1928 Winter Olympics
The 1928 Winter Olympics, officially known as the II Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated February 11–19, 1928 in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
The 1928 Games were the first true Winter Olympics held on its own as they were not in conjunction with a Summer Olympics. The preceding 1924 Games were retroactively renamed the inaugural Winter Olympics, though they had been in fact part of the 1924 Summer Olympics. All preceding Winter Events of the Olympic Games were the winter sports part of the schedule of the Summer Games, and not held as a separate Winter Games. These games also replaced the now redundant Nordic Games, that were held quadrennially since early in the century.
Fluctuating weather conditions challenged the hosts. The opening ceremony was held in a blizzard while warm weather conditions plagued sporting events throughout the rest of the games. The 10,000 metre speed-skating event was controversially abandoned and officially cancelled.
Highlights
- Sonja Henie of Norway returned to the Winter Olympics to make history when she won the ladies' figure skating at the age of 15. She became the youngest Olympic champion in history, a distinction she held for 70 years, and went on to defend her title at the next two Winter Olympics.
- Ivar Ballangrud won the Olympic title in the 5,000m speed skating and Clas Thunberg won the 500m and the 1,500m.
- Norway finished on top of the medal table with a total of 6 gold medals, 4 silver and 5 bronze, a total of 15 medals. The USA finished second in the table.
- The single bronze medal won by Switzerland is the lowest output by a host nation at an Olympics.
- In the 10,000-meter speed skating race, Irving Jaffee was leading the competition, having outskated Norwegian defending world champion Bernt Evensen in their heat, when rising temperatures thawed the ice. In a controversial ruling, the Norwegian referee canceled the entire competition. Although the International Olympic Committee reversed the referee's decision and awarded Jaffee the gold medal, the International Skating Union later overruled the IOC and restored the ruling. Evensen, for his part, publicly said that Jaffee should be awarded the gold medal, but that never happened.
Events
- Bobsleigh
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- Skating
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Demonstration sports
- Military patrol
- Skijoring
Venues
- St. Moritz Olympic Ice Rink - Figure skating, Ice hockey, Speed Skating
- Around the hills of St. Moritz - Cross-country skiing, Nordic combined
- Olympiaschanze St. Moritz - Nordic combined, Ski jumping
- St. Moritz-Celerina Olympic Bobrun - Bobsleigh
- Cresta Run - Skeleton
Participating nations
| Participating :Category:Nations at the 1928 Winter Olympics|National Olympic Committees |