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-years Olympic Cycle resumed.
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 1924 Winter Olympics, officially known as the I Olympic Winter Games, and known at the time as Semaine Internationale des Sports d'Hiver, was a winter multi-sport event held in Chamonix, France, from 25 January to 5 February 1924. Norway topped the table, collecting seventeen medals in total, including four gold, three of which were won by Thorleif Haug in the Nordic combined and cross-country skiing events. Norway also achieved two podium sweeps, winning all three medals in both the 50 km cross-country skiing and the Nordic combined. This remained a record at the Winter Olympics until 2014.
The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games, was a multi-sport event held in Innsbruck, Austria, from 29 January to 9 February. A total of 1,091 athletes from 36 nations participated in 34 events in 6 sports over 10 disciplines. India, Mongolia, and North Korea made their first Winter Olympics appearances; the latter achieved a 3,000 metres speed skating medal through Han Pil-hwa's silver medal tie with Valentina Stenina.
Lidiya Pavlovna Skoblikova is a retired Russian speed skater and coach. She represented the USSR Olympic team during the Olympic Winter Games in 1960, 1964 and 1968, and won a total of six gold medals, a record she shares with Dutch speed skater Ireen Wüst. She also won 25 gold medals at the world championships and 15 gold medals at the USSR National Championships in several distances. She was also the first athlete to earn six gold medals in the Winter Olympics and the first to earn four gold medals at a single Olympic Winter Games. She was the most successful athlete at the 1960 and 1964 Winter Olympics, sharing the honour for 1960 Games with her compatriot Yevgeny Grishin.
Australia first competed in the Winter Olympic Games in 1936 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and has participated in every games since, with the exception of the 1948 Games in St. Moritz.
Cindy Klassen, is a Canadian retired long track speed skater. She is a six-time medallist having achieved one gold, two silver, three bronze at the Winter Olympics.
Canada has competed at every Winter Olympic Games, and has won at least one medal each time. By total medals, the country's best performance was in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games where Canadian athletes won 29 medals. Canada set a new record for most gold medals won by a country in a single Winter Olympics with 14 at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. This achievement surpassed the previous record of 13 gold medals held by the Soviet Union (1976) and Norway (2002). Both Germany and Norway matched the record total of 14 gold medals in Pyeongchang in 2018. This record has since been surpassed by Norway with 16 at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Irene Karlijn (Ireen) Wüst is a Dutch former long track speed skater of German ancestry. Wüst became the most successful speed skating Olympian ever by achieving at least one gold medal in each of five consecutive Winter Olympic appearances. Wüst is also the only athlete to win an individual gold medal in five consecutive Olympics, Summer or Winter.
Kristina Nicole Groves is a Canadian retired speed skater. She is Canada's most decorated skater in the World Single Distances Championships with 13 career medals in this event. She won four Olympic medals: she won two silver medals at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, in the 1,500 meters and team pursuit, and she won the silver medal in the 1500 m event and the bronze medal in the 3000 m event at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.
Christine Nesbitt is a Canadian retired long track speed skater who currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia. She won the gold medal in the 1000 metres event at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. She had previously won a silver medal in the team pursuit at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. She is also the 2011 sprint champion, 2012 1500 metres world champion, three-time world champion for 1000 metres, and three-time world champion for team pursuit. On 4 June 2015 she announced her retirement.
Denny Morrison is a Canadian speedskater from Fort St. John, British Columbia. He is an Olympic champion as a member of Canada's men's team pursuit, an event which he also won silver in at the 2006 Winter Olympics. Morrison won his first individual Olympic medal in Sochi when he won a silver in the men's 1000 m after teammate Gilmore Junio selflessly gave up his spot in order for Morrison, who fell at the national qualification event, failed to originally qualify. He won a second individual medal at those games, a bronze in the 1500 m. With four total Olympic medals, Morrison shares the record for the most medals of any Canadian male long track speed skaters along with Gaétan Boucher.
Originally having participated in Olympics as the delegation of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1924 to 1976, China competed at the Olympic Games under the name of the People's Republic of China (PRC) for the first time in 1952, at the Summer Games in Helsinki, Finland, although they only arrived in time to participate in one event. That year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed both the PRC and ROC to compete, although the latter withdrew in protest. Due to the dispute over the political status of China, the PRC did not participate in the Olympics again until the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, United States. Their first appearance at the Summer Olympic Games after 1952 was the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States. The People's Republic of China staged boycotts of the Games of the XVI Olympiad in Melbourne, Australia, Games of the XVII Olympiad in Rome, Italy, Games of the XVIII Olympiad in Tokyo, Japan, Games of the XIX Olympiad in Mexico City, Mexico, Games of the XX Olympiad in Munich, Germany, and Games of the XXI Olympiad in Montreal, Canada. China also boycott the Games of the XXII Olympiad in Moscow, USSR due to the American-led boycott and the ongoing Sino-Soviet split, together with the other countries.
The United States participated in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The U.S. team had a historic Winter Games, winning an unprecedented 37 medals. Team USA's medal haul, which included nine gold, marked the first time since the 1932 Lake Placid Games that the U.S. earned more medals than any other participant.
Speed skating at the 2014 Winter Olympics was held at the Adler Arena, Sochi, Russia, between 8 and 22 February 2014.
The 2018 Winter Olympics medal table is a list of National Olympic Committees ranked by the number of medals won during the 2018 Winter Olympics, held in Pyeongchang County, South Korea, from 9–25 February 2018. The games featured 102 events in 15 sports, making it the first Winter Olympics to surpass 100 medal events. Four new disciplines in existing sports were introduced to the Winter Olympic program in Pyeongchang, including big air snowboarding, mixed doubles curling, mass start speed skating, and mixed team alpine skiing.
The Netherlands competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, between 9 and 25 February 2018. Speed skater Jan Smeekens was appointed as flag bearer for the opening ceremony, which was attended by King Willem Alexander, Queen Máxima and Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who also observed the sporting events that featured Dutch competitors.
