HISTORY OF THE MODERN OLYMPICS
The Winter Olympic Games.
While some skating events were included in the 1908 and 1920 Games, the Winter Games were accepted as a celebration comparable to the Summer Games and given the official blessing of the IOC in 1924. The first Winter Games were held at Chamonix, France, and consisted of 16 events. There were 16 participating countries, and the participants numbered less than 300. Subsequent Winter Games were held at St. Moritz, Switzerland (1928); Lake Placid, New York (1932); Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany (1936); St. Moritz (for a second time; 1948); Oslo (1952); Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy (1956); Squaw Valley, California (1960); Innsbruck, Austria (1964); Grenoble, France (1968); Sapporo, Japan (1972); Innsbruck (for a second time; 1976); Lake Placid (for a second time; 1980); Sarajevo, Yugoslavia (1984); Calgary, Alberta (1988); Albertville, France (1992); and Lillehammer, Norway (1994; the IOC had decided to hold the Winter Olympics two years after the Summer Olympics starting in 1994). The 1998 Winter Olympics were scheduled for Nagano, Japan.Introduction * Early History * Revival of the Olympics * Organization of the Modern Games
