On Friday, February 4, the 2022 Olympic Games will begin in the Chinese capital of Beijing..

TSN Prosport invites you to find out how it all began and who should be thanked for hosting these competitions.

Historical background On January 25, 1924, the 1st Winter Olympic Games began, which were held as " The ancient ski resort of Chamonix was chosen as the capital of the 1st Winter Olympic Games. The Chamonix Valley is located between the Mont Blanc Massif and the Aiguille Rouge Massif. Here is one of the longest slopes in the Alps - White Valley.

Before the start of the games, there were doubts about their success: the organizers of the competition could not decide whether Chamonix would host sports competitions.

At that time, IOC President Pierre de Coubertin was able to convince the need for the Winter Olympics. During the years 1921-1922, he achieved the creation of a commission for the organization of the Winter Games, which included representatives from Sweden, the French Republic, Norway, Switzerland and Canada, and then insisted on holding a "

According to Coubertin, the games were supposed to be a demonstration tournament in non-Olympic sports.. In order to make the program of the games sufficiently complete, ice hockey and figure skating were removed from the Olympic program of the VIII Summer Olympic Games in Paris..

For the organizers of the Games, the results were deplorable.. Despite the assurances of the IOC president that the skiing and speed skating competitions would attract more than 30 thousand spectators, only 10,044 people paid for tickets (the only source of income for the organizers at that time) - a disaster for financiers. However, in Chamonix, the IOC managed to do the main thing: public opinion positively accepted the idea of \u200b\u200bthe Winter Games.. In May 1926, in Lisbon, it was decided to hold the II Winter Games in Sainte-Maurique, and the "

Opening Ceremony Jean Lavevre, Mayor of Chamonix, delivered an opening speech at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

Officially opened the Olympic Games Deputy Secretary of the Department of Physical Education Gaston Vidal. He proclaimed that the competitions were organized under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee.

Delegations from 16 countries took part in the parade. Athletes from each delegation went in this order: skaters, figure skaters, civilian skiers, military skiers, hockey players, curling players, bobsledders. All participants of the competition carried their equipment with them (skates, skis, sticks, beans, and brooms - curling players).

The Olympic flag, although not hoisted at the central stadium, was present at the bobsleigh and ski jumping competitions, as well as on the pedestal during the award ceremonies. It was these moments that became in 1926, at the IOC session in Lisbon, one of the decisive arguments in favor of the election of Chamonix as the host city of the Winter Olympic Games..

Competition program Disciplines represented at the 1924 Winter Olympics:.

Bobsleigh Men - Quads Nordic Combined Men - Individual Cross Country Men - Short 18K, Marathon 50km Ski Jumping Men - Large Hill Ice Hockey Men - Team Speed \u200b\u200bSkating Men - 500m, 1500m, 5000m, Distance.

Mix - Sports couples Military patrol competitions Men - Military patrol competitions Curling Men - Curling Medal standings and winners of the games.

The first winner of the first ever OWG was the American skater Charlie Juthrow, who won the 500m race, while Norwegian and Finnish athletes won all the other 14 awards on the ice track.. Three gold medals were won by Klass Thunberg (Finland): one of them was in the absolute championship, which is awarded by the sum of the results shown at four different distances.

Another winner of the Games was the Norwegian skier Thorleif Geug, who won two race distances and the Nordic combined.. Teammates supported him: all four sets of awards went to the Norwegian team (with the exception of one bronze medal).

Skater Gillis Grafstrom repeated his success four years ago (at the Summer Olympics), again becoming the best in the men's singles competition.

The hockey tournament was won by the Canadian team represented by the Toronto Grenits team, who won all 5 matches with a total score of 110:3.

Special Award On February 5, 1924, during the closing ceremony of the Games, the honorary award " One medal was given to the entire team, represented by climbers from the UK, Australia, India and Nepal.

In addition to the team medal, 20 more medals were awarded, of which 7 were awarded to Sherpas who died in the avalanche..

Each of the 13 awards at the ceremony was personally presented to the climbers by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who expressed the hope that one of the medals could be delivered to the top of Everest. Charles Bruce, who was preparing the next expedition at that time, was absent from the ceremony in Chamonix.. His deputy, Edward Lyle Strutt, who accepted the medal for Bruce, promised to earn honorary awards for the next ascent. Unfortunately, these dreams and plans did not come true..