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.
The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVIII Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Nagano 1998, were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events taking place in the nearby mountain communities of Hakuba, Karuizawa, Nozawa Onsen, and Yamanouchi. The city of Nagano had previously been a candidate to host the 1940 Winter Olympics, as well as the 1972 Winter Olympics, but had been eliminated at the national level by Sapporo on both occasions.
The 1960 Summer Olympics medal table is a list of National Olympic Committees ranked by the number of medals won during the 1960 Summer Olympics, held in Rome, Italy from August 25 to September 11, 1960.
The 1928 Winter Olympics medal table is a list of National Olympic Committee's nations ranked by the number of medals won during the 1928 Winter Olympics, held in St. Moritz, Switzerland from February 11 to February 19, 1928. A total of 464 athletes from 25 countries participated in these Games, competing in 14 events in 6 disciplines.
Australia has sent athletes to all editions of the modern Olympic Games. Australia has competed in every Summer Olympic Games, as well as every Winter Olympics except 1924–32 and 1948. In 1908 and 1912 Australia competed with New Zealand under the name Australasia.
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) first participated at the Olympic Games in 1952, and competed at the Summer and Winter Games on 18 occasions subsequently. At six of its nine appearances at the Summer Olympic Games, the Soviet team ranked first in the total number of gold medals won, second three times, and became the biggest contender to the United States' domination in the Summer Games. Similarly, the team was ranked first in the gold medal count seven times and second twice in its nine appearances at the Winter Olympic Games. The Soviet Union's success might be attributed to a heavy state investment in sports to fulfill its political objectives on an international stage.
The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, was the 17th Olympic Championship. The games were played at the Méribel Ice Palace in Méribel, about 45 km from host city Albertville. The competition, held from 9 to 23 February, was won by the Unified Team in its only appearance. The team was composed of some newly emerged nations from the former Soviet Union, which had dissolved just weeks before the Games began. Canada won the silver medal, its first hockey medal since 1968 and 11th Olympic ice hockey medal.
The United Kingdom has been represented at every modern Olympic Games, and as of the 2020 Summer Olympics is third in the all-time Summer Olympic medal table by both number of gold medals won and overall number of medals. London has hosted the Summer Olympic Games three times: in 1908, 1948, and 2012.
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.
Japan first participated at the Olympic Games in 1912, and has competed at almost every Games since then. The nation was not invited to the 1948 Games after World War II, and was part of the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
Athletes from Germany (GER) have appeared in only 20 of the 22 editions of the Winter Olympic Games as they were not invited to two events after the World Wars, in 1924 and 1948. Germany hosted the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and had been selected to host in 1940 again.
Originally having participated in Olympics as the delegation of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1924 Summer Olympics to 1976 Winter Olympics,China competed at the Olympic Games under the name of the People's Republic of China (PRC) for the first time in 1952 Summer Olympics held in Helsinki, Finland, although they only arrived in time during the last days to participate in a one event. That year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed both the PRC and ROC to compete with the name "China", although the latter withdrew in protest. Due to the dispute over the political status of the "two Chinas", the PRC started a period of isolationism, withdrawing from several international sporting bodies and the UN system until the mid-1970s, when the country participated for the first time in the Asian Games in 1974 and the World University Games in 1977. Returning to the IOC officially only in 1979, which gave it the right to send an official delegation, starting from 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.
Indonesia is a member of the Southeast Asian Zone of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), and has competed in all editions of the Asian Games since it was first held in 1951, one of only seven countries to do so.
The United Arab Emirates started actively participating in the Paralympic community during the 1990s. They made their debut at the 1992 Summer Paralympics. Since that time, they have won several Paralympic medals. The country had their debut on the international Paralympic stage at the 1990 Stoke Mandeville Games. Some of the country's Paralympic competitors are internationally ranked. The United Arab Emirates have competed at several other Paralympic events including the Arab Paralympic Games, Asian Paralympic Games, IWAS World Games, Stoke Mandeville Games, and World Semi-Olympic Championship. The United Arab Emirates Paralympic Committee is the national organisation, gaining its International Paralympic Committee recognition in 1995 and have subsequently made winning medals and hosting events a priority.
The 2012 Winter Youth Olympics medal table is a list of National Olympic Committees (NOCs) ranked by the number of gold medals won by their athletes during the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics, held in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 13 to January 22, 2012. Approximately 1,059 athletes from 70 NOCs participated in 63 events in 15 sports.
The men's tournament in ice hockey at the 2018 Winter Olympics was held in Gangneung, South Korea between 14 and 25 February 2018. Twelve countries qualified for the tournament; eight of them did so automatically by virtue of their ranking by the International Ice Hockey Federation, one, South Korea, automatically qualified as hosts, while the three others took part in a qualification tournament.
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 2020 Winter Youth Olympics medal table is a list of National Olympic Committees (NOCs) ranked by the number of gold medals won by their athletes during the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics, held in Lausanne, Switzerland, from 9 to 22 January 2020.
Greece (GRE)
France (FRA)
United States (USA)
Great Britain (GBR)
Sweden (SWE)
Belgium (BEL)
Netherlands (NED)
United States (USA)
Germany (GER)
Finland (FIN)
Australia (AUS)
Italy (ITA)
Japan (JPN)
Mexico (MEX)
West Germany (FRG)
Canada (CAN)
Soviet Union (URS)
United States (USA)
South Korea (KOR)
Spain (ESP)
Greece (GRE)
China (CHN)
Brazil (BRA)
Japan (JPN)
