Winter olypics games

The Games were held every four years from until , after which they were interrupted by World War II. The Olympics resumed in and were celebrated every four years. The Winter and Summer Olympic Games were held in the same years until , after a decision by the International Olympic Committee IOC to place the Summer and Winter Games on separate four-year cycles in alternating even-numbered years.

Because of the change, the next Winter Olympics after were in The Winter Games have evolved since their inception. Sports have been added and some of them, such as luge , Short Track and freestyle skiing , have earned a permanent spot on the Olympic programme. Others, such as speed skiing, bandy and skijoring, were demonstration sports but never incorporated as Olympic sports.

The rise of television as a global medium for communication enhanced the profile of the Games. It created an income stream, via the sale of broadcast rights and advertising, which has become lucrative for the IOC.

This allowed outside interests, such as television companies and corporate sponsors, to exert influence. The IOC has had to address several criticisms, internal scandals, the use of performance enhancing drugs by Winter Olympians, as well as a political boycott of the Winter Olympics.

Nations have used the Winter Games to showcase the claimed superiority of their political systems. The Winter Olympics have been hosted on three continents, but never in a country in the southern hemisphere. In Sochi will be the first Russian city to host the Winter Olympics. The first international multi-sport event for winter sports was the Nordic Games held in Sweden in Originally organised by General Viktor Gustaf Balck, the Nordic Games were held again in and and then every fourth year thereafter until He attempted to have winter sports, specifically figure skating , added to the Olympic programme but was unsuccessful until the Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom.

The organisers opposed this idea because they desired to protect the integrity of the Nordic Games and were concerned about a lack of facilities for winter sports.

A winter sports week with speed skating , figure skating, ice hockey and Nordic skiing was planned, but the Olympics was cancelled after the outbreak of World War I. The first Olympics after the war were held in Antwerp, Belgium and featured figure skating and ice hockey tournament. Chamonix was chosen to host this "week" actually 11 days of events. The Games proved to be a success when more than athletes from 16 nations competed in 16 events.

The opening ceremony was held in a blizzard while warm weather conditions plagued sporting events throughout the rest of the Games. She became the youngest Olympic champion in history, a distinction she would hold for 74 years. The next Winter Olympics was the first to be hosted outside of Europe. Seventeen nations and athletes participated.

The athletes competed in fourteen events in four sports. The German towns of Garmisch and Partenkirchen joined to organise the edition of the Winter Games, held on February 6— Alpine skiing made its Olympic debut, but skiing teachers were barred from entering because they were considered to be professionals. The Games had been awarded to Sapporo, Japan, but the decision was rescinded in because of the Japanese invasion of China.

Moritz was selected to host the first post-war Games in Switzerland's neutrality had protected the town during World War II and most of the venues were in place from the Games, which made St. Moritz a logical choice to become the first city to host a Winter Olympics twice. Olympic hockey representative. The Olympic flag presented at the Summer Olympics in Antwerp was stolen, as was its replacement. There was unprecedented parity at these Games, during which 10 countries won gold medals—more than any Games to that point.

The Olympic Flame for the Games in Oslo, was lit in the fireplace by skiing pioneer Sondre Nordheim and the torch relay was conducted by 94 participants entirely on skis. Norwegian athletes won 17 medals, which outpaced all the other nations. After not being able to host the Games in , Cortina d'Ampezzo was selected to organise the Winter Olympics. At the opening ceremonies the final torch bearer, Guido Caroli, entered the Olympic Stadium on ice skates.

As he skated around the stadium his skate caught on a cable and he fell, nearly extinguishing the flame. He was able to recover and lit the cauldron. Since the village was underdeveloped there was a rush to construct infrastructure and sports facilities like an ice arena, speed-skating track, and a ski-jump hill.

The bobsleigh events were absent for the only time because the organising committee found it too expensive to build the bobsleigh run. The Austrian city of Innsbruck was the host in Although Innsbruck was a traditional winter sports resort, warm weather caused a lack of snow during the Games and the Austrian army was asked to transport snow and ice to the sport venues. Her career total of six gold medals set a record for Winter Olympics athletes. There were 37 nations and 1, athletes competing in 35 events.

The organisers claimed this was required to accommodate technological advances. Critics disputed this, alleging that the layout was necessary to provide the best possible venues for television broadcasts at the expense of the athletes. The issue of professionalism became contentious during the Sapporo Games.

Three days before the Games IOC president Avery Brundage threatened to bar a number of alpine skiers from competing because they participated in a ski camp at Mammoth Mountain in the United States. Brundage reasoned that the skiers had financially benefited from their status as athletes and were therefore no longer amateurs. The Winter Games had been awarded to Denver, United States, but in the city's voters passed a referendum declining to be hosts.

In the Olympics returned to Lake Placid who had hosted the Games. They are one of my favorite ways to teach reading. And they are also great for teaching social studies and science. Try adding some books about the Winter Olympics to your classroom library and set aside time for a read aloud or two and discussion about the winter games.

Learn about the history of the Winter Olympics, the events, and some of the most memorable competitions over the years in this fun and informative read. Follow Snowman Paul as he trains hard to go for the gold at the Winter Olympics. But is he following all the rules? A great conversation about goals, competition, and sportsmanship. This fun-filled adventure story introduces kids to the sport of downhill skiing. They will love rhyming text and silly antics. Kids will also love reading books about different Winter Olympics sports like snowboarding, hockey, and curling, or Olympic athletes.

Why not introduce them to Beijing? You can use this video to show them some of the sights, as well as sporting venues, and even a sneak peek of some of the events. You can bring in geography by locating China on the map. Let your students research facts about China on their Chromebooks or iPads. You can also add in some math. Calculate how long it would take to travel to Beijing. You can also research the time difference and figure out what time it is in Beijing. You can also teach your students about the torch relay.

Explore the many venues where the competition will take place. Or learn about the athletes competing in the Winter Games.

And then maybe schedule a little friendly competition. Divide the class into teams and play a game of Jeopardy. Or make a Kahoot to test their knowledge of the Beijing Olympics.

Looking for more ideas? Check out these Winter Olympics Activities for the Classroom. Beijing Winter Olympics Mikaela Shiffrin clinches record-breaking 47th World Cup slalom win.

World No. Timothy LeDuc is set to become the first openly non-binary athlete to compete at a Winter Olympics. Mariah Bell becomes the oldest US women's figure skating national champion in 95 years. Chloe Kim looks for Olympics glory.