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The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics have come and gone- now it is time to brush up on some history of the Winter Games 

As many people may know, the Olympics originally began in 776 B.C.E. as a tribute to the Greek gods. Thousands of people would make the journey every four years to Olympia in order to cheer, watch, and participate in the Games. However, Emperor Theodosius abolished all pagan festivities, including the Olympic Games, in 393 C.E. due to the growing Roman influence in Greece. After this ruling, the Games were not held again until the late 19^th century.

In 1894, French educator Baron Pierre de Coubertin helped found the International Olympic Committee (IOC), who became responsible for reviving the Olympic Games. Two years later, the first modern Olympic Games were organized in Athens, Greece, and then in 1924, the first Winter Olympic Games were held in Chamonix, France. At the time, the Winter Olympics were unofficial and referred to as "International Sports Week", due to protests from the Scandinavian countries that Winter Games would interfere with the Nordic Games. In spite of this, they achieved Olympic status in 1926.

1924 Winter Olympics

            The first Winter Olympic Games were held in Chamonix, France, lasting from January 25 to February 5, 1924. Sixteen nations participated - Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Finland, France, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Switzerland, Sweden, the U.S., and Yugoslavia. Just over 10,000 paying spectators came to southeastern France to witness the first Winter Olympics, which held 16 events in 7 sports. While there were 258 athletes who competed in the 1924 Winter Olympics, merely 11 of these athletes were women. The members of the U.S. Olympic Ski Team participated in the three Olympic ski events: cross-country, Nordic combined, and ski jumping.

            Anders Haugen, a native of Telemark, Norway, immigrated to the United States in 1908 and settled in Dillon, Colorado. Before becoming captain of the 1924 U.S. Olympic Ski Team, Anders won many ski jumping honors, including two U.S. amateur titles, in addition to setting successive world ski jumping records at the Dillon ski jump with a measure of 213 feet in 1919 and 214 feet in 1920. While competing in Chamonix in 1924, Anders was originally recorded as finishing fourth in the men's individual ski jumping competition. In 1974, an error was discovered in Thorleif Haug's score, which caused the two athletes to switch places, and Anders was awarded the bronze medal for the 1924 Winter Olympic Games - half a century later! He is the only American to ever win an Olympic medal in ski jumping, and was inducted into the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame in 1978.

            The U.S. finished fifth in the medal count for the 1924 Winter Olympics, with a total of 4 medals (1 gold, 2 silver, and 1 bronze). The gold medal for the U.S. was won during the opening event, by Charles Jewtraw, in the 5000 meter speed skating competition. The U.S. men's ice hockey team received a silver medal, and Beatrix Loughran was also awarded a silver medal for her performance in the ladies single's figure skating. Finally, the U.S. bronze medal was given to Anders Haugen for the ski jumping event.

1928 Winter Olympics

            St. Moritz, Switzerland was the location chosen for the second Winter Olympics, which took place from February 11 to 19, 1928. This was the first time the Winter Games were assembled in a different nation than the Summer Games of the same year. Fourteen events were held in 6 sports, and 464 athletes participated (26 women and 438 men). A new competition was introduced, the skeleton event, which is considered the world's first sliding sport, and consequently St. Moritz is referred to as the birthplace of skeleton. Argentina, Estonia, Germany, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, and Romania competed in these Winter Games in addition to the countries that gathered at Chamonix in 1924.

            Norway, Sweden, and Finland dominated all of the skiing events: 18 kilometer cross-country, 50 kilometer cross-country, ski jumping, and Nordic combined. The U.S. placed second in the medal tally, with a total of 6 medals (2 gold, 2 silver, and 2 bronze). The men's 5-man bobsled team won the gold, as well as the silver. Both Jennison Heaton (who was also part of the 5-man bobsled team) and John Heaton earned a gold and silver medal in the men's individual skeleton event, respectively. Beatrix Loughran won a bronze medal for the ladies single's figure skating, and John Farrell also was awarded a bronze medal in the men's 500-meter speed skating competition.

1932 Winter Olympics

            The III Winter Olympics were hosted in the United States for the first time at Lake Placid, New York from February 4 to 13, 1932. The 1932 Winter Olympics was the first and only time the American group race method was used in speed skating, with mass starts and athletes racing against all other competitors, instead of European-style heats. Argentina, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, and Yugoslavia chose not to compete, but 252 athletes (21 women and 231 men) arrived from 17 nations to participate in 14 events and 4 sports.

Skiing competitions at these Winter Olympic Games were still limited to 18 and 50 kilometer cross-country, Nordic combined, and ski jumping.  However, with over 250 miles of trails, Lake Placid offered the cross-country ski-runner a series of trails which were unrivaled on this side of the Atlantic. They traversed mountain and valley, forest and ice-covered lake, and granted the skier every possible test of speed and endurance. Again, Norway, Sweden, and Finland swept all medals for skiing events.

            U.S. bobsledding medalist Eddie Eagan, who was from Denver, became the first person to win medals at both the Summer and Winter Olympics - and is still the only person to have been awarded gold medals at both Games. In 1920 at Antwerp, Belgium, he won the boxing competition, and in 1932 at Lake Placid, he was part of the victorious 4-man bobsled team. The U.S. won the medal tally, with a grand total of 12 medals (6 gold, 4 silver, and 2 bronze). This is the only time the U.S. has won the medal tally during the Winter Olympics.

The Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum has artifacts on display from the Winter Olympics, including an official Olympic coat worn during the opening ceremony in 1924, a Trophy Cup won in 1927 by Anders Haugen, and Durrance Nordic wooden skis with Dorré bindings in the 1932 Winter Olympic display. Come by and see many more artifacts from all of the Winter Olympics in the Spirit of America's Champions exhibit!

The Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum is located on the third level of the Vail Village Parking Structure. Open daily 10 AM to 7:30 PM, admission is free. Museum educational programs are open to the public and free to museum members: Tuesdays: Guided tours, suggested donation $5; Wednesdays: Evening speaker series, suggested donation $5; Thursdays: Experience Vail's history on skis, suggested donation $10; Fridays: First-hand account of life at Camp Hale by 10th Mountain veteran Sandy Treat; Call the Museum at 970-476-1876 for reservations.