Winter Olympic skiing history

Actually, those first Winter Olympic Games were called the “International Winter Sports Week.” For quite a few years, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had been interested in starting some winter games to complement the successful summer games. However, Sweden had objected since they hosted their own Nordic games every four years where only Scandinavian countries competed. Finally, Sweden agreed to the Winter Sports Week in 1924. In 1925, the IOC would retroactively make the Chamonix games officially the first Winter Olympics.

The 1924 games featured six sports and 300 athletes from 16 nations. Two of the sports, figure skating and hockey, had previously been part of the summer Olympic games. This gave a Swedish figure skater and the Canadian hockey team the ability to win gold medals in both the summer and winter games. At those first Olympics, cross country and jumping were the only skiing events. Those events were dominated by Norway, which won eight out of nine medals.

Alpine skiing wouldn’t be added to the Winter Olympics until 1936. The Garmisch-Partenkirchen games included downhill and slalom for both men and women. However, medals were only awarded for the combined results of the two races. The Germans dominated, winning four of the six medals awarded. The best American was Dick Durrance in a respectable 10th.

World War II would cause the cancellation of the 1940 and 1944 Winter Olympics. When they resumed in 1948 at St. Moritz, medals were awarded in downhill and slalom as well as the combined. Of course, this would be where Gretchen Fraser would win the first U.S. medals in alpine skiing. Another recognizable multiple medal-winner at those Olympics was Karl Molitor, who later would make the ski boots that bore his name.

In Oslo in 1952, giant slalom was added as an alpine skiing medal event, but the combined medal was dropped (it would come back in 1988). Andrea Mead Lawrence would dominate the 1952 women’s events by winning the giant slalom and slalom, becoming the first American to win multiple gold medals. The names of the men’s medalists form a “who’s-who” in skiing history: Stein Eriksen, Christian Pravda and Othmar Schneider.

The 1956 Winter Olympics were held in Cortina, Italy, and Austrian Toni Sailer stole the show by winning gold in all three events, a feat that would only be repeated by Jean-Claude Killy in 1968.

The slalom, giant slalom, and downhill would remain the only Olympic ski events until 1988. In that year, the super G was added and the combined event returned.

Then, in 1992, a whole new type of skiing was added to the Winter Olympics — freestyle skiing. Medals were first awarded in moguls at the 1992 Albertville (France) games, where Killington’s Donna Weinbrecht would win the first gold for the women.

In 1994 at the Lillehammer games, aerials would become an Olympic medal event. At the last Winter Olympics in Vancouver, skier-cross was added for both men and women. And, at this year’s Sochi Olympics, both skier half-pipe and slopestyle will become medal events.

The United States has dominated the freestyle skiing events since they have been part of the Olympics, winning 14 medals, while Canada is second with nine.

The 2014 Sochi Olympics mark the 15th anniversary of the first U.S. men’s medals in alpine skiing. In the 1964 slalom, Jimmy Heuga would win the bronze and Stowe’s Billy Kidd would win the silver. Which brings us to this week’s trivia question:

Who won the men’s Slalom gold medal in the 1964 Innsbruck Olympics?

Post your answer on retro-skiing.com.

Greg Morrill is a retired computer programmer and college professor who’s looking forward to his first 100-day season. Comment on this article on stowereporter.com, or e-mail letters to news@stowereporter.com.