The Winter Olympic Games is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held in Chamonix, France. The modern Olympic Games were inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, from 776 BC to 394 AD. The Baron Pierre de Coubertin of France founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) 1,500 years later in 1894, leading to the first modern Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in 1896. The IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure and authority. The original five Winter Olympic Sports were bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, Nordic skiing, and skating. The Games were held every four years from 1924 to 1936, interrupted in 1940 and 1944 by World War II, and resumed in 1948. Until 1992, the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games were held in the same year. A decision to change this was made in 1986, when during the 91st International Olympic Committee session, IOC members decided to alternate the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games on separate four-year cycles in even-numbered years. Also, at that same congress it was decided that 1992 Winter Olympics would be the last to be held in the same year as the Summer Games and that to change the rotation, the edition that would be held in 1996 would be brought forward by two years, being scheduled to 1994. After this edition, the next one was to be held in 1998 when the 4-year Olympic Cycle resumed.
Juan Antonio Samaranch y Torelló, 1st Marquess of Samaranch was a Spanish sports administrator under the Franco regime (1973–1977) who served as the seventh President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from 1980 to 2001.
The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States.
The Russian men's national ice hockey team is the national men's ice hockey team of Russia, overseen by the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia. As of 2021, they were rated third in the IIHF World Ranking. The team has competed internationally from 1992 until a 2022 ban, and is recognized by the IIHF as the successor to the Soviet Union team and CIS team. Russia has been one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world and a member of the so-called "Big Six," the unofficial group of the six strongest men's ice hockey nations, along with Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden, and the United States. The European nations of the Big Six participate in the Euro Hockey Tour, which Russia won nine times since 2005. Since September 2021, the head coach is Alexei Zhamnov, who took over from Valeri Bragin.
Tamás Molnár is a Hungarian former water polo player, who played on the gold medal squads at the 2000 Summer Olympics, 2004 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Olympics. He is one of ten male athletes who won three Olympic gold medals in water polo. He made his debut for the national team in 1997, and was named Hungarian Water Polo Player of the Year in 1998.
Athletes from Germany (GER) have appeared in 27 of the 30 Summer Olympic Games, having competed in all Games except those of 1920, 1924 and 1948, when they were not permitted to do so. Germany has hosted the Summer Olympic Games twice; the 1936 Games in Berlin, and the 1972 Games in Munich.
The all-time medal table for all Olympic Games from 1896 to 2022, including Summer Olympic Games, Winter Olympic Games, and a combined total of both, is tabulated below. These Olympic medal counts do not include the 1906 Intercalated Games which are no longer recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as official Games. The IOC itself does not publish all-time tables, and publishes unofficial tables only per single Games. This table was thus compiled by adding up single entries from the IOC database.
Frank Ullrich is a German politician of the SPD and former biathlete and trainer of the German national team. Since 2021, he has been a member of the Bundestag.
David Prinosil is a former tennis player from Germany, who turned professional in 1991.
Zoltán Kammerer is a Hungarian sprint canoeist who has competed since the mid-1990s. Competing in five Summer Olympics, he won three gold medals and a silver medal.
Botond Storcz is a retired Hungarian sprint canoeist. He competed at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics and won three gold medals. He also won eleven medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships with four golds, five silvers, and two bronzes.
Olaf Pollack is a German former professional track and road racing cyclist specializing in sprint races and competitions.
The German Democratic Republic (GDR), often called East Germany, founded a separate National Olympic Committee for socialist East Germany on 22 April 1951 in the Rotes Rathaus of East Berlin. This was the last of three German Olympic committees of the time. It was not recognized by the IOC for over a decade.
Manuela Mucke is a German canoe sprinter who competed from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s (decade). Competing in two Summer Olympics, she won two gold medals in the K-4 500 m event, earning them in 1996 and 2000. For winning a golden medal during the Olympic Gammes 2000 she was decorated by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany Johannes Rau on Febr. 2. 2001 with the Silver Laurel Leaf.
Robert Bartko is a German former road and track cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2014. Born in the former East Germany, Bartko won two gold medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia: in the individual and in the team pursuit.
Eberhard Gienger is a German politician (CDU) and former West German gymnast. He competed at the 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics, winning bronze in the latter.
Dániel Rudolf Varga is a Hungarian water polo coach. He was a member of the gold medal winning Hungary men's national water polo team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Roberto Benitez is a professional boxer from the United States.
Gunnar Bahr is a German sailor who won a silver medal in the Soling class with Jochen Schümann and Ingo Borkowski at the 2000 Summer Olympics. He was decorated on 2 February 2001 by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Johannes Rau, with the Silver Laurel Leaf.
Georgios Achilleos is a Cypriot sports shooter and past World titlist and World No. 1 in Skeet.
