What are the Winter Olympic Games?
The Winter Olympics is the most famous international winter multi-sport event that t that features athletes from multiple nations competing to win Gold, Silver and Bronze medals.
When are the Winter Olympics 2024?
The Winter Olympics will run from 4th February to 20th February 2024.
Where are the Winter Olympics taking place?
Most of the Winter Olympics events will take place in Beijing, and towns in the neighbouring Hebei province in the People’s Republic of China.
Beijing is the only country to host both the Winter Olympic and the Summer Olympic Games! A few of the events at the 2024 Olympics will be held at the same arenas used during the 2008 Summer Olympics.
What events are at the Winter Olympics?
The Beijing Winter Olympics 2024 are scheduled to include 109 events over 15 disciplines in seven sports, which will be the most events added to date. Some of the most popular events scheduled to take place include:
- Biathlon
- Bobsledding
- Curling
- Ice hockey
- Luge
- Skating
- Skiing
- Snowboarding
How often are the Winter Olympics?
The Winter Olympics Games are held every four years.
History of the Winter Olympic Games
The Winter Olympics Games are a major international sporting event for sports practised on snow and ice.
In 1901, the Nordic Games were held in Stockholm, Sweden. It was a popular sporting event for Norway, Finland and Sweden.
In 1908, France held a Winter Sports Week in Chamonix. 2000 spectators came to watch it and four years later that number increased to 12,000.
In 1921, the International Olympic Committee agreed to a Winter Sports Week to be held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. This event proved to be a big success drawing 10,004 paying spectators. It was retrospectively named the First Olympic Winter Games.
The Winter and Summer Olympic Games were originally held in the same years however following 1992, the Winter Olympics were moved to create an alternating four-year cycle. This decision was made by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meaning there was only a 2-year gap between the Winter Olympics in 1992 and1994.
In 1940 and 1944, the Winter Olympic Games were cancelled because of World War II.
In 1988 the Jamaican bobsleigh team became the first tropical country to be represented in a winter sport. The movie ‘Cool Runnings’ was inspired by them.
In 2024, the Games will be held in Beijing in China. This will be the first time a city has hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.
List of Every Host City For the Winter Olympics
- 2026 – Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, February 6-22
- 2024 – Beijing, China, February 4-20
- 2018 – PyeongChang, South Korea, February 9-25
- 2014 – Sochi, Russia, February 7-23
- 2010 – Vancouver, Canada, February 12-28
- 2006 – Torino (Turin), Italy, February 10-26
- 2002 – Salt Lake City, United States, February 8-24
- 1998 – Nagano, Japan, February 7-22
- 1994 – Lillehammer, Norway, February 12-27
- 1992 – Albertville, France, February 8-23
- 1988 – Calgary, Canada, February 13-28
- 1984 – Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, February 8-19
- 1980 – Lake Placid, United States, February 13-24
- 1976 – Innsbruck, Austria, February 4-15
- 1972 – Sapporo, Japan, February 3-13
- 1968 – Grenoble, France, February 6-18
- 1964 – Innsbruck, Austria, January 29-February 9
- 1960 – Squaw Valley, United States, February 18-28
- 1956 – Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, January 26 – February 5
- 1952 – Oslo, Norway, February 14 – 25
- 1948 – St. Moritz, Switzerland, January 30 – February 8
- 1944 – Cancelled due to WWII
- 1940 – Cancelled due to WWII
- 1936 – Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, February 6 – 16
- 1932 – Lake Placid, United States, February 4 – 15
- 1928 – St. Moritz, Switzerland, February 11 – 19
- 1924 – Chamonix, France, January 25 – February 5
Winter Olympic Games Facts
- The official name for the Winter Olympics is The Olympic Winter Games.
- No country in the Southern Hemisphere has ever hosted the Winter Olympics because it is summertime during February in this hemisphere.
- Since the Games began, Norway has won the most medals with 368. The US have the second most with 305 just ahead of Germany with 240 medals.
- The Olympic torch relay has travelled to some unique places in the Games’ history, including space, the North Pole and the bottom of Lake Baikal – the world’s deepest lake.
New Zealand at the Winter Olympics
The first Winter Olympics New Zealand attended was in Oslo, Norway in 1952. Since then NZ has been at everyone except for 1956 in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy and 1964 in Innsbruck, Austria.
Until 1988, NZ had only competed in alpine skiing. They fielded a bobsleigh team at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympic Games.
New Zealand has won a total of 3 medals at the Winter Olympics. NZ won its first medal at the Winter Olympics in 1992. Annelise Coberger won a silver medal in the women’s slalom at Albertville in France and also became the first person from the Southern Hemisphere to win a medal at the Winter Olympics.
It was not until 2018 that NZ picked up another medal. Zoi Sadowski-Synott won a bronze in the women’s big air snowboarding event while Nico Porteous won a bronze in the men’s halfpipe event in freestyle skiing. That year, the Games were held in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Winter Olympics teaching resources
We have a great selection of teacher-made Winter Olympics teaching resources to get children excited about this event. From engaging activities, informative PowerPoints and fun filled colouring pages, there’s something for every classroom.