The Winter Olympics
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Before 1924As early as 1894, the newly-formed International Olympic Committee (IOC) considered ice skating as a possibility for the first modern Olympic Games, in 1896. That didn’t happen, but figure skating was on the program for the 1908 Olympic Games in London. At that time, the host committee had a lot to say about what sports were included, and figure skating was quite popular in Great Britain. In 1911, Italian Count Brunetta d'Ussaux, a member of the IOC, suggested that winter sports should be staged as part of the 1912 Olympics in Helsinki. However, the Finish organizers and the other Scandinavian countries opposed the idea because they were afraid it would detract from the popularity of the Nordic Games, which had been held at varying intervals since 1901. Despite that opposition, the IOC decided to hold Winter Olympic Games in 1916. The Summer Games were to be held in Berlin that year. The plan was to stage the skating and hockey events in Berlin and Nordic skiing events in southern Germany. World War I broke out in 1914, though, so the 1916 Olympics had to be canceled. The war ended in 1918 and the 1920 Olympics were held in Antwere, Belgium, with competition in both figure skating and ice hockey. After 1920, national governing bodies for such sports in several countries began talking about the possibility of a separate Winter Olympics. Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the president of the IOC and major force behind the creation of the modern Olympics, opposed the idea. Winter sports, he claimed, were "the snobbish play of the rich." The town of Chamonix, in the French Alps, planned a winter sports festival in 1924, when Paris was to host the Olympics. The Marquis de Polignac, a member of the IOC, proposed that the festival be formally recognized as the Winter Olympic Games. The IOC didn't go that far, but did agree that Chamonix could call its festival an "Olympic winter carnival." |