The Winter Olympics in Wartime

World War II significantly impacted the Olympics. The 1940 and 1944 Olympic Games were cancelled due to World War II. The 1940 Winter Olympic Games were to have taken place in Sapporo, Japan. The 1944 Winter Olympics event was planned for Corina d’Ampezzo, Italy. The Winter Olympics event resumed in 1948 in St. Moritz, Switzerland, albeit on a small scale. While Winter Olympic information abounds about today’s games, fewer events were included in WWII era Olympic Games. The winter sports Olympics have grown with each year, with new events included, the events expanded, and the daring and skill increasing.

A Pre-WWII History of the Winter Olympics

The first Winter Olympics event was held in 1924 in Chamonix, France; however, it was originally designated as a winter sports event, and later retroactively dubbed the first Winter Olympic Games. The 1920 summer games in Antwerp had incorporated figure skating and ice hockey; however those were the sole winter sports Olympics featured. An array of skating, ice hockey events were included; however, alpine skiing would not be included until 1936. St. Moritz, Switzerland hosted the 1928 games, and skeleton (a luge event) debuted in the winter sports Olympics. The 1932 Winter Olympics event took place in Lake Placid, New York and 1936 in Garmisch and Partenkirchen, Germany.  Weather has often impacted the Winter Olympics event, with overly warm temperatures often causing challenges for the athletes and sports. The games slowly expanded over the years.

Post-War Olympics

The first Winter Olympics event following the horrors of World War II again took place in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The 1948 Summer Olympics had taken place in London, England.  Switzerland’s neutrality during the war had left the country relatively untouched, and thus able to host the winter sports Olympics. Twenty-eight countries competed; however, Germany and Japan were not invited due to their participation in the war. Other countries simply opted not to participate, or had shifted politically due to the war, including Latvia. Winter Olympics information sources, like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_Olympic_Games report that the games expanded in 1948. Skeleton, a luge event,  reappeared, and new alpine skiing events were offered. The competition sports included alpine skiing, bobsled, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic skiing, ski jumping, speed skating, and skeleton. Winter pentathlon and military patrol were demonstrated in this Winter Olympics event. Norway, Sweden and Switzerland took home the largest numbers of medals from these winter sports Olympics.

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