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History of the Winter Olympic Games in Pictures
High above the cityAustrian ski jumper Reinhold Bachler during a training run at the Bergisel ski jump (Bergiselschanze) before the 1976 Winter Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria, February 1, 1976. The Wilten Basilica is in the background.
âYou had to see it to believe it!â
That refrain has echoed through descriptions of Olympic competition for more than a century. From the first Winter Olympic Games in 1924 to the present, athletes have tested the limits of balance, speed, and endurance on snow and ice, captivating audiences that have grown from small crowds at Alpine venues to billions of global viewers. The photographs below offer a glimpse into the spectacle that is the Winter Olympics, capturing the athletes, events, sports, and moments that have enthralled generations of sports fans.
Chamonix 1924
- Country: France
- Athletes: 260
- Events: 16
St. Moritz 1928
- Country: Switzerland
- Athletes: 464
- Events: 14
- Sports removed: Curling and military patrol
- Sport added: Skeleton sledding
Lake Placid 1932
- Country: United States
- Athletes: 252
- Events: 14
- Sport removed: Skeleton sledding
Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936
- Country: Germany
- Athletes: 646
- Events: 17
- Sport added: Alpine skiing
St. Moritz 1948
- Country: Switzerland
- Athletes: 669
- Events: 22
- Sport added: Skeleton sledding
Oslo 1952
- Country: Norway
- Athletes: 694
- Events: 22
- Sport removed: Skeleton sledding
Cortina dâAmpezzo 1956
- Country: Italy
- Athletes: 821
- Events: 24
Squaw Valley 1960
- Country: United States
- Athletes: 665
- Events: 27
- Sport removed: Bobsledding
- Sport added: Biathlon
Innsbruck 1964
Grenoble 1968
- Country: France
- Athletes: 1,158
- Events: 35
Sapporo 1972
- Country: Japan
- Athletes: 1,006
- Events: 35
Innsbruck 1976
- Country: Austria
- Athletes: 1,123
- Events: 37
Lake Placid 1980
- Country: United States
- Athletes: 1,072
- Events: 38
Sarajevo 1984
- Country: Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina)
- Athletes: 1,272
- Events: 39
Calgary 1988
- Country: Canada
- Athletes: 1,423
- Events: 46
Albertville 1992
- Country: France
- Athletes: 1,801
- Events: 57
- Sports added: Freestyle skiing and short-track speed skating
Lillehammer 1994
- Country: Norway
- Athletes: 1,737
- Events: 61
Nagano 1998
- Country: Japan
- Athletes: 2,176
- Events: 68
- Sports added: Curling and snowboarding
Salt Lake City 2002
- Country: United States
- Athletes: 2,399
- Events: 78
- Sports added: Skeleton sledding
Turin 2006
- Country: Italy
- Athletes: 2,508
- Events: 84
Vancouver 2010
- Country: Canada
- Athletes: 2,566
- Events: 86
Sochi 2014
- Country: Russia
- Athletes: 2,780
- Events: 98
Pyeongchang 2018
- Country: South Korea
- Athletes: 2,833
- Events: 102
Beijing 2022
- Country: China
- Athletes: 2,869
- Events: 109
Milano Cortina 2026
- Country: Italy
- Athletes: 2,880
- Events: 116
- Sport added: Ski mountaineering