Are you looking for the ultimate guide to the Winter Olympics 2024, or just want to learn more about the games and how it all started? Then you’ve come to the right place. You can find all information about the Winter Olympics in this article.
The Winter Olympics 2024 Games have a centuries-old history that has its roots in ancient Greece. But it was not until the 20th century that winter disciplines were included in the Olympic Games. Since we are at home in winter sports, we thought we would put together the most important information about the Winter Olympics for you. How it all started, the current medal count, up to the development of the games and everything that happened at the last Winter Games in Beijing. Of course, we will also inform you about what lies in the future – the 2026 Winter Games in Cortina D’Ampezzo. Everything summarized by your Ridestore team. So let’s get started!
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Where were the Winter Olympics 2024 held?
The last Winter Olympics 2024 took place in Beijing. The decision to hold the Winter Games in Beijing was partly questionable, as it is a little strange to hold the Winter Games in a city that is primarily known as a huge metropolis with high levels of smog.
Is it cold in Beijing?
Summers in Beijing typically have an average temperature of 20°C to 30°C. Winters in Beijing are also mostly mild with an average temperature of 3°C to -7°C.
However, due to Beijing’s geographical location, significant cold phases occur regularly, triggered by Siberian winds from the north. It is therefore not unusual for temperatures to drop to as low as -20 °C in winter. The lowest temperature ever recorded in the region was a teeth-chattering -27°C.
The Winter Olympics 2024 in Beijing ran from February 2nd to 20th, 2022. At the time of the games, the temperatures were particularly low. Some of the competitions had to be canceled or postponed due to cold weather. For the biathletes the temperatures dropped to -20 °C in some cases. It was so cold that some of the athletes suffered frostbite. Another problem, in addition to the bitter cold, was that the region around Beijing didn’t get much snow, despite the sometimes low temperatures. Most of the snow used for the games was artificially created and then trucked to the respective venues.
What did the decision to host the Beijing Games mean for the Winter Olympics 2024?
Regardless of the adverse temperatures and the associated postponements of the competitions, the Winter Olympics 2024 Games in Beijing were a success for China and the IOC. In addition to setting several world records and being Worlds First in the events, the Beijing Games were also the first in Olympic history in which a city was allowed to host both summer and winter games. Through the Summer Games in 2008, Beijing was able to rely on infrastructure from the previous Games, which cost the state $52.7 billion at the time. A sum that would probably drive one or two smaller states into bankruptcy. In comparison, the $15.4 billion that South Korea spent on the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang is, of course, peanuts. But China’s flourishing economy also covered this sum without any problems.
Thanks to fully timed planning, China felt very well represented to the outside world by the games. While the Games were intended to reflect China as a cosmopolitan state and build bridges with other nations, these relationships were tested due to China’s abstinence from the COP 26 summit in Glasgow and the continued precarious human rights situation in China.
However, any boycott of the Games was purely political. All athletes were wanted to travel to China and represent their country. The games were largely solid in terms of sportsmanship and fairness. But there were still a few inconveniences.
What happened at the 2022 Winter Games?
The Winter Olympics 2024 Games in Beijing had their ups and downs. In the run-up to the Winter Games, reporting was primarily accompanied by diplomatic boycotts from some nations due to the human rights situation in China. There was also clear criticism of the IOC for China’s decision as host country. During the Games, some athletes reported censorship in interviews and that many of the interviews were scripted in advance. But back to sports.
Controversial results
A critical main topic that accompanied the games were the sometimes questionable decisions made by the judges in various disciplines. The ski jumping events were marred by a number of disqualifications, with some former medalists excluded from competition due to suits that were too baggy. One of the affected athletes commented that he was able to wear the same suit two days earlier at another Olympic ski jumping event without any problems. However, nothing was subsequently changed about the decision and therefore none of the affected teams were able to win a medal.
In the mixed 2,000 m speed skating, the team from the USA was disqualified due to a disability from other participants. This enabled the Chinese team to advance to the next round, where they subsequently won the gold medal. Despite an appeal, the decision was not appealed.
A similar incident occurred in the 1,000m speed skating, where two South Korean athletes were disqualified, allowing two Chinese athletes to advance a round. In the final of the event, the Hungarian winner was disqualified, allowing China to secure gold and silver. Both the Hungarian and South Korean associations filed complaints with the ISU, which were rejected and the result was determined.
During the men’s 5,000 m relay speed skating, the entire Chinese team fell and came last. The decision was appealed and the judges responsible allowed the Chinese team to advance one round because there had been contact between a Canadian athlete and a Chinese athlete.
In the men’s snowboard slopestyle, Max Parrot was able to win the gold medal despite missing a grab. The decision was discussed very intensively. The judges argued that their footage did not show that Max did not grab his board during the rotation. In the end, Max kept his gold medal. Su Yiming of China took silver and Mark McMorris took bronze.
Not everything went well for the judges at the men’s snowboard halfpipe final either. Ayumu Hirano landed the world’s first triple cork in a competition during the competition. Both competition judges and commentators did not notice this Worlds First and the trick was incorrectly classified as a double cork, so that Hirano had to perform this not exactly safe trick again in the following run, which ultimately secured him the gold medal. This sparked some conversations regarding the competency of the judges in the snowboard events.
Quarantine and the 2022 Olympics
Some controversies occurred not only during the competitions. Memorable measures taken by officials to contain the Covid-19 pandemic were also regularly reported around the events. Some athletes were unable to take part in events due to the measures because they were incorrectly sent into quarantine because tests had sometimes shown incorrect results. Others, like Finnish ice hockey player Marko Antilla, were sent into quarantine without sufficient food available. Belgian skeleton athlete Kim Meyelemans was not allowed back into the Olympic village after completing her quarantine and then had to go to another quarantine station, so the IOC ultimately had to intervene to get her out of the station.
The catering
In fact, it’s rare that people talk about catering when it comes to the Olympic Games. But apparently some of the food was so bad that the catering caused quite a stir. Often the athletes only had nuts or small snacks after the events. Decent meals to regenerate the body and replenish it with energy were often missing. It was also reported that the quality of the food and restaurants in and around the Olympic Village left a lot to be desired. The American delegation already suspected something like this and simply brought imported food such as pasta and dried meals.
Covid-19 and the 2022 Olympics
The overriding theme of the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing was of course the pandemic. Despite the Chinese government’s efforts to keep all athletes, staff and media representatives in an Olympic bubble, some competitions were disrupted by the emergence of Covid-19 infections, meaning that various athletes were unable to compete due to infections. Two weeks before the start of the Games, most people who had traveled from abroad for the Games had to stay in the Olympic Village and were not allowed to interact with the rest of the population in Beijing. The Olympic Village was virtually sealed off from the outside world. The Chinese authorities were heavily criticized for this approach.
How long did the Winter Olympics last?
The spectacle lasted almost three weeks with 18 days, with events held between February 2nd and 20th. In 2022 there were more winter disciplines than ever before in the history of the Winter Olympics 2024. The Games in Beijing were the largest Winter Games that have ever taken place. Shortly after the Winter Games, the Paralympics took place, which took place from March 4th to 13th.
How many competitions are there at the Winter Olympics 2024?
The Winter Olympics 2024 are a huge event that takes place in a different location every four years. In total, the Games consist of 15 different disciplines, including qualifying, heats and medal events for men and women. We have listed all the participating disciplines below so that you can keep an overview.
The Paralympics usually take place after the Olympic Games and include five different sports (wheelchair curling, para-ice hockey, para-alpine skiing, para-snowboarding and para-cross-country skiing). A total of 748 para-athletes competed in 82 medal events in the various disciplines and sub-disciplines. This was two more than at the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang. In addition, 76% more women took part in the Paralympics in 2022 compared to previous Games.
The History of the Winter Olympics
The history of the Winter Olympics 2024 does not go back to ancient Greece. So, sorry, no curling for you Socrates.
Her story is still interesting. In the middle of two world wars, coupled with a bit of nepotism and the location of the summer games at the turn of the 20th century, the Winter Olympics came into being. How exactly you can find out here.
When were summer and winter games divided?
Years back when the year 1900 began, the 1896 Summer Olympics made their first appearance in Athens, Greece. The Nordic Games were conceived at almost the same time. The idea of setting up some sort of event for winter sports was floated by the Central Swedish Federation of Sports, or SCFIF for short – as if the acronym were better. The event was first scheduled to take place in Stockholm in 1901.
The originator of the idea was Viktor Balck, a Swedish sports star. The games included disciplines such as ski jumping, alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, skeleton, ice skating, figure skating, ice hockey and of course the classic, curling. The event also included sports that were not played in snow, such as fencing, swimming and horse racing. There were also a few rather unpopular sports: horse-drawn sleigh rides, Nordic wrestling, hunting, reindeer sleigh rides, military sports exercises, racing, ballooning and so on. If you ask us, that sounds fantastic.
Balck, who was also a member of the IOC and a good friend of the founder of the Olympic Games (Pierre de Coubertin), wanted figure skating to be included in the Summer Olympics despite its involvement in the Nordic Games. As president of the International Ice Skating Federation (ISU), Balck wanted to take this step to make figure skating more prominent in the world of sport. Thanks to his good contacts with Coubertin, he finally managed to get figure skating to be part of the 1908 Olympic Games in London. There was one men’s and one women’s medal in figure skating, which went to Ulrich Salchow (10-time world champion) and Madge Syers.
In preparation for the 1912 Games, which were to take place in Stockholm (and where the Nordic Games also took place), the Italian Eugenio Brunetta d’Esseaux had the idea of adding a week of additional winter sports to the Summer Games. The Swedish officials didn’t like this suggestion, especially since the games were scheduled to take place in the middle of summer, where there isn’t a speck of snow anywhere. Therefore the idea was not implemented.
At the following Olympic Games in 1916, the idea was presented to the IOC again and this time accepted. This affected the disciplines of speed skating, figure skating, ice hockey and cross-country skiing. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the timing – World War I. Therefore, the games were postponed and were scheduled to be played in Berlin in 1920. Due to the war, the games were held in Antwerp, excluding the warring parties Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey. This time the winter disciplines of figure skating and ice hockey were there again.
After the great interest in winter sports and the success of the winter disciplines at the 1920 Games in Antwerp, it was decided to devote more than a whole week just to winter sports at the 1924 Olympic Games. After the games in Paris, 11 days were planned just for winter sports in the town of Chamonix and in the shadow of Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps.
In the winter sports Eldorado of Chamonix, 250 athletes from 16 countries competed against each other in 16 different competitions. Even though the Winter Games were technically part of the Summer Games, in retrospect the 11 days in Chamonix are referred to as the first Winter Olympics 2024. Although the first official Winter Games did not take place until four years later in St. Moritz, Switzerland, these games were not without problems.
Which Winter Olympics was the first?
As already mentioned, the first Winter Olympics were awarded to France in 1924. The subsequent event in Switzerland was unfortunately severely affected by bad weather. First, a strong blizzard interrupted the opening ceremony and then the weather became so warm that most of the disciplines could no longer take place.
The 1932 U.S. Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, were plagued by the aftermath of World War I and the Great Recession of 1928, leaving some of the European nations unable to find the financial resources to transport their athletes across the Atlantic to the Games bring to.
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