1928 Winter Olympics

The 1928 Winter Olympics, officially called the II Olympic Winter Games, were held in St. Moritz, Switzerland, from February 11 to 19, 1928. These games were the first true Winter Olympics to happen all by itself, instead of being part of the Summer Olympics. Earlier winter events in 1924 were later called the first Winter Olympics, but they had shared the same place and time as the Summer Olympics in France.

Before 1924, winter sports were part of the big Summer Games, and there were no separate Winter Games. In 1928, the games also replaced another event called the Nordic Games, which had happened off and on since the early 1900s.

The people organizing the games had some trouble with the weather. The opening ceremony took place during a heavy snowstorm, and warm weather caused problems for many of the sports during the rest of the event. One big race on the ice, the 10,000 metre speed-skating event, had to be stopped and cancelled because of the weather. Even though it was tricky, people made a silent movie called The White Stadium showing what happened during the games.

Highlights

• Sonja Henie of Norway returned to the Winter Olympics, having taken part in the 1924 Winter Olympics at the age of 11, and made history by winning the ladies' figure skating aged 15. She became the youngest Olympic champion in history (a distinction she held for 70 years), and went on to defend her title at the next two Winter Olympics.
• Norway’s Ivar Ballangrud won the Olympic title in the 5,000-metre speed skating event, and Clas Thunberg of Finland won both the 500 m and the 1,500 m.
• Norway finished at the top of the medal table with a total of six gold medals, four silver, and five bronze, totalling 15 medals. The United States finished second in the table with six medals overall.
• Switzerland won a single bronze medal, the lowest medal haul by a host nation at any Olympic Games.

Events

The 1928 Winter Olympics had medals given out in 14 different events across 4 sports, with 8 categories in total. The sports included bobsleigh, ice hockey, ice skating, and Nordic skiing.

Ice skating had two parts: figure skating and speed skating. Nordic skiing also had three parts: cross-country skiing, Nordic combined, and ski jumping. There were also two demonstration sports: military patrol and skijoring.

Venues

Main article: Venues of the 1928 Winter Olympics

The 1928 Winter Olympics took place in and around St. Moritz, Switzerland. Events were held at several special locations.

Figure skating, ice hockey, and speed skating happened at the St. Moritz Olympic Ice Rink. Cross-country skiing and Nordic combined (which includes cross-country skiing) were held around the hills of St. Moritz. Ski jumping and the Nordic combined event took place at the Olympiaschanze St. Moritz. Bobsleigh competitions were at the St. Moritz-Celerina Olympic Bobrun. Finally, skeleton racing occurred at the Cresta Run.

Participating nations

Athletes from 25 nations took part in the 1928 Winter Olympics, more than the 16 nations that joined in 1924. Some countries joined for the very first time, including Argentina, Estonia, Germany, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, and Romania.

Participating National Olympic Committees
Argentina (10)  Austria (39)  Belgium (25)  Canada (23)  Czechoslovakia (29)  Estonia (2)  Finland (18)  France (38)  Germany (44)  Great Britain (32)  Hungary (13)  Italy (13)  Japan (6)  Latvia (1)  Lithuania (1)  Luxembourg (5)  Mexico (5)  Netherlands (7)  Norway (25)  Poland (26)  Romania (10)  Sweden (24)  Switzerland (41) (host)  United States (24)  Yugoslavia (6)

Medal count

*   Host nation (Switzerland)

Podium sweeps

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Norway	6	4	5	15
2	United States	2	2	2	6
3	Sweden	2	2	1	5
4	Finland	2	1	1	4
5	Canada	1	0	0	1
	France	1	0	0	1
7	Austria	0	3	1	4
8	Belgium	0	0	1	1
	Czechoslovakia	0	0	1	1
	Germany	0	0	1	1
	Great Britain	0	0	1	1
	Switzerland*	0	0	1	1
Totals (12 entries)		14	12	15	41

Date	Sport	Event	NOC	Gold	Silver	Bronze
14 February	Cross-country skiing	Men's 50 kilometre	Sweden	Per-Erik Hedlund	Gustaf Jonsson	Volger Andersson
17 February	Cross-country skiing	Men's 18 kilometre	Norway	Johan Grøttumsbråten	Ole Hegge	Reidar Ødegaard
18 February	Nordic combined	Individual	Norway	Johan Grøttumsbråten	Hans Vinjarengen	Jon Snersrud