First Olympic Winter Games
Today when we think of the Winter Olympics, we think of snowboarding, figure skating, medals, and the opening ceremonies. We think of thousands of people coming together to participate in many different sports and competing against each other for bragging rights and a medal. The first winter Olympics didn’t have all of these things. The first Olympics was supposed to take place in Germany in 1916. Due to World War I, the games got cancelled.
On January 25, 1924 the Winter Sports Week started in Charmonix, France. It did not start with an official ceremony or with someone lighting the Olympic torch. At this time there was no official Olympic mascot in Chamonix. Over 10,000 people went and watched these Winter Olympics. There were 258 athletes that participate. Out of the 258, 24 were from the United States and only 11 participants were woman.
Over an 11 day span, 16 nations competed against each other for Olympic medals. There were medals awarded for 16 events, and 7 sports. These 7 sports included bobsleigh, curling, figure skating, ice hockey, military patrol, speed skating, and Nordic skiing which included cross- country skiing, Nordic combine, and ski jumping. On day 2 of the Olympics, the first gold medal was awarded in the 500- meter speed skating. This medal was won by Charley Jewtraw, an American.
The United States won 11 other medals in the first Olympics. The 9 male players on the Ice Hockey team won silver, Ander Haugen won a bronze in cross country skiing/Nordic combined/ ski jumping, and Beatrix Loughran won a silver in figure skating. However, Ander Haugen didn’t get his medal for 50 years because of a miscount in scores. There were 24 participants from the United States, 22 men and only 2 women. The oldest participant from the United States was Nathaniel Niles and 37 and the youngest was Valentine Bialas at 21.
On February 5, 1924, the Charmonix Games were called to a close with a medal ceremony. To officially end the games they had a long speech thanking everyone for coming. In the end Norway topped the medals table with a total of 17 medals. The Scandinavian countries captured 28 of the 43 medal that were awarded and the United States came in 3rd with 12. These Winter Olympics were as big as they are today. They didn’t have a lot of people watching it on TV but they had a lot of support from the entire country. Even though the first Olympics was very different from it is today, it will always be a momentous occasion.
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