The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known by the International Olympic Committee as the V Olympic Winter Games, were a multi-sport event held in St. Moritz, Switzerland, from January 30 through February 8, 1948. A total of 669 athletes representing 28 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated at the Games in twenty two events across eight disciplines. [1]
The Olympic programme was adjusted from that of the 1936 Winter Olympics [2] with the addition of skeleton for men. The sport had first appeared at the 1928 Winter Olympics, which had also taken place in St. Moritz, but would not make another appearance until 2002 in Salt Lake City. [3] Two demonstration sports were held in St. Moritz, winter pentathlon and military patrol. This was the fourth time military patrol had been held as a demonstration event, the closely related sport of biathlon was added to the programme beginning with the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics. [4] [5] Both men and women competed in the 1948 Games, with women taking part in alpine skiing and figure skating.
A total of 123 athletes won medals at the 1948 Games. [6] Norway, Sweden and Switzerland tied for the most number of medals, with ten each. The United States placed fourth in the medal count, with nine, and Austria placed fifth, with eight. Of the 28 competing NOCs, 13 won at least one medal, with 10 of these winning at least one gold. Notable absences from these Games were defeated Axis Powers members Germany and Japan, who were not invited to St. Moritz or the London Summer Olympics later in the year in light of the recently concluded World War II. [6] [7] The Soviet Union, who did not form an NOC until 1951, [8] declined to take part. [6] [9]
Sweden repeated its success in cross-country skiing, winning all three medals in the Men's 18 km event and all three gold medals available in the sport. [10] Canadian teenager Barbara-Ann Scott became the first from her nation to win an Olympic gold medal in figure skating, and Dick Button from the United States did the same. [9] Alpine skier Henri Oreiller from France won the most medals with a total of three, with two gold medals from the downhill and combined events, and a bronze in the slalom event. [6] [11]
Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
---|---|---|---|
Men's downhill [12] | Henri Oreiller France | Franz Gabl Austria | Rolf Olinger Switzerland |
Karl Molitor Switzerland | |||
Women's downhill [13] | Hedy Schlunegger Switzerland | Trude Beiser Austria | Resi Hammerer Austria |
Men's slalom [14] | Edy Reinalter Switzerland | James Couttet France | Henri Oreiller France |
Women's slalom [15] | Gretchen Fraser United States | Antoinette Meyer Switzerland | Erika Mahringer Austria |
Men's combined [16] | Henri Oreiller France | Karl Molitor Switzerland | James Couttet France |
Women's combined [17] | Trude Beiser Austria | Gretchen Fraser United States | Erika Mahringer Austria |
Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
---|---|---|---|
Two-man | Switzerland (SUI) [18] Switzerland II Felix Endrich Friedrich Waller | Switzerland (SUI) [18] Switzerland I Fritz Feierabend Paul Eberhard | United States (USA) [19] USA II Frederick Fortune Schuyler Carron |
Four-man | United States (USA) [19] USA II Francis Tyler Patrick Martin Edward Rimkus William D'Amico | Belgium (BEL) [20] Belgium I Max Houben Freddy Mansveld Louis-Georges Niels Jacques Mouvet | United States (USA) [19] USA I James Bickford Thomas Hicks Donald Dupree William Dupree |
Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
---|---|---|---|
18 km [21] | Martin Lundström Sweden | Nils Östensson Sweden | Gunnar Eriksson Sweden |
50 km [22] | Nils Karlsson Sweden | Harald Eriksson Sweden | Benjamin Vanninen Finland |
4×10 km | Sweden (SWE) [23] Gunnar Eriksson Martin Lundström Nils Östensson Nils Täpp | Finland (FIN) [24] August Kiuru Teuvo Laukkanen Sauli Rytky Lauri Silvennoinen | Norway (NOR) [25] Erling Evensen Olav Hagen Reidar Nyborg Olav Økern |
Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
---|---|---|---|
Men's singles [26] | Dick Button United States | Hans Gerschwiler Switzerland | Edi Rada Austria |
Ladies' singles [27] | Barbara-Ann Scott Canada | Eva Pawlik Austria | Jeannette Altwegg Great Britain |
Pairs | Belgium (BEL) [28] Pierre Baugniet Micheline Lannoy | Hungary (HUN) [29] Andrea Kékesy Ede Király | Canada (CAN) [30] Wallace Diestelmeyer Suzanne Morrow |
Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
---|---|---|---|
Men's individual [34] | Heikki Hasu Finland | Martti Huhtala Finland | Sven Israelsson Sweden |
Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
---|---|---|---|
Men's individual [35] | Nino Bibbia Italy | John Heaton United States | John Crammond Great Britain |
Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
---|---|---|---|
Men's individual [36] | Petter Hugsted Norway | Birger Ruud Norway | Thorleif Schjelderup Norway |
Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
---|---|---|---|
500 metres [37] | Finn Helgesen Norway | Ken Bartholomew United States | none awarded |
Thomas Byberg Norway | |||
Robert Fitzgerald United States | |||
1500 metres [38] | Sverre Farstad Norway | Åke Seyffarth Sweden | Odd Lundberg Norway |
5000 metres [39] | Reidar Liaklev Norway | Odd Lundberg Norway | Göthe Hedlund Sweden |
10000 metres [40] | Åke Seyffarth Sweden | Lassi Parkkinen Finland | Pentti Lammio Finland |
Athletes who won more than one medal are listed below. [6]
Athlete | Nation | Sport | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Henri Oreiller | France (FRA) | Alpine skiing | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
Martin Lundström | Sweden (SWE) | Cross-country skiing | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Gretchen Fraser | United States (USA) | Alpine skiing | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Trude Jochum-Beiser | Austria (AUT) | Alpine skiing | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Nils Östensson | Sweden (SWE) | Cross-country skiing | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Åke Seyffarth | Sweden (SWE) | Speed skating | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Gunnar Eriksson | Sweden (SWE) | Cross-country skiing | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
James Couttet | France (FRA) | Alpine skiing | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Odd Lundberg | Norway (NOR) | Speed skating | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Karl Molitor | Switzerland (SUI) | Alpine Skiing | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Erika Mahringer | Austria (AUT) | Alpine skiing | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as St. Moritz 1948, were a winter multi-sport event held from 30 January to 8 February 1948 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The Games were the first to be celebrated after World War II; it had been twelve years since the last Winter Games in 1936.
The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event held in Calgary, Canada, from 13 to 28 February 1988. A total of 1,423 athletes representing 57 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in 46 events from 10 different sports and disciplines. Five new events were contested at these Games—men's and women's Super G in alpine skiing, team events in Nordic combined and ski jumping, and women's 5000 metres in speed skating—and two events returned to the program—men's and women's combined in alpine skiing.
The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, from 8 to 19 February 1984. A total of 1,272 athletes representing 49 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in 39 events from 10 different sports and disciplines. First time NOCs to enter were Egypt, Monaco, Puerto Rico, Senegal, and British Virgin Islands.
The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event held in Innsbruck, Austria, from 4 to 15 February 1976. A total of 1,123 athletes representing 37 National Olympic Committees (NOC) participated in 37 events from 10 different sports and disciplines. Two events were contested for the first time: the figure skating discipline of ice dancing, and the men's 1,000 metres in speed skating.
The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XI Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event held in Sapporo, Japan, from 3 to 13 February 1972. A total of 1,006 athletes representing 35 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in 35 events from 10 different sports and disciplines.
The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event held in Grenoble, France, from 6 to 18 February 1968. A total of 1,158 athletes representing 37 National Olympic Committees (NOCs)—including Morocco's first delegation—participated in 35 events from 10 different sports and disciplines. The team relay (4 × 7.5 km) event in biathlon was contested for the first time.
The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games, took place in Oslo, Norway, from 14 to 25 February 1952. A total of 694 athletes representing 30 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in the Games, taking part in 22 events from 6 sports.
The Belgian national bobsleigh team represents Belgium in international bobsledding competitions. Belgium first gained fame in bobsleighing during their debut at the first Winter Olympics in Chamonix in 1924, where a Belgian four-man bob acquired the bronze medal. The second and last Belgian bobsleigh medal at the Winter Olympics so far, also won during a four-man event, was a silver in St. Moritz in 1948.