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2010 Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics, technically known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Vancouver 2010, informally the 21st Winter Olympics, was an international multi-sport winter event taking place from 12 to 28 February 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events taking place in the surrounding suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University Endowment Lands. Approximately 2600 athletes from 82 nations competed in 86 events in 15 disciplines. The planning committee in Vancouver, headed by John Furlong, had organised for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The 2010 Winter Olympics is the third-largest host of Games in Canada and the first in British Columbia. Canada also hosted the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta. Metro Vancouver is the largest urban region hosting the Summer Olympics while Calgary is the largest town hosting the Summer Olympics. We are all to be overtaken by Beijing in 2022. In line with Olympic tradition, at the closing ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, the mayor of Vancouver, Sam Sullivan, raised the Olympic flag. The flag was raised on 28 February 2006 at a formal ceremony and was on display at Vancouver City Hall before the Olympic Games opening ceremonies. The festival was officially opened by Governor General Michaëlle Jean joined by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and International Olympic Committee Chairman Jacques Rogge. Canada captured gold for the first time in an international competition at home-hosted Olympic Games, having failed to do so at both the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics and the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. Canada clinched their first gold medal on the second day of the tournament and finished fourth in the gold medal tally on the tournament's second to last day, becoming the first host nation since Norway in 1952 to top the gold medal count. Canada broke the record for the most gold medals won at a single Winter Olympics, 13 held in 1976 by the Soviet Union and 14 in 2002 by Norway. In all, the United States won the most medals, their second time at the Winter Olympics, and set the record for the most medals won at a single Winter Olympics with 37, a record held by Germany with 36 medals in 2002 up to that point. Slovak and Belarusian athletes have captured the first gold medals in their country's Winter Olympics. Many venues such as the Richmond Olympic Oval were at sea level, a rarity for the Winter Games. The 2010 Games is also the first indoor opening ceremony — winter or summer — to have been held. Greater Vancouver is the most populous metropolitan city ever to be represented at the Winter Olympics. In February, the month the Games were being played, Vancouver had an average temperature of 4.8 ° C. The mean temperature as measured at Vancouver International Airport for the month of February 2010 was 7.1 ° C. The Olympic Games in Vancouver is broadcast internationally through a number of television networks. Because the rights for the 2010 Games were combined with those for the 2012 Summer Olympics, the broadcasters were practically identical with both competitions. Olympic Broadcasting Services Vancouver, a subsidiary of the current in-house programming network of Olympic Broadcasting Services located within the IOC, became the host broadcaster. The 2010 Olympics marked the first Games at which the host transmission services were only provided by OBS. Nancy Lee, a former director and president at CBC Sports, was the Managing Director at Vancouver's Olympic Broadcasting Services. The flame was lit at Olympia for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver on 22 October 2009. It then travelled from Greece to Canada's High Arctic, around the North Pole, and on to the West Coast and then on to Vancouver. The relay continued its long voyage through Canada from British Columbia's capital of Victoria. The torch travelled in Canada for about 45,000 kilometres over 106 days, making it the longest relay run in one country's Olympic history. About 12,000 people carried the Olympic torch and visited nearly 1,000 neighbourhoods. The Olympic Torch Relay is the transfer of the Olympic torch from Ancient Olympia, Greece into the civic stadium where the current Olympic Games are held. The fires come just in time for the ceremony to begin.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
2018 Olympics
The 2018 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXIII Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as the 2018 PyeongChang, was an international multi-sport winter festival held in Pyeongchang District, Gangwon Province, South Korea on February 9-25, 2018, the day before the opening ceremony. Pyeongchang was chosen as host city in July 2011, at the 123rd IOC Session in Durban, South Africa. This was the second hosting of the Olympic Games in South Korea, having previously hosted the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, but it was only the first Winter Olympics in the region. This was the first of three consecutive Games in East Asia, with the next two being Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022. This was the third time since the Winter Games were hosted by Sapporo and Nagano, both of those towns in Japan, an East Asian country. It was also Central Asia's first Winter Games to take place. The Games held 102 competitions ranging over 15 disciplines, a unprecedented number of competitions on the Winter Games. Four events make their 2018 Olympic debut: "big air" snowboarding, mass start speed skating, mixed curling doubles and mixed alpine team skiing. A total of 2,914 athletes from 92 NOCs participated including the national debuts from Ecuador, Eritrea, Kosovo, Indonesia, Nigeria and Singapore. Throughout the 2014 Winter Olympics, the Russian Olympic Committee was suspended after a state-sponsored doping programme was exposed, but selected competitors were permitted to compete neutrally in the special IOC group "Russian Olympic Competitors" North Korea agreed to take part in the Games amid the tense ties with South Korea; the two nations paraded together as a unified Korea at the Games; Norway led the tally with 39 national medals, followed by 31 in Germany and 29 in Canada. Germany and Norway, with all 14, were tied for the highest number of gold medals. Host nation South Korea has won 17 medals, five of which were gold at a Winter Olympics, their highest medal haul. The opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics took place at the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium on February 9, 2018; the $100 million facility was planned to be used solely for the opening and closing ceremonies of these Olympics and possible Paralympics, and was demolished upon completion. Many of the outdoor snow events were organised in Pyeongchang City, while some of the alpine skiing practises were conducted in neighbouring Jeongseon Borough. Indoor ice competitions were held in neighbouring city of Gangneung. The opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics was held at the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium on February 9, 2018; the US$ 100 million stadium was planned to be used exclusively for the opening and closing ceremonies of these Olympics and future Paralympics, and was demolished upon completion. The 2018 Winter Olympics held 102 competitions covering over 15 disciplines in 7 sports, making them the first Winter Olympics to exceed 100 medal competitions. The closing celebration of the 2018 Winter Olympics took place at the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium on 25 February 2018. IOC chief Thomas Bach declared the Games over, and the cauldron was extinguished. Television rights for the 2018 Winter Olympics were already sold in many countries as part of long-term television rights deals, including local Games rights provider SBS, which in July 2011 had extended its access to the Olympics by 2024. SBS had sub-licensed the rights to the MBC and KBS. On 29 June 2015, the IOC announced that Exploration Communications had acquired exclusive Olympic rights in Europe from 2018 through 2024. The pan-European Eurosport channels of Discovery were positioned as the main broadcaster of the Sports, but the free-to-air networks of Discovery, such as DMAX in Spain, Channel 5 in Sweden and TVNorge in Norway, were also involved in the programming arrangements in general. Discovery was required to sub-license, in each market, at least 100 hours of programming to free-to-air stations; some of these agreements allowed Eurosport and its affiliated networks to be exclusive to those sports. The deal originally did not include France because of the broadcasting rights of France Télévisions, which will continue until the Olympics in 2020. United Country.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
1994 Olympics
The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games, was a multi-sport winter event held from 12th to 27th February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. In 1992, Lillehammer had not won the bid for the event, losing to Albertville. The 1994 Winter Olympics were awarded to Lillehammer in 1988, after crushing Anchorage, USA; Östersund, Sweden; and Sofia, Bulgaria. Lillehammer is the northernmost town ever to host Winter Games and Olympics overall. The Games was the first to be held in a year other than the Summer Olympics, the first and only to be played two years since the previous winter games. The Games were the second Winter Olympics held in Norway, after the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, and the fourth Nordic Olympics, the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, and the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. While there were few events in Lillehammer, there was cycling in Hamar, numerous ice hockey matches were held in Gjøvik, while there was alpine skiing in Øyer and Ringebu. 67 nations and 1,737 athletes competed in 6 disciplines and 61 events. Fourteen nations made their Olympic Winter debuts, nine of them were former Soviet republics. The Games also saw more stringent classification criteria being introduced, raising the number of underperforming athletes arriving from countries with warm weather. New events included two separate distances in short track speed skating and aerials, while figure skating was moved indoors. Over two million people spectated the games, the first to witness the Olympic truce in place. From 10th to 19th March, the 1994 Winter Paralympics preceded the games. Manuela Di Centa and Lyubov Yegorova led women's cross-country skiing, winning five and four medals, respectively. A crowd of over 100,000 saw Italy beat Norway by 0.4 seconds on the men's 4 around 10 km relay Vreni Schneider has won a full medal series in alpine skiing while Norway has taken a gold sweep in the men's combination. Before the match, Shane Stant, an associate of Tonya Harding, had clubbed Nancy Kerrigan but managed to take silver in the ladies ' singles. Once Kim Yoon-Mi, 13, became the first Olympic gold medalist ever to win, Johann Olav Koss won three speed skating competitions. Sweden has beat Canada in a thrilling penalty shootout in the ice hockey final. Russia won the bulk of events with 11 gold medals while Norway won the highest number of 26 medals. The opening ceremony was held at a ski jumping slope, Lysgårdsbakken. Artistic resources have been given for a variety of Norwegian history, including Sami joik, Telemark skiing, fiddlers and folk dancing, versions of traditional weddings and their processions, and Norse mythology vetter. Following speeches by Heiberg and IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch, the games were officially proclaimed opened by King Harald V. Before lighting the cauldron the Olympic Flame was to be skied down the skijump. This job initially depended on Ole Gunnar Fidjestøl, but after being injured in a practise jump, his back-up Stein Gruben earned the distinction. The Cauldron was illuminated by Crown Prince Haakon Magnus. Vegard Ulvang gave the athletes the Olympic oaths, and the officials the Kari Kåring. The games were spread across ten venues in five municipalities across two counties, Oppland and Hedmark. Mjøsa Bay is both based on Lillehammer, with a population of 25,000, and Hamar and Gjøvik, each of which have a population of 27,000. Located 45 and 54 km south of Lillehammer, Gjøvik and Hamar respectively. Hunderfossen is located 15 kilometres north of Lillehammer but is within the municipality. Located 18 and 50 kilometres north of Lillehammer in the Gudbrandsdalen Valley, Øyer and Ringebu, all of which have a population of just under 5000. Lillehammer had four stadiums, Hamar had two stadiums, and Hunderfossen, Gjøvik, Øyer and Ringebu each had one venue. Lysgårdsbakken in Lillehammer boasts hills that hop twin skis. The big hill is 138 in size while the regular hill is 100 in size and 90 in critical stage. In addition to the ski jumping events, the hill has space for 35,000 fans, and hosted the opening and closing ceremonies.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
2014 Olympics
The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXII Olympic Winter Games and simply known as Sochi 2014, was an international multi-sport winter event held in Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia from February 7-23, 2014, with preliminary rounds in several sports played on the eve of the opening ceremonies, February 6, 2014. Both the Games and the 2014 Winter Paralympics were hosted by the Sochi Organising Committee. In July 2007, Sochi was selected as host city at the 119th IOC Session held in Guatemala City. This was the first Games to be held on a CIS territory since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. Formerly the Soviet Union was the host nation of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. This is the first Olympic Games of the World Olympic Committee chaired by Thomas Bach. A record 98 events took place in 15 disciplines of winter sport during the Olympics. A number of new activities – a total of twelve gender records – were held during the Games, including mixed relay biathlon, female ski jumping, mixed-team racing, mixed-team luge, half-pipe skiing, ski and snowboard slopestyle, and parallel slalom snowboarding. The events took place around two clusters of new venues: an Olympic Park built on the Black Sea coast in Sochi's Imeretinsky Valley, with Fisht Olympic Stadium and indoor facilities within walking distance of the Olympics, and snow sports in the resort city of Krasnaya Polyana. Winter Games 2014 is the most lavish games in the history of the Olympics. Although initially budgeted at US$ 12 billion, major cost overruns resulted in this figure rising to US$ 51 billion, more than three times the cost of the 2012 London Olympics and almost exceeding the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics ' nearly $44 billion loss. The 2014 Games reached an audience of 2.1 billion people globally on TV. An independent investigation published in 2016 by the World Anti-Doping Agency revealed charges that the Russian Olympic team had engaged in a state-sponsored doping programme, running from at least the late 2011 to August 2015. At the Sochi Winter Olympics, the plan got embroiled, and the cover-up had covered the athletes. In 2017, the IOC stripped thirteen medals from Russian athletes but nine were returned by the Court of Arbitration for Competition. In December 2017, the IOC voted to disband the Russian Olympic Committee, with an incentive for whitelisted athletes to compete independently in the 2018 Winter Olympics. On 29 September 2013, the Olympic torch was lit in Ancient Olympia, beginning a seven-day journey through Greece and on to Russia, then the torch relay started in Moscow on 7 October 2013 before passing through 83 Russian cities and arriving in Sochi on the opening day, 7 February 2014. It is the longest torch relay in Olympic history, a 60,000-kilometer (40,000 miles) journey from west Kaliningrad to east Chukotka, travelling all over the country. The Olympic torch reached the North Pole with a nuclear powered icebreaker for the very first time. The torch was also sent to the International Space Station (ISS) for the first time on Soyuz TMA-11 M flight into orbit, but not lit for safety reasons for the remainder of the mission. The spacecraft itself has been painted in livery, with an Olympic theme like the Games logo. Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazansky have lifted the torch on a spacewalk outside ISS. The torch returned to Earth five days later on board Soyuz TMA-09M. The torch also reached the highest point in Europe, Mount Elbrus and Lake Baikal in Siberia. The opening ceremony for Winter Olympics 2014 took place on 7 February 2014 at Fisht Olympic Stadium, an indoor venue built especially for the ceremonies. The ceremonies featured scenes based on aspects of Russian culture and the arts including theatre, classical music, the Russian Revolution and the time of the Soviet Union. The opening scene of the ceremony featured a noticeable technical malfunction, in which one of five snowflakes to be stretched to form the Olympic rings failed and did not develop.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
1980 Olympics
The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIII Olympic Winter Games, was a multi-sport festival contested from 13-24 February 1980 in Lake Placid, New York, U.S. The village in Upstate New York hosted the Olympics for the second time since 1932. Vancouver-Garibaldi, British Columbia, Canada, which withdrawn before the final vote, was the only other applicant city to qualify for the Olympics. The Games mascot was a raccoon, "Roni." On a raccoon's muzzle the mask-like rings are reminiscent of the gloves and goggles that many winter sports competitors wear. In the Olympic Arena, Whiteface Mountain, Olympic Bobsled Run Mt. Van Hoevenberg, Olympic Ski Jumps, Waterfall Cross Country Ski Club, and Lake Placid High School Speed Skating Oval, the events were carried out. The qualification process for Winter Olympic 1980 consisted of one bid, from Lake Placid, New York, USA. This was selected at the International Olympic Committee's 75th Meeting in Wien on 23 October 1974. The venue was considered suitable for the amenities accessible from the Winter Olympics of 1932, in particular the Bobsleigh event. Congressional appropriations law included a provision for extra facility use, and it was agreed that the Olympic Village would be built to serve the needs of the Federal Prison Department. After the Olympic Games, it was repurposed for Federal Correctional Facility, Ray Brook, prompting resistance from civic parties and international players. The U.S. men's ice hockey team, composed mostly of college players, won the gold medal and didn't expect advancements in previous group stage. The U.S. team's 4–3 triumph over the experienced Soviet side, which entered the 1980 Games after winning four consecutive Olympic gold medals, became known as the "Miracle on Ice" in U.S. culture The triumph won American hearts, but it was the victory over Finland that earned the gold medal. Eric Heiden of the United States won gold in the 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m, 5000 m, and 10,000 m speed skating events, shattering four Olympic records and one world record in the process and providing 83 per cent of American gold medals. Heiden was the first person to win all five speed skating events, the first of only three to win five gold medals in individual competitions at a single event, and he is also the first competitor to win five gold medals at one Winter Games. 38 Sporting events were held in six disciplines. Thomas Wassberg of Sweden defeated Finland's Juha Mieto by 0.01 seconds in 15 km of cross-country skiing, the closest margin of victory ever in Olympic cross-country skiing, in possibly the most thrilling duel of the games. Although they received no awards, the People's Republic of China entered the Olympic Games for the first time since the IOC agreed to designate the Republic of China for "Chinese Taipei" 1980 Lake Placid was the first time artificial snow was seen in Olympic sports. 1980 Lake Placid was the final Games held by the Vice President of the United States, since 1980 was a year of presidential elections. Roni is the Olympic mascot of those Games, created by Don Moss. The mascot is a racoon, a popular character from the mountainous region of the Adirondacks where Lake Placid is situated. The name Roni derives from the Iroquoian term racoon, the language of the New York State and Lake Placid area native peoples, and was selected by Lake Placid school children. For the 1980 Winter Olympics, the official theme song for the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra was "Give It Everything You Can," by the American flugelhorn player Chuck Mangione, who performed the song live at the Closing Ceremony.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
1924 Olympics
The 1924 Winter Olympics, officially known as the I Winter Games, were a 1924 multi-sport winter festival held in Chamonix, France. Originally arranged in tandem with the 1924 Summer Olympics, the sporting competitions were held between 25 January and 5 February 1924 at the foot of Mont Blanc in Chamonix, and Haute-Savoie, France. The Games were funded by the French Olympic Committee and were originally known as the "World Winter Sports Week." Following the event's success it was retroactively recognised by the International Olympic Committee as the I Olympic Winter Games. The tradition of hosting the Winter Olympics in the same year as the Summer Olympics would continue until 1992, after which in the second year the Summer Olympics began the modern practise of hosting a Winter Olympics. Although Figure Skating was an Olympic event in both London and Antwerp, and Ice Hockey was an event in Antwerp, the winter sports had been limited to season only. In 1921, the IOC conference in Lausanne called for equality for winter sports, and after much discussion it was decided to organise a "general winter sports event" in Chamonix in 1924. A recognition was received for a sport that did not lend itself too well to rivalry at the end of the games: Pierre de Coubertin presented Charles Granville Bruce, the expedition leader who tried to climb Mount Everest in 1922, with a ' alpinisme ' trophy. ' In this situation France, the host country, for the first time in the history of modern Olympics, had failed to win any gold medals, signing off with three bronze medals. This feat will happen later at the next St. Moritz Winter Olympics, where Switzerland won only one bronze medal, the lowest result a host nation has ever seen at an Olympics. Canada at the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics, and the 1988 Calgary and Yugoslavia Winter Olympics at the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics were later host nations to complete without gold medals. In 1925, the IOC voted to hold the first historical Olympic Winter Games every four years, irrespective of the proper Olympic Events, Olympic Winter Games and approved the Annual Winter Sports Event. In 1974 the last single Chamonix 1924 award was granted. A bronze medal has been awarded to Anders Haugen, who was reported to finish fourth in the ski jumping event up to then. After 50 years an mistake has been found in the ranking of Thorleif Haug. In 2006 the IOC announced that the awards were officially awarded to 1924 curling teams. The IOC acknowledged that curling was legally part of the programme, after a complaint was brought on behalf of the team members by the Glasgow Herald newspaper. Medals were awarded at 16 events in 5 contested disciplines. Many sources do not list as demonstration events, or mark, curling and military patrol. However no such designation was made in 1924. In February 2006 the International Olympic Committee determined that curling was a full part of the Olympic programme and included the medals won on the official list. Competitors from 16 nations competed at first Olympic Winter Games. Germany was removed from the competitions, and instead held a series of competitions, the Deutsche Kampfspiele. At the Bobsleigh competitions a total of nine teams from five countries participated. Two teams withdrawn after the first test and another team retired after the third match. The three Swiss, Great Britain and Belgium teams were medalist. Bobsleigh speeds were hitting up to 115 km / h at the race. Le Tremplin Olympique du Mont was a ski jumping venue to host the 1924 Winter Olympics, built in Chamonix, France. The jumper took off at an altitude of 1189.8 m, flying 79.4 metres before falling to a take-off point of 1152.8 metres in height. The K-point was measured to be 71.5 metres at takeoff.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
1932 Olympics
The 1932 Winter Olympics is a multi-sport winter event held in Lake Placid, New York, United States, officially known as the III Olympic Winter Games. The games opened on February 4th, and closed on February 15th. It was the first of four winter Olympics in the United States; Lake Placid hosted again in 1980. Godfrey Dewey, founder of the Lake Placid Club and son of Melvil Dewey, inventor of the Dewey Decimal System, brought the games in part of Lake Placid.[1] California also had a plan for the Winter Games of 1932. William May Garland, president of the California X Olympiad Association, ordered the games in Wrightwood and Big Pines, California for play. For the event, the world's highest ski jump at the time was constructed in Big Pines, but in the end the games were awarded to Lake Placid. Coca-Cola would later become an approved soft beverage manufacturer for this Winter Olympics. The Olympics opened with Franklin D. Roosevelt, then the governor of New York. Nine months later he was to be voted US President. Billy Fiske, carried the flag for the United States in the opening ceremonies. A member of Aspen ski park in Colorado, he was killed in 1940 serving in the Battle of Britain. Sonja Henie won the second of three consecutive Olympic gold medals in figure skating. She'd previously won gold in 1928 and 1936. Irving Jaffee won the gold medals in speedskating at 5,000 m and 10,000 m, beating previous champion and world record holder Ivar Ballangrud in the 10,000 m by 4.5 m. In both the summer and winter games, Eddie Eagan became the first Olympian to earn gold medals in different sports. In 1920 he won gold in wrestling at the summer games in Antwerp, and gold in bobsleigh at Lake Placid. The bobsleigh race was held two days after the close of the games festivities, due to the unseasonably warm weather in the region the week before. In the medal count the USA earned a total of 12 medals. That was the last time the US finished to top medal count at the Winter Olympics. Seventeen counties participated. Medals were won at 14 events in 4 contested disciplines. At those Games, competitors representing 17 countries participated, down representing 25 countries at similar Games in 1928. Argentina, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Switzerland, Brazil, The Netherlands and Yugoslavia did not send competitors to Lake Placid. At the time, Lake Placid was a town with a population of under 4,000. In the midst of a crisis, the president of the Organizing Committee, Mr Godfrey Dewey, gave a plot of land belonging to his family for the building of the bobsleigh track in the face of significant obstacles to collecting funds. Norway's Sonja Henie and Andrée and French pair Pierre Brunet excel in defending their skating titles in figure. American Billy Fiske won a second gold medal in the four- bobsleigh. Sweden's Gillis Grafström, however, was stopped attempting to earn his fourth gold medal, coming second behind Austrian Karl Schäfer. For the first time and only time in Olympic history the American group racing concept has been used in the speed skating competition. Similar to the European heats programme, where two teams are playing against each other and the clock, which required mass starting and competitors playing against each other. American Eddie Eagan accomplished a remarkable feat by winning gold medals both in summer and in winter. He'd won the light-heavyweight boxing division at the 1920 Antwerp Olympic Summer Games. Twelve years later he had won in Lake Placid's four-man bobsleigh.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
1948 Olympics
The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially referred to as the V Olympic Winter Games, were a 1948 multi-sport winter event held in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The Games were the first to be held since World War II; it had been 12 years since the last 1936 Winter Games. By choosing a host city in a neutral country, and removing Japan and Germany, the political atmosphere of the post-war world became inevitable during the Games. The planning committee faced numerous challenges because of the lack of financial and human resources incurred by the war. Those were the first of two Olympic Winter Games under IOC presidency of Sigfrid Edström. 28 States marched at the opening ceremonies on 30 January 1948. Bibi Torriani played for Switzerland men's national ice hockey team, and became the first ice hockey player to recite the Olympic Oath on behalf of all athletes. Nearly 670 athletes competed in 22 sports across four disciplines. Being used at the Games were two demonstration sports: combat patrol, which later became the biathlon, and winter pentathlon, which was abandoned after the games. In notable results, the figure skaters Dick Button and Barbara Ann Scott and the skier Henri Oreiller developed into. Several sports venues were still in place by the very first time St. Moritz hosted the 1928 Winter Games. Both the venues were outdoor, ensuring the Games relied heavily on favourable conditions. In September 1946, the IOC named St. Moritz as host of the 1948 Olympics during the 39th General Session held in Lausanne, Switzerland. There were two tenders in the selection process, and St. Moritz was chosen ahead of Lake Placid, USA. St. Moritz was selected for having been located in Switzerland, which had been neutral during the war, and also for having already hosted a 1928 Winter Games. This rendered management of the Games simpler and more cost-effective. Planning a Winter Olympic Games in under 18 months was also a formidable challenge despite the scarcity of many venues. As these Games were the first outside after World War II they were given the name "The Games after Renewal." Japan and Germany were not invited to these Games, because they were both ostracised by the international community for their participation in World War II. And their absence was short-lived after returning to the Olympic Games of 1952. The Soviet Union did not send athletes to the St. Moritz Games in 1948 but sent ten delegates as Games Observers to determine how successful they would be had the Soviet athletes involved. The effects of World War II has also been felt in 1948. Economic resource constraints and physical resources affected the Gaming organisation. The athletes themselves got affected by lack of funding. Most entrants joined in lieu of little or no supplies. For one memorable event, Norwegian skiers had to borrow skis from the American Team in order to compete. The opening ceremonies took place on January 30, at 10:00 am along with the first hockey games and the first two heats of the two-man bobsled. The closing ceremonies were held on February 8, at 4 p.m. Both the honours were presented at the closing ceremonies, rather than immediately after the celebration as standard custom dictates. The stad olympique conducted the opening and closing ceremonies. Additionally, speed skating, figure skating and ice hockey championship competitions were played on the rink. Most of the ice hockey games took place at the Suvretta and Kulm Stadiums in St. Moritz. Bobsled was held in St. Moritz-Celerina, at the Olympic Bobrun. Skeleton was checked on line Cresta Ride. Olympia Bob Run was created in 1897 and modernised for the 1948 Games, while the Cresta Run was first built in 1885. The ski jump events were held in St. Moritz, on the ski jump slope of Olympiaschanze. This was conceived in 1927 for the 1928 Play, and was still in operation until 2006. The alpine competitions took place on ski-runs at and near Piz Nair.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
