular fall in the downhill event. The Russian women swept the cross-country events, with Larisa Lazutina winning three titles. Bjørn Dæhlie won three gold medals, bringing his all-time total to 12 medals, including 8 golds.

Speed skating saw a wave of new world records thanks to the use of the revolutionary clap skate; Dutch skaters Gianni Romme and Marianne Timmer each won two golds. The US team then invited global scorn by vandalizing their rooms in the olympic athlete's village after completing their final game. However, neither nation medalled and the Czech Republic, anchored by future NHL Hall of Fame goaltender Dominik Hasek, captured the gold instead. The men's ice hockey tournament was open to all players for the first time, making Canada and the United States favourites for the gold with their many NHL professionals.

Two new sports were conducted - snowboarding and curling - while women's ice hockey was also included. For the first time, more than 2000 winter athletes competed in the Winter Olympics, Japan's second Winter Olympics, held in the city of Nagano. Both skaters competed in the Games, but neither of them won the gold medal, which went to Oksana Baiul, who won Ukraine's first Olympic title. American skater Nancy Kerrigan had been injured some months before the Games in an assault planned by the ex-husband of opponent Tonya Harding.

A lot of media attention, especially in the United States, went to the women's figure skating competition. Another American speed skater, Dan Jansen, ended years of Olympic frustration by winning gold in the 1000 m. US speed skater Bonnie Blair won the fourth and fifth gold medal of her career, including the third straight gold in the 500 m, while Canadian biathlete Myriam Bédard won both individual events in her sport. Italian cross-country skier Manuela di Centa won five medals out of five events, including two gold medals; Lyubov Yegorova won three gold medals in the same sport.

Johann Olav Koss emulated Hjalmar Andersen's achievement of 1952, winning speed skating's three longest distances for his home audience - Koss set a new world record in each of the distances as well. After the split-up of Czechoslovakia in 1993, the Czech Republic and Slovakia made their Olympic debut in Lillehammer, as did several former Soviet republics. The event programme was again extended, adding two new events each in freestyle skiing and short track speed skating. The winter sports-minded Norwegians organised the Olympics extremely well, and many still consider them to be the best organised to date.

The Lillehammer Games were the first Winter Olympics to be held in a different year. In 1986, the IOC decided to separate the Summer Games and Winter Games and reschedule them on four-year cycles two years apart. New Zealand skier Annelise Coberger made history with a silver medal in the women's slalom, becoming the first Winter Olympic medallist from the Southern Hemisphere. Finnish ski jumper Toni Nieminen made history by becoming the youngest male Winter Olympic champion.

Several athletes won two gold medals, such as Petra Kronberger (skiing), Bonnie Blair, Gunda Niemann (both speed skating) and Kim Ki-Hoon (short track). Norway won all cross-country events for men, with Bjørn Dæhlie and Vegard Ulvang each winning three gold medals. The Soviet Union still competed as a single team, under the name of Unified Team, but the Baltic States made independent appearances, for the first time since World War II. Germany competed as a single nation for the first time since the 1930s, and former Yugoslavian republics Croatia and Slovenia made their debut.

Political changes of the time were reflected in the Olympic teams appearing in France. Curling, speed skiing and two freestyle skiing events were demonstrated. Women's biathlon was also included for the first time. Two new sports, short track speed skating and freestyle skiing were on the programme.

They were held in the French Haute Savoie region; Albertville itself only hosted 18 events. The 1992 Games were the last to be held in the same year as the Summer Games. Not all athletes making the headlines were winning medals: British ski jumper Eddie 'the Eagle' Edwards, who came in last, and Jamaica's first ever bobsleigh team also received plenty of attention. Other stars of the Games include flamboyant Italian skier Alberto Tomba, East German figure skater Katarina Witt and Swedish cross-country skier Gunde Svan.

Her total was equalled by Finnish ski jumper Matti Nykänen, who won all events in his sport. Dutch skater Yvonne van Gennip beat the favoured East German, winning three gold medals and setting two new world records. For the first time, the speed skating events were held indoor, on the Olympic Oval. New events had been added in alpine skiing, ski jumping and speed skating, while future Olympic sports curling, short track speed skating and freestyle skiing made their appearance as demonstration sports.

The Canadian city of Calgary, Alberta hosted the first Winter Olympics to span 16 days. In addition, Bill Johnson became the first American to win a medal in alpine skiing, winning the gold in the downhill event. East German figure skater Katarina Witt also won many hearts with her gold performance and stunning beauty. In figure skating, British ice dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean were popular with the audience and the jury, who gave them perfect scores for their free dance programme.

Enke also won two silver medals in the other two women's speed skating events, which where completely dominated by East Germany, winning all gold and silver medals. Other well scoring athletes were skaters Gaétan Boucher (Canada) and Karin Enke (East Germany), who both won two gold medals. She added a bronze in the relay event. Finnish skier Marja-Liisa Hämäläinen took advantage of this new event, which allowed her to win three gold medals, winning all individual events.

There was only one new event at the Sarajevo Games, a 20 km cross-country event for women. This gap was filled by alpine skier Jure Franko, who won a silver medal in the giant slalom. Sarajevo was quite a surprising choice for the Winter Olympics, as no Yugoslavian athlete had ever won an Olympic medal in the Winter Games. In a match later dubbed the "Miracle on Ice", the home team upset the favoured Soviet Union, and went on to win the title.

For the Americans, however, the highlight of the Games was the Olympic ice hockey tournament. In alpine skiing, Liechtenstein's Hanni Wenzel won two gold medals, as did Ingemar Stenmark from Sweden. Additionally, Heiden set world records in each of the 5 events he competed in, another record. However, where Skoblikova won four, Heiden won five gold medals, which made him the first to ever win five gold medals in individual events during a single Olympics (a record equalled by Vitaly Scherbo in the 1992 Summer Olympics).

Speed skater Eric Heiden equalled Lidia Skoblikova's achievement from 1964 by winning all speed skating events. Nordic combiner Ulrich Wehling and figure skater Irina Rodnina both won their third consecutive gold medals in the same event, while biathlete Aleksander Tikhonov won his fourth one in the relay. Fortunately, there were also many sporting highlights. The threat of the American boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics was also clouding these Olympics, as the decision to do so fell during the Games.

The Taiwanese refused, and thus became the only nation to boycott the Olympic Winter Games. Because of this, the Republic of China (Taiwan) was forced by the IOC to compete under the name of Chinese Taipei. The People's Republic of China made its debut at the Winter Olympics. The Olympic Winter Games returned to Lake Placid, New York, which had earlier hosted the 1932 edition.

Russian biathlete Nikolay Kruglov also won two golds. East German bobsledders Nehmer and Germeshausen collected two gold medals, winning both the 2- and 4-man events. Soviet cross-country skier Raisa Smetanina also won two golds and a silver, while her compatriot Tatyana Averina won two golds and two bronzes in speed skating. West German alpine skier Rosi Mittermaier won two gold medals, and came within 12 hundredths of a second of winning a third.

No athlete managed to win three gold medals, but a few came close. New events on the programme were ice dancing and the men's 1000 m in speed skating. Because it was the second time the Austrian town hosted the Games, two Olympic flames were lit. Innsbruck, which still had the venues of 1964 in good shape, was chosen in 1973 to replace Denver.

Originally, the 1976 Winter Games had been awarded to Denver, but in a 1972 plebiscite, the city's inhabitants voted against organising the Games. After this, all top-level cross-country skiing would take place with the athletes using skis made mostly of fibreglass synthetics. On a historical note, the 1972 Games were the last Olympic Winter Games where a skier would win the gold medal using all-wooden skis. In alpine skiing, Spaniard Francisco Fernández Ochoa was the surprise winner of the slalom event.

In ski jumping, Wojciech Fortuna from Poland won his country first gold medal, while the host nation performed a clean sweep of the other ski jumping event, also winning its first Olympic winter gold. Sapporo also brought several surprising winners. Switzerland's Marie Thérès Nadig and Vyacheslav Vedenin (USSR) both returned home with two Olympic gold medals. Schenk won three of the four skating events (falling in the 500 m), while Kulakova won all three events she entered.

Major stars of the Games were, without a doubt, Dutch speed skater Ard Schenk and Soviet cross-country skier Galina Kulakova. Also, the Canadian ice hockey team was absent, protesting the Eastern European "state amateurs", who, according to the Canadians, were in fact professionals. Eventually, only Austrian star Karl Schranz, who earned most of all skiers, was not allowed to compete. Three days before the Olympics, IOC president Avery Brundage threatened to bar a large number of top alpine skiers from competing because they did not comply with the amateurism rules.

The Games in Sapporo, Japan, were surrounded by several professionalism issues. The 1972 Winter Games were the first to be held outside North America or Europe. Her male colleagues of Norway, Ole Ellefsæter and Harald Grønningen, also won two gold medals. Other successful athletes were Italian bobsleigh driver Eugenio Monti, who won both bobsleigh events after a long Olympic career, and Toini Gustafsson of Sweden, who won both individual events in cross-country, and added a silver with the Swedish relay team.

The East German women had finished first, second and fourth, but were subsequently disqualified for heating their sledge's runners, which is illegal in lugeing. Another controversy arose in the women's luge. The jury later ruled Schranz had missed a gate before the interruption, and disqualified him as a winner. He had been allowed to re-ski his second run after he was interrupted by spectators.

Killy's third gold medal was slightly controversial however, as Austrian Karl Schranz was disqualified. By winning all three alpine events, he equalled Toni Sailer's 1956 performance. Alpine skier Jean-Claude Killy lead the home team's good performances. Another first in the Olympics were doping and sex tests.

One new event was added for the Grenoble Games: the 4 x 10 km relay in biathlon. Until 1964, they had competed in a combined German team. Held in the French town of Grenoble, the 1968 Winter Olympics were the first Olympic Games in which East and West Germany participated as separate countries. Also remarkable was Eugenio Monti, who leant a spare part of his bobsleigh to British competitors Tony Nash and Robin Dixon, enabling them to win the gold medal in the 2-man event.

The French sisters Marielle and Christine Goitschel took the first two places in both the slalom and the giant slalom event, each sister winning once. Two other cross-country skiers, Eero Mäntyranta and Sixten Jernberg, took home two gold medals. Speed skater Lidia Skoblikova swept all four women's events, while her compatriot Klavdia Boyarskikh did the same in women's cross-country, winning three golds. Two Soviet athletes were very successful at these Games.

Luge was first contested in the Olympics, although the sport got bad publicity when a competitor was killed in a pre-Olympic training run. Bobsleigh returned to the Olympics, while a new event was added to ski jumping and women's cross-country skiing. Despite being a traditional winter sports resort, there was a lack of snow and ice during the Games, and the Austrian army was called in to bring snow and ice to the sport venues. The Tyrolean city of Innsbruck was the host in 1964.

A surprise occurred in ice hockey, where the home team surprisingly defeated the favoured Soviets, Canadians and Czechs. 35-year-old Veikko Hakulinen of Finland won a complete set of medals in these Games, including a narrow win in the 4 x 10 km relay. The men's 10000 m saw Knut Johannesen glide to the gold in a time 46 seconds under the world record. She would add four more titles in 1964.

Fellow Russian Lidia Skoblikova won the two longest distances in the inaugural women's races. Even more remarkable was that he again tied for the gold in the 1500, this time with Norwegian Roald Aas. Yevgeni Grishin repeated his 1956 performance by winning both the 500 and 1500 m. Only two athletes managed to win more than one gold medal in Squaw Valley, both Soviet speed skaters.

While bobsleighing was absent, biathlon was first contested at the Olympics, and women first took part in speed skating. The Games were held from February 18 to 28. There was a fear of lack of snow, but late snowfall prevented a disaster. The organising committee found it too expensive as only 9 nations would take part.

By 1960, this had changed, although there was no bobsleigh run. At the time the Olympics were awarded to Squaw Valley, a resort town created by Alexander Cushing, near Lake Tahoe in California. Cross-country skier Sixten Jernberg won four medals for Sweden, but only one gold medal. He won all three alpine events, the first time this occurred in the Olympics.

Star of the Games, however, was Austrian skier Toni Sailer. They ended Canada's dominance over the Olympic ice hockey tournament, and the first non-Nordic medallist in cross-country skiing was also a Russian. In speed skating, Soviet skaters won three out of four events, with Yevgeni Grishin winning the 500 and 1500 m (the latter shared with compatriot Yuri Sergeyev). They immediately showed their potential by winning more medals than any other nation.

Most important development was the debut of the Soviet Union at the Winter Olympics. At the first Winter Games to be televised, the programme was extended with two events in cross-country skiing. After not being able to host the Games in 1944 due to the war, Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy was able to organise the 1956 Winter Olympics, held from January 26 to February 5. Nineteen-year-old Andrea Mead Lawrence won two gold medals in alpine skiing, winning both the slalom and the giant slalom.

His 4-man crew weighed a record 472 kg, while the international bobsleigh federation had just decided before the Games that the weight limit would be 400 kg in the future. German bobsledder Andreas Ostler steered his crews to two gold medals. Germany returned to the Olympic Games after 16 years, although only represented by West German athletes. Speed skater Hjalmar Andersen excited the home crowd by winning gold medals in three of the four speed skating events.

Bandy, a popular sport in the Nordic countries, was held as a demonstration sport. The programme in Oslo, from February 14 to February 25, was expanded with the first ever cross-country event for women, while the alpine combination was replaced with the giant slalom. As a tribute, the Olympic Flame was lit in the fireplace of the home of skiing pioneer Sondre Nordheim. In 1952, the Winter Games came to Norway, considered to be the birthplace of modern skiing.

After the IOC threatened to annul the entire competition, the AHA team was removed from the standings and lost its fourth position. The IOC voted to bar both teams from competing, but Swiss allowed the AHA team to compete anyway, while the AOC team marched in the opening ceremonies. Because of a dispute, two American ice hockey teams arrived in Sankt Moritz: one sanctioned by the American Olympic Committee (AOC), and one sanctioned by the American Hockey Association (AHA). A strange incident occurred in ice hockey.

But the best Norwegian only placed 6th in 1948, and the title went to Heikki Hasu of Finland. This event had been dominated by Norway, which had won all medals from 1924 to 1936. A major upset occurred in the Nordic combined. Swedish cross-country skier Martin Lundström also won two golds.

Four new alpine skiing events were also held, allowing Frenchman Henri Oreiller to win three medals, including golds in the downhill and the combined event. The sport disappeared again after the Sankt Moritz games, returning again in 2002. Remarkably, American John Heaton won the silver, as he had done in 1928. Skeleton returned on the programme after 20 years.

Twenty-Eight countries competed in Switzerland from January 30 to February 8, although athletes from Germany and Japan were not invited. The Swiss town of Sankt-Moritz, untouched by the war because Switzerland remained neutral, became the first place to organize the Winter Olympics for the second time. The 1944 Winter Olympics, scheduled to take place in Cortina d'Ampezzo, were cancelled in the Summer of 1941. Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany) stepped in to organise the Games again, but the Games were cancelled in November 1939, because Germany invaded Poland in September 1939.

Moritz from the Games, because of quarrels with the Swiss organisation team. Moritz (Switzerland) was chosen by the IOC to host the 1940 Winter Olympics, but three months later the IOC withdrew St. St. The 1940 Winter Olympics had originally been awarded to Japan, and were supposed to be held in Sapporo, but Japan had to give the Games back in 1938, because of the Japanese invasion of China in the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945).

The Second World War interrupted the celebration of the Winter Olympics. However, most of the British players were born in, or lived in, Canada. An upset occurred in the ice hockey tournament, where Canada was defeated for the first time, and lost the gold medal to Great Britain. He did win the ski jumping event, held one week later.

He led the alpine combined event after the downhill, but dropped to fourth place in the slalom. Another Norwegian, Birger Ruud attempted a rare double, competing in both ski jumping and alpine skiing. His compatriot, Sonja Henie won her third straight title, and turned professional after the Games. Norwegian Ivar Ballangrud dominated the speed skating events, winning three of them, and placing second in the fourth.

The cross-country relay was also held for the first time, while the military patrol and ice stock sport were demonstration sports. This decision caused the Swiss and Austrian skiers to boycott the Olympics. Alpine skiing made its Olympic debut in Germany, but skiing teachers were barred from entering, as they were considered to be professionals. The Bavarian twin towns of Garmisch and Partenkirchen joined to organise the 1936 edition of the Winter Games, held from February 6 to 16.

As of 2004, he is the only Olympian to have won gold medals in both the Summer and Winter Olympics. One of the members of Fiske's gold medal-winning sled was Eddie Eagan, who had been an Olympic champion in boxing in 1920. Sonja Henie (figure skating) and Billy Fiske (bobsleigh) successfully defended their titles. Swedish figure skater Gillis Grafström didn't manage to win his fourth straight Olympic gold, being defeated by Austria's Karl Schäfer.

There were three demonstration sports in Lake Placid: sled dog racing, curling and women's speed skating. (Bernt Evensen from Norway won silver on the 500 m., and his fellow countryman Ivar Ballangrud did the same on the 10000 m.) Jack Shea and Irving Jaffee shared the gold between them, winning two gold medals each. This gave the American and Canadian skaters an advantage from which they benefited by winning all but two of the available skating medals. The two-man bobsleigh event was scheduled for the first time, while the speed skating events were conducted in mass start format, as was common in North America.

The Games opened on February 4 and closed on February 15. On top of that, these games too were marred by warm weather, which eventually made it necessary to extend them for two more days. However, fewer athletes participated than in 1928, as the journey to Lake Placid, New York was a long and expensive one for most competitors, and there was little money for sports in the midst of the Great Depression. For the first time, the Winter Olympics came to North America.

The 10000 m speed skating was abandoned in the 5th pair, and the 50 km cross-country ended with a temperature of 77°F (25°C), forcing a third of the field to abandon competition. Warm weather conditions plagued the Olympics on the fourth day. It would turn out this was also the first of three titles for her. His female counterpart was Norwegian Sonja Henie, only 15 years old at the time.

Gillis Grafström won his third consecutive figure skating title. Johan Grøttumsbråten also won two golds, winning the 18 km cross-country and the Nordic combined events. Clas Thunberg won two more Olympic gold medals, bringing his total to five. The American Heaton brothers won first and second place.

Curling and military patrol were no longer medal sports (although the latter was demonstrated) while skeleton made its first Olympic appearance. Moritz was appointed by the Swiss organizers to host the second Olympic Winter Games, held from February 11 to February 19 in 1928. St. Their gold medal was upgraded from demonstration medal to official status.

In 2006 a further change was made, the IOC reconsidered the case of the all-Scottish curling team of father and son Willie and Laurence Jackson, Robin Welsh and Tom Murray representing Great Britain. Furthermore he placed third in the ski jumping contest, but 50 years later it was discovered that a counting error had been made and that the bronze should have been awarded to American Anders Haugen, who received it in a special ceremony at age 83. He won both cross-country skiing events, as well as the Nordic combined. Finnish speed skater Clas Thunberg won three gold medals, while Norwegian Thorleif Haug also won three golds.

Finnish and Norwegian athletes dominated the events. The first event on the programme was the 500 m speed skating, which was won by American Charlie Jewtraw, thereby becoming the first Winter Olympic champion. From January 25 to February 5, more than 200 athletes from 16 nations competed in 16 events. The French town of Chamonix in the Haute-Savoie was the host of the first Olympic Winter Games.

speed skating. The 1924 events were retroactively designated as the first Winter Olympics at the 1926 IOC Session. This week proved a great success, and in 1925 the IOC decided to create separate Winter Olympic Games, not connected to the Summer Olympics. At the IOC Congress held the next year, it was decided that the organisers of the next Olympics (France) would also host a separate "International Winter Sports Week", under patronage of the IOC.

The first Olympics after the war, the 1920 Games in Antwerp again featured figure skating, while ice hockey made its Olympic debut. A winter sports week with speed skating, figure skating, ice hockey and Nordic skiing was planned, but the 1916 Olympics were cancelled after the outbreak of World War I. However, this same idea was again proposed for the 1916 Games, which were to be held in Berlin. The organisers opposed this idea, wanting to promote the Nordic Games, a winter sports competition held every four years between competitors from the Nordic countries.

Three years later, Italian count Eugenio Brunetta d'Usseaux proposed to the IOC to stage a week with winter sports as part of the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm. Ulrich Salchow (10-fold World champion) and Madge Syers (the first competitive woman figure skater) won the individual titles with ease. However, no skating was conducted at the Olympics until the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, which featured four figure skating events. When the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was established in 1894, one of the sports proposed for the programme was ice skating.

. . The Italian city of Turin (Torino) is currently hosting the Winter Olympics, followed by Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 2010. Most recently, the 2002 Games were held in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States.

The Winter Olympics are held every four years. They feature winter sports held on ice or snow, such as ice skating and skiing. The Winter Olympic Games, Winter Olympics for short but more correctly The Olympic Winter Games, are the cold-weather counterpart to the Summer Olympic Games. Winter pentathlon, a variant to the modern pentathlon, was included as a demonstration event in 1948.

Synchronized skating (2002). Speed skiing (1992) (could return to Winter Olympic Games 2010). Snowshoeing (2002). Sled-dog racing contests were displayed in Lake Placid 1932.

Skijöring, skiing behind horses, was a demonstration sport in Sankt Moritz 1928. Ice stock sport, a German variant to curling, was demonstrated in 1936 and 1964. Bandy, a sport briefly described as "ice hockey with a ball", very popular in the Nordic countries, was demonstrated in 1952 (could return to Winter Olympic Games 2010). It was also demonstrated in 1928, 1936 and 1948, and in 1960 biathlon became an official sport.

Military patrol, a precursor to the biathlon, was a medal sport in 1924. The team pursuit event will make its debut in 2006. The all-round competition was only contested in 1924. Current events are the 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m, 3000 m (women only), 5000 m and 10000 m (men only).

Women's events were not included until 1960, although they were demonstrated in 1932 and had been on the preliminary programme for 1940. Speed skating has been on the programme since 1924. The giant slalom was replaced by a parallel giant slalom for 2002, and in 2006 the snowboard cross event will be added. Snowboarding was first contested at the 1998 Olympics, with giant slalom and halfpipe events for both sexes.

This sport is only contested by men. A second event (large hill) was introduced in 1964, and a team event followed in 1988. Ski jumping has been an Olympic sport since 1924, with the normal hill event contested. It was not held again until it was included again in 2002, with individual events for both men and women.

Skeleton was included in both Olympics held in Sankt Moritz, the birthplace of the sport. The events are the same for both men and women: 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m and the relay (5000 m (men)/3000 m (women)). The programme was expanded from 4 in 1992 to 8 in 2002. Short track speed skating was a demonstration sport in 1988, and was included as a full sport four years later.

Only men compete in this sport. A third event, the sprint, made its debut in 2002. Until 1988, when a team event was added, there was only an individual event. Nordic combined, a combination of ski jumping and cross-country skiing, has been Olympic since 1924.

The latter is technically open for both men and women, but in practice, only men compete. It included a singles event for both men and women, and a doubles event. Luge first entered the Olympic programme in 1964, and the three events conducted then are still unchanged. A women's tournament was first conducted in 1998.

Ice hockey was already held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, and has been played in every celebration of the Winter Games. Both events are held for men and women. The aerials also received official status in 1994. The moguls event become Olympic in 1992, while ballet and aerials remained a demonstration event.

Freestyle skiing was first demonstrated in three disciplines in 1988. The special figures event for men was only conducted in 1908. The single events for men and women, and the pairs contest have been on the programme since 1908, ice dancing was first included in 1976. Figure skating was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympics, appearing in the programme of the Summer Olympics in 1908 and 1920.

Since then, separate tournaments for men and women have been held. It was demonstrated in 1932, 1988 and 1992, to be officially included in 1998. Curling was on the programme in 1924, but disappeared afterwards. The number of events has steadily grown over the years, being 12 in 2002: sprint (1.5 km), pursuit (10 km for men, 5 km for women), mass start (30 km (men)/15 km (women)), 10 km (women), 15 km (men), 30 km (women), 50 km (men), relay (4 x 10 km (men), 4 x 5 km (women)).

Nordic skiing has always been on the Olympic programme. Women didn't compete until 2002, when the two-woman race was included. The four-man event has been held since 1924, the two-man event was added in 1932. Bobsleighing has been included since 1924, although it was not held in 1960.

A mass start event will be added in 2006 (15 km (men)/12.5 km (women)). At present there are 4 events, conducted by both men and women: the sprint (10 km (men)/7.5 km (women)), the individual (20 km (men)/15 km (women)), the pursuit (12.5 km (men)/10 km (women)) and the relay (4 x 7.5 km). Women first participated in 1992. Only a single individual event for men was included in 1960, but events have been added over the years.

Biathlon was first included in 1960, although the very similar military patrol was contested in 1924. The current program features 10 events, with both men and women skiing the downhill, super g, giant slalom, slalom and combined events. It was not conducted in 1940 due to professionalism disputes, but it was on the program again in 1948. Alpine skiing was first included in 1936.