1928 Winter Olympics
Encyclopedia
The 1928 Winter Olympics, officially known as the II Olympic Winter Games, were a winter
multi-sport event
which was celebrated February 11–19, 1928 in St. Moritz
, Switzerland
. The 1928 Games were the first true Winter Olympics held on its own as they were not in conjunction with a Summer Olympics. The preceding 1924 Games
were retroactively renamed the inaugural Winter Olympics, though they had been in fact part of the 1924 Summer Olympics
. All preceding Winter Events of the Olympic Games were the winter sports part of the schedule of the Summer Games, and not held as a separate Winter Games. These games also replaced the now redundant Nordic Games
, that were held quadrennially since early in the century.
Fluctuating weather conditions made these Olympics memorable. The opening ceremony was held in a blizzard.[10] In contrast, warm weather conditions plagued the Olympics for the remainder of the Games, requiring cancellations of one event with temperatures as high as 25 °C (77 °F). (See further description at the Wikipedia main article on Winter Olympic Games.)
(first participation of a delegation coming from a country belonging to the Southern Hemisphere), Estonia
, Germany
, Japan
, Lithuania
, Luxembourg
, Mexico
, the Netherlands
, and Romania
.
Winter
Winter is the coldest season of the year in temperate climates, between autumn and spring. At the winter solstice, the days are shortest and the nights are longest, with days lengthening as the season progresses after the solstice.-Meteorology:...
multi-sport event
Multi-sport event
A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports between organized teams of athletes from nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of international significance was the modern Olympic Games.Many...
which was celebrated February 11–19, 1928 in St. Moritz
St. Moritz
St. Moritz is a resort town in the Engadine valley in Switzerland. It is a municipality in the district of Maloja in the Swiss canton of Graubünden...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. The 1928 Games were the first true Winter Olympics held on its own as they were not in conjunction with a Summer Olympics. The preceding 1924 Games
1924 Winter Olympics
The 1924 Winter Olympics, officially known as the I Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was held in 1924 in Chamonix, France...
were retroactively renamed the inaugural Winter Olympics, though they had been in fact part of the 1924 Summer Olympics
1924 Summer Olympics
The 1924 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1924 in Paris, France...
. All preceding Winter Events of the Olympic Games were the winter sports part of the schedule of the Summer Games, and not held as a separate Winter Games. These games also replaced the now redundant Nordic Games
Nordic Games
The Nordic Games was the first international multi-sport event that focused primarily on winter sports, and was held at varying intervals between 1901 and 1926. It was organized by Sweden’s Central Association for the Promotion of Sports, and more specifically by Viktor Balck, a member of that...
, that were held quadrennially since early in the century.
Fluctuating weather conditions made these Olympics memorable. The opening ceremony was held in a blizzard.[10] In contrast, warm weather conditions plagued the Olympics for the remainder of the Games, requiring cancellations of one event with temperatures as high as 25 °C (77 °F). (See further description at the Wikipedia main article on Winter Olympic Games.)
Highlights
- Sonja HenieSonja HenieSonja Henie was a Norwegian figure skater and film star. She was a three-time Olympic Champion in Ladies Singles, a ten-time World Champion and a six-time European Champion . Henie won more Olympic and World titles than any other ladies figure skater...
wins her first gold medal in women's figure skatingFigure skatingFigure skating is an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice skates. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level , and at local, national, and international competitions...
. - Ivar BallangrudIvar BallangrudIvar Ballangrud was a Norwegian speed skater, a four-time Olympic champion in Speed Skating. As the only triple gold medalists at the 1936 Winter Olympics, Ballangrud was the most successful athlete there.-Biography:Ivar Ballangrud was one of the best speed skaters in the world for a period of 15...
won the Olympic titleTitleA title is a prefix or suffix added to someone's name to signify either veneration, an official position or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may even be inserted between a first and last name...
in the 5,000m speed skating and Clas ThunbergClas ThunbergArnold Clas Robert Thunberg was a Finnish speed skater who won five Olympic gold medals – three at the inaugural Winter Olympics held in Chamonix in 1924 and two at the 1928 Winter Olympics held in St. Moritz...
won the 500m and the 1,500m. - NorwayNorway at the 1928 Winter OlympicsNorway competed at the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Norway ranked first in the total medal count, as they had in the inaugural 1924 Games.-Medalists:- Cross-country skiing:Men- Figure skating:Women- Nordic combined :...
finished on top of the medal table with a total of 6 gold medals, 4 silver and 5 bronze, a total of 15 medals. The USAUnited States at the 1928 Winter OlympicsThe United States competed at the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.- Medalists :- Bobsleigh:- Cross-country skiing:Men- Figure skating:MenWomenPairs- Nordic combined :Events:* 18 km cross-country skiing...
finished second in the table.
Events
- BobsleighBobsleigh at the 1928 Winter OlympicsAt the 1928 Winter Olympics, only one bobsleigh event was contested, the five man event. The competition was held on Saturday, February 18, 1928.-Medalists:-Results:-Participating nations:...
- Figure skatingFigure skating at the 1928 Winter OlympicsAt the 1928 Winter Olympics, three figure skating events were contested. The competitions were held from Tuesday, February 14, 1928 to Sunday, February 19, 1928....
- Ice hockeyIce hockey at the 1928 Winter OlympicsAt the 1928 Winter Olympics, the ice hockey event was contested by 11 teams. The competition was held from Saturday, February 11, 1928 to Sunday, February 19, 1928....
- Nordic skiingNordic skiing at the 1928 Winter OlympicsAt the 1928 Winter Olympics, four Nordic skiing events were contested – two cross-country skiing events, one ski jumping event, and one nordic combined event, all for men only....
- Cross-country skiingCross-country skiing at the 1928 Winter OlympicsAt the 1928 Winter Olympics, two cross country skiing events were contested. The 50 km competition was held on Tuesday, February 14, 1928 while the 18 km event was held on Friday, February 17, 1928.-Medal summary:...
- Nordic combinedNordic combined at the 1928 Winter OlympicsAt the 1928 Winter Olympics one individual Nordic combined event was contested. It was held on Friday, February 17, 1928 and on Saturday, February 18, 1928 . Unlike today the ski jump was the last event held...
- Ski jumpingSki jumping at the 1928 Winter OlympicsThe men's ski jumping at the 1928 Winter Olympics took place at Olympiaschanze St. Moritz on 18 February. Thirty-eight competitors from thirteen nations competed, with the event being won by Norway's Alf Andersen ahead of countryman Sigmund Ruud; Czechoslovakia's Rudolf Burkert came in...
- Cross-country skiing
- Speed skatingSpeed skating at the 1928 Winter OlympicsAt the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, four speed skating events were scheduled, all for men, but medals were only awarded for three events, because the 10.000 m event was not completed. The Allround event, which was only organized in 1924, was removed from the program...
- Tobogganing (skeleton)Skeleton at the 1928 Winter OlympicsThese are the results of the men's skeleton competition at the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz. In many locations the sport was referred to as tobogganing during these and the 1948 Games. The competition took place on the Cresta Run and medals were awarded after a total of three runs down the...
Demonstration sports
- Military patrolMilitary patrol at the 1928 Winter OlympicsAt the 1928 Winter Olympics, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in 1928, a military patrol competition was held. Because of a snowstorm the night before the competition, the start of the event was delayed 45 minutes to the cleaning up of the track. The competition was contested over a 30 km distance...
- SkijoringSkijoring at the 1928 Winter OlympicsSkijoring was a demonstration sport at the 1928 Winter Olympics, held in St. Moritz, Switzerland from February 11 through 19, 1928. The sole skijoring event of the Games was held on February 12, the second day of the Games. The sport of skijoring is one in which a person on skis is pulled by dogs,...
Venues
- Around the hills of St. MoritzSt. MoritzSt. Moritz is a resort town in the Engadine valley in Switzerland. It is a municipality in the district of Maloja in the Swiss canton of Graubünden...
- Cross-country skiing, Nordic combined (cross-country skiing) - Cresta RunCresta RunThe Cresta Run is a natural ice 1,212.5 m long skeleton racing toboggan track in the Swiss winter sports town of St. Moritz, and one of the few runs dedicated primarily to skeleton. It was built in 1884 near the hamlet of Cresta in the municipality of Celerina/Schlarigna by Major Bulpett, eventual...
- Skeleton - Olympiaschanze St. MoritzOlympiaschanze St. MoritzOlympiaschanze St. Moritz was a ski jumping venue in St. Moritz, Switzerland, it was built in 1926 and closed in 2006. The ski jumping and the ski jumping part of the nordic combined event for the 1928 Winter Olympics.Its K-point was 66 mm.-References:...
- Nordic combined (Ski jumping), Ski jumping - St. Moritz Olympic Ice RinkSt. Moritz Olympic Ice RinkSt. Moritz Olympic Ice Rink is an outdoor stadium in St. Moritz, Switzerland. It was the venue for the ice hockey, speedskating and figure skating events, as well as the location of the opening and closing ceremonies at the 1928 Winter Olympics and 1948 Winter Olympics.-References:...
- Figure skating, Ice hockey, Speed Skating - St. Moritz-Celerina Olympic BobrunSt. Moritz-Celerina Olympic BobrunThe St. Moritz-Celerina Olympic Bobrun is a bobsleigh piste located in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Constructed in 1903, it officially opened on New Year's Day 1904 and is the oldest bobsleigh track in the world and the only one that is naturally refrigerated...
- Bobsleigh
Participating nations
Athletes from 25 nations competed at these Games, up from 16 in 1924. Nations making their first appearance at the Winter Olympic Games were ArgentinaArgentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
(first participation of a delegation coming from a country belonging to the Southern Hemisphere), Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, and Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
.
Medal count
| 1 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 15 | |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
| 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | |
| 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 7 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| (host nation) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |