The inaugural Winter Olympics were held in Chamonix, France, from 25 January to 4 February 1924. A total of 258 athletes from 16 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competed in 16 events across 9 disciplines.[1] Women also participated in these Games, although the only events they were allowed to compete in were the figure skating ladies' singles and pairs.[2] When the Games were held, they were not recognized as the Winter Olympics but as a winter sports week festival. It was not until 1926 that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) officially recognized them as the first Winter Olympics.[1]
104 athletes won medals for their NOCs, but the athletes from Norway and Finland stood out and dominated the Games, winning 17 and 11 medals, respectively. The United States and Great Britain tied for third place in the total number of medals, with four each. Athletes from 10 of the 16 participating NOCs won at least one medal; eight won at least one gold medal.[3] Many of the athletes who won these medals had already returned to their home countries by the time the medals were awarded, on 5 February, and other participants from their countries had to take the medals to the winning athletes.[1]
Finnish speed skater Clas Thunberg topped the medal count with five medals: three golds, one silver, and one bronze. One of his competitors, Roald Larsen of Norway, also won five medals, with two silver and three bronze medal-winning performances.[3] The first gold medalist at these Games—and therefore the first gold medalist in Winter Olympic history—was American speed skater Charles Jewtraw. Only one medal change occurred after the Games: in the ski jump competition, a marking error deprived American athlete Anders Haugen of a bronze medal. Haugen pursued an appeal to the IOC many years after the fact; he was awarded the medal after a 1974 decision in his favor.[1]
| Contents | ||
| Medal leaders See also Notes References External links | ||
Bobsleigh
edit| Event[4] | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's four-man |
 Switzerland (SUI)Alfred Neveu Eduard Scherrer Alfred Schläppi Heinrich Schläppi |
 Great Britain (GBR)Thomas Arnold Ralph Broome Alexander Richardson Rodney Soher |
 Belgium (BEL)Charles Mulder René Mortiaux Paul Van den Broeck Victor Verschueren Henri Willems[Note 1] |
Cross-country skiing
edit| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 km [5] |
Thorleif Haug Norway
|
Johan Grøttumsbråten Norway
|
Tapani Niku Finland
|
| 50 km [6] |
Thorleif Haug Norway
|
Thoralf Strømstad Norway
|
Johan Grøttumsbråten Norway
|
Curling
edit
Figure skating
edit
| Event[10] | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's singles |
Gillis Grafström Sweden
|
Willy Böckl Austria
|
Georges Gautschi Switzerland
|
| Ladies' singles |
Herma Szabo Austria
|
Beatrix Loughran United States
|
Ethel Muckelt Great Britain
|
| Pairs [11] |
 Austria (AUT)Helene Engelmann Alfred Berger |
 Finland (FIN)Ludowika Jakobsson Walter Jakobsson |
 France (FRA)Andrée Joly Pierre Brunet |
Ice hockey
edit
Military patrol
edit| Event[13] | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Military patrol |
Switzerland (SUI) Adolf Aufdenblatten Alphonse Julen Antoine Julen Denis Vaucher |
Finland (FIN) August Eskelinen Heikki Hirvonen Martti Lappalainen Väinö Bremer |
France (FRA) Adrien "André" Vandelle Camille Mandrillon Georges Berthet Maurice Mandrillon |
Nordic combined
edit| Event[14] | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's individual |
Thorleif Haug Norway
|
Thoralf Strømstad Norway
|
Johan Grøttumsbråten Norway
|
Ski jumping
edit
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's individual [16] |
Jacob Tullin Thams Norway
|
Narve Bonna Norway
|
Anders Haugen United States
|
Speed skating
edit| Event[17] | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 metres |
Charles Jewtraw United States
|
Oskar Olsen Norway
|
Roald Larsen Norway
|
| Clas Thunberg Finland
| |||
| 1500 metres |
Clas Thunberg Finland
|
Roald Larsen Norway
|
Sigurd Moen Norway
|
| 5000 metres |
Clas Thunberg Finland
|
Julius Skutnabb Finland
|
Roald Larsen Norway
|
| 10000 metres |
Julius Skutnabb Finland
|
Clas Thunberg Finland
|
Roald Larsen Norway
|
| All-round |
Clas Thunberg Finland
|
Roald Larsen Norway
|
Julius Skutnabb Finland
|
Medal leaders
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Athletes who won multiple medals are listed below.[18]
| Athlete | Nation | Sport | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clas Thunberg | Finland (FIN)
|
Speed skating | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Thorleif Haug |  Norway (NOR)
|
Cross-country skiing and Nordic combined | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Julius Skutnabb | Finland (FIN)
|
Speed skating | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Roald Larsen | Norway (NOR)
|
Speed skating | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Thoralf Strømstad | Norway (NOR)
|
Cross-country skiing and Nordic combined | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Johan Grøttumsbråten | Norway (NOR)
|
Cross-country skiing and Nordic combined | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Notes
edit- ^ The IOC medal database recognizes five members of the Belgian team in the four-man event. The fifth man was an alternate.[3]
- ^ D.G. Astley earned a gold medal in curling with the team from Great Britain, but played for Sweden II in their play-off against France for the second silver medal in that competition. The current IOC medal database only lists him as winning a gold medal, though some sources suggest he may have received both a gold and silver medal. If that is true, he would be the only Olympic athlete in history to have received a gold and silver medal in the same event.[8]
- ^ Both the official report of the 1924 Winter Olympics and the IOC medal database list two Swedish teams as having won the silver medal in curling. However, neither source explains why two silver medals were awarded in the event.[3][8]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d "Chamonix 1924 Winter Olympics". International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 11 November 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
- ^ Official Report of the 1924 Olympic Games, p. 646.
- ^ a b c d "All the medallists since 1896". International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 10 May 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
- ^ "Four/Five, Men". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 11 May 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Cross Country Skiing at the 1924 Chamonix Winter Games: Men's 18 kilometres". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 8 July 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Cross Country Skiing at the 1924 Chamonix Winter Games: Men's 50 kilometres". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
- ^ "Curling, Men". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 3 April 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
- ^ a b Official Report of the 1924 Olympic Games, p. 712.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Herma Planck-Szabo". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
- ^ "Figure Skating at the 1924 Winter Olympics". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
- ^ "Pairs, Mixed". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 11 May 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
- ^ "Ice Hockey, Men". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 27 March 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
- ^ "Military Ski Patrol, Men". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 3 April 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
- ^ "Nordic Combined at the 1924 Winter Olympics". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Jacob Tullin Thams Biography and Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
- ^ "Normal Hill, Individual, Men". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 27 March 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
- ^ "Speed Skating at the 1924 Winter Olympics". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "1924 Chamonix Winter Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
External links
edit
- "Chamonix 1924". Olympics.com. International Olympic Committee.
- "Official Report of the 1924 Olympic Games" (PDF) (in French). International Olympic Committee. 1924. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 April 2008. Retrieved 7 August 2011.