Olympics, Winter

The current Olympic Games are considered to be a part of the modern Olympic era, which began in 1896. The Winter Olympic Games began as an exclusive competitive event in Chamonix, France, in 1924 and were originally referred to as the “International Winter Sports Week.” Prior to 1924, the Winter Olympic Games were not held as an exclusive, seasonal event made up of characteristically cold weather sports. When figure skating made an appearance in the 1908 Olympic Games in London, England, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) began to contemplate the notion that two Olympic events consisting of sports that were seasonally appropriate should be held every four years. Although the IOC was experiencing progress in terms of establishing two separate—winter and summer—competitive events, women were ...