| Host City: | Chamonix, France |
| Nations: | 16 |
| Athletes: | 258[1] |
| Events: | 16 in 6 sports (9 disciplines) |
| Opening: | 25 January 1924 |
| Closing: | 5 February 1924 |
| Stadium: | Stade Olympique de Chamonix |
| Winter Next: | St Moritz 1928 |
| Summer Prev: | Antwerp 1920 |
The 1924 Winter Olympics, officially known as the I Olympic Winter Games (French: I<sup>ers</sup> Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Chamonix 1924 (Chamôni 1924), were a winter multi-sport event which was held in 1924 in Chamonix, France. Originally held in association with the 1924 Summer Olympics, the sports competitions were held at the foot of Mont Blanc in Chamonix, and Haute-Savoie, France between 25 January and 5 February 1924.[2] The Games were organized by the French Olympic Committee, and were originally reckoned as the "International Winter Sports Week." With the success of the event, it was retroactively designated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as "the first Olympic Winter Games".[3] [4]
The tradition of holding the Winter Olympics in the same year as the Summer Olympics would continue until 1992, after which the current practice of holding a Winter Olympics in the second year after each Summer Olympics began.
Although figure skating had been an Olympic event in both London and Antwerp and ice hockey had been an event in Antwerp, winter sports had always been limited by the season. In 1921, at the IOC convention in Lausanne, there was a call for equality for winter sports. After much discussion, organizing an "international week of winter sport" in 1924 in Chamonix was decided.
The first gold medal to be awarded at the Olympic Winter Games was won by Charles Jewtraw of the United States in the 500-meter speed skate,[5] making him the first Winter Olympic champion.[6]
Sonja Henie of Norway, at just eleven years old, took part in the ladies' figure skating competition. Although she finished last, she became popular with fans and went on to take gold at the following three Winter Olympics.[7]
Figure skater Gillis Grafström of Sweden became the first athlete to successfully defend his Summer Olympic title at the Winter Olympics (having won a gold medal in 1920).
The Canadian ice hockey team (Toronto Granites) finished their qualifying round with three wins against Czechoslovakia (30–0), Sweden (22–0), and Switzerland (33–0), scoring a total of 85 goals and conceding none.[8]
Finding themselves in the same situation as Gillis Grafström, the Canadian ice hockey team is the last to defend its Summer Olympics title at the Winter Olympics successfully. Canada would dominate ice hockey in early Olympic competitions, winning six of the first seven gold medals awarded.
Taffy Abel (1900–1964) was an Indigenous Ojibwe ice hockey player. He was the first Native American in the Winter Olympic Games (1924 Hockey Silver Medal), 1924 Flag Bearer for the United States at the 1924 Winter Olympics, first Native American in the National Hockey League (1926), Stanley Cup champion (1929) and (1934).
At the closing ceremony, a prize for a sport not part of the Olympic Winter Games was awarded for alpinism by Pierre de Coubertin to Lt Col Edward Strutt, the deputy leader of and on behalf of the British expedition which had attempted to climb Mount Everest in 1922.[9]
For the first time in the history of the modern Olympics, the host country (in this case, France) failed to win any gold medals, finishing with three bronze medals. The same outcome occurred at the next Winter Olympics in St. Moritz where Switzerland won only a single bronze medal, the lowest ever output by a host nation at an Olympics. Later host nations to finish without gold medals included Canada at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Yugoslavia at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, and Canada for a second time at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.
In 1925, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to organize the Olympic Winter Games every four years, independent of the Olympic Games proper, and recognized the International Winter Sports Week as the first Olympic Winter Games in retrospect.
The final individual medal of Chamonix 1924 was presented in 1974. The ski jumping event was unusual because the bronze medalist was not determined for fifty years. Norway's Thorleif Haug was awarded third place at the event's conclusion, but a clerical error in calculating Haug's score was discovered in 1974 by skiing historian Jakob Vaage, who further determined that Anders Haugen of the United States, who had finished fourth, had actually scored 0.095 points more than Haug. This was verified by the IOC, and in Oslo in September 1974, Haug's daughter presented the medal to the 86-year-old Haugen.[10]
In 2006, the IOC confirmed that the medals awarded to the 1924 curling teams were official.[11] The IOC verified that curling was officially part of the program, after the Glasgow Herald newspaper filed a claim on behalf of the families of the team.[12]
Medals were awarded in 16 events contested in 5 sports (9 disciplines). Many sources do not list curling and the military patrol, or list them as demonstration events. However, no such designation was made in 1924. In February 2006, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) ruled that curling was a full part of the Olympic program, and have included the medals awarded in the official count.
See main article: Venues of the 1924 Winter Olympics.
Athletes from 16 nations competed in the first Winter Olympic Games. Germany was banned from competing in the games, and instead hosted a series of games called Deutsche Kampfspiele.
| IOC Letter Code | Country | Athletes |
|---|---|---|
| GBR | 44 | |
| FRA | 43 | |
| SWE | 31 | |
| SUI | 30 | |
| TCH | 27 | |
| USA | 24 | |
| ITA | 23 | |
| BEL | 18 | |
| FIN | 17 | |
| NOR | 14 | |
| CAN | 12 | |
| POL | 7 | |
| AUT | 4 | |
| HUN | 4 | |
| YUG | 4 | |
| LAT | 2 | |
| Total | 258 | |
See main article: 1924 Winter Olympics medal table.
| 30 January | Men's 50 kilometre | Thorleif Haug | Thoralf Strømstad | Johan Grøttumsbråten | |||
| 4 February | Normal hill | Thorleif Haug | Thoralf Strømstad | Johan Grøttumsbråten |