Did you know...

Did you know...

In 2026, Italy will host the Winter Olympics for the third time, twenty years after Turin 2006 and 70 years after the previous games to be held in Cortina in 1956

WINTER GAMES

Chamonix 1924
24 January 2022 Chamonix 1924 The first Winter Olympic Games in history were held in Chamonix, France. The first gold medal went to American Charles Jewtraw, the champion in speed skating (500 m).
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St. Moritz 1928
25 January 2022 St. Moritz 1928 The Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland, were the first to be held in a different country than the one that hosted the Summer Olympics that same year. The Skeleton debuts at Cresta Run.
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Lake Placid 1932
25 January 2022 Lake Placid 1932 The III Olympic Winter Games touched down in the United States, which dominated the podium with six golds, four silvers and two bronzes. The iconic Olympic podium itself debuted in Lake Placid, as well.
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Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936
25 January 2022 Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936 Alpine skiing entered the programme for the first time and Great Britain surprised everyone by beating Canada in the ice hockey tournament.
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St. Moritz 1948
25 January 2022 St. Moritz 1948 After a 12-year hiatus due to World War II, the Olympics resumed with the “Games of Renewal.” The medals bore the Olympic motto: “Citius, Altius, Fortius".
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Oslo 1952
25 January 2022 Oslo 1952 The VI Olympic Winter Games came to multi-medallist Norway. Computers were used for the first time to calculate athletes’ scores in figure skating.
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Cortina 1956
25 January 2022 Cortina 1956 The Winter Olympics came to Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy. Giuliana Minuzzo became the first woman in the history of the Games to take the Olympic oath.
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Squaw Valley 1960
25 January 2022 Squaw Valley 1960 The men’s biathlon and women’s speed skating debuted in Squaw Valley, California. The Soviet Union led the Olympic podium with 21 medals.
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Innsbruck 1964
25 January 2022 Innsbruck 1964 More than 1,000 athletes from around the world participated in these Winter Olympics. Italian Eugenio Monti was awarded the first Pierre de Coubertin medal for sportsmanship.
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Grenoble 1968
25 January 2022 Grenoble 1968 The Winter Games returned to France 44 years after Chamonix 1924. Jean-Claude Killy rivalled Toni Sailer’s three gold medals at Cortina 1956 in alpine skiing. Eugenio Monti dominated the bobsleigh, and Franco Nones led the 30-kilometer.
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Sapporo 1972
25 January 2022 Sapporo 1972 The Games of the Rising Sun saw Italy win the gold in giant slalom and silver in slalom with Gustavo Thoeni.
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Innsbruck 1976
25 January 2022 Innsbruck 1976 Ice dance debuted as an Olympic discipline and was dominated by the Russians. In figure skating, American Terry Kubicka performed a backflip for the first time in history.
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Lake Placid 1980
25 January 2022 Lake Placid 1980 American speed skater Eric Heiden became the first athlete in Olympic history to win five gold medals in individual events at the same Games. Artificial snow was used for the first time.
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Sarajevo 1984
25 January 2022 Sarajevo 1984 Thanks to skier Jure Franko, Yugoslavia won its first medal ever at the Winter Olympics. Founder Marja-Liisa Kirvesmiemi-Hämäläinen (Finland) became the first woman to compete in six editions of the Olympic Games.
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Calgary 1988
25 January 2022 Calgary 1988 For the first time, the Winter Olympics were held over 16 days, including three weekends. There were five alpine skiing events instead of three, with the addition of the super-G and the combined. Alberto Tomba brought the end of the San Remo Festival to a halt: all of Italy watched the Italian champion’s second gold live.
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Albertville 1992
25 January 2022 Albertville 1992 The 1992 Albertville Olympics were the last Winter Olympics held in the same year as the Summer Games. Artistic skiing, short track, and the women’s biathlon debuted as official disciplines. The gold in super-G went to Deborah Compagnoni.
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Lillehammer 1994
25 January 2022 Lillehammer 1994 In 1986, the IOC decided that the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics would be held in different years. That’s why the Lillehammer Games were held in 1994: for the first time, two editions of the Winter Olympics were held just two years apart.
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Nagano 1998
25 January 2022 Nagano 1998 Snowboarding debuted as an official discipline. Curling returned to the Winter Olympics program, this time with men’s and women’s tournaments. Deborah Compagnoni took gold in the giant slalom and silver in the special.
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Salt Lake City 2002
25 January 2022 Salt Lake City 2002 The program was expanded to 78 events, including the return of skeleton and the introduction of women’s (two-person) bobsleigh. Athletes from 18 countries won gold (a record), including the first golds in history for China and Australia. Steven Bradbury became a legend.
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Turin 2006
25 January 2022 Turin 2006 The Winter Games returned to Italy for the second time. Some 2,508 athletes from 80 countries participated, and medals went to 26 different countries - all records. For the first time, live video coverage was available on mobile phones.
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Vancouver 2010
25 January 2022 Vancouver 2010 At the 2010 Vancouver Games, Canada was triumphant in hockey. This edition was marked by the tragedy of the young Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili.
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Sochi 2014
25 January 2022 Sochi 2014 The Winter Olympics by the sea. The competitions were organised into two groups: a coastal site for events on ice in Sochi, and a mountainous landscape. Malta, Paraguay, Timor Leste, Togo, Tonga, and Zimbabwe participated for the first time.
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PyeongChang 2018
25 January 2022 PyeongChang 2018 PyeongChang’s vision for the 2018 Olympics was to offer the Olympics “new horizons.” That year, gold medals went to Sofia Goggia (free descent), Michela Moioli (snowboarding), and Arianna Fontana (short track).
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Beijing 2022
25 January 2022 Beijing 2022 The Chinese capital became the first city in the world to host both the summer (2008) and winter Olympics.
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