The
1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the
V Olympic Winter Games, was a winter
multi-sport eventA multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports between organized teams of athletes from nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of international significance was the modern Olympic Games.Many...
celebrated in 1948 in
St. MoritzSt. Moritz is a resort town in the Engadine valley in Switzerland. It is a municipality in the district of Maloja in the Swiss canton of Graubünden...
,
SwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. The Games were the first to be celebrated after World War II; it had been twelve years since the last Winter Games in
1936The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, Germany. Germany also hosted the Summer Olympics the same year in Berlin...
. From the selection of a host city in a neutral country to the exclusion of Japan and Germany, the political atmosphere of the post-war world was inescapable during the Games. The organizing committee faced several challenges due to the lack of financial and human resources consumed by the war.
There were 28 nations that marched in the
opening ceremoniesOlympic Games ceremonies were an integral part of the Ancient Olympic Games. Some of the elements of the modern ceremonies harken back to the Ancient Games from which the Modern Olympics draw their ancestry. An example of this is the prominence of Greece in both the opening and closing ceremonies...
on January 30, 1948. Nearly 670 athletes competed in 22 events in four sports. The Games also featured two demonstration sports:
military patrolAt the 1948 Winter Olympics, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in 1948, the last military patrol competition was held as a demonstration sport. This was in part to the aftermath of World War II, which decimated Europe. This sport would be superseded by the biathlon competition which debuted at the 1960...
, which later became the
biathlonBiathlon is a term used to describe any sporting event made up of two disciplines. However, biathlon usually refers specifically to the winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting...
, and
winter pentathlonAt the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, a winter pentathlon competition was held. It was one of two demonstration sports held at these Games.The pentathlon was composed of five segments:*cross-country skiing*shooting*downhill skiing*fencing...
, which was discontinued after these Games. Notable performances were turned in by figure skaters
Dick ButtonRichard Totten "Dick" Button is an American former figure skater and a well-known long-time skating television analyst. He is a two-time Olympic Champion and five-time World Champion...
and Barbara Ann Scott and skier
Henri OreillerHenri Oreiller was a French alpine ski racer. He won two gold medals and a bronze medal in skiing at the 1948 Olympic Games, becoming the most successful athlete there....
. Most of the athletic venues were already in existence from the first time St. Moritz hosted the Winter Games in
1928The 1928 Winter Olympics, officially known as the II Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated February 11–19, 1928 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The 1928 Games were the first true Winter Olympics held on its own as they were not in conjunction with a Summer Olympics...
. All of the venues were outdoors, which meant the Games were heavily dependent on favorable weather conditions.
ChileChile competed at the Winter Olympic Games for the first time at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.- Alpine skiing:MenMen's combined...
,
DenmarkDenmark competed at the Winter Olympic Games for the first time at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.- Figure skating:Men- Speed skating:Men-References:*...
,
IcelandIceland competed in the Winter Olympic Games for the first time at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.- Alpine skiing:MenMen's combined...
,
KoreaSouth Korea, as Korea, competed in the Winter Olympic Games for the first time as an independent nation at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.-Speed skating:...
, and
LebanonLebanon competed in the Winter Olympic Games for the first time at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.- Alpine skiing:MenMen's combined...
all made their Winter Olympic debut at these Games. Three countries,
NorwayNorway competed at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.-Medalists:- Alpine skiing:MenMen's combinedThe downhill part of this event was held along with the main medal event of downhill skiing. For atlethes competing in both events, the same time was used...
,
SwedenSweden competed at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.-Medalists:- Alpine skiing:MenMen's combinedThe downhill part of this event was held along with the main medal event of downhill skiing. For atlethes competing in both events, the same time was used...
, and
SwitzerlandSwitzerland was the host nation for the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz. It was the second time that Switzerland had hosted the Winter Games, after the 1928 Winter Olympics, also in St. Moritz.-Medalists:- Alpine skiing:Men...
, tied for the most medals won with ten medals each.
Host city selection
The IOC selected St. Moritz to host the 1948 Games at their general session in September 1946. St. Moritz was selected because it was located in Switzerland, which had remained neutral during the war, and also because it had already hosted a Winter Games in 1928. This made the organization of the Games simpler and more economical. Despite the existence of many of the venues, it was still a difficult task to organize a Winter Olympic Games in less than 18 months.
Organizing
The Comite Olympique (CO) was composed of local dignitaries and members of the Swiss National Olympic Committee (COS). They decided to separate into several sub-committees responsible for various aspects of the Games. These committees included housing and maintenance, venue construction, finances, and media and advertising. The local committees worked very closely with the Swiss federal government and the IOC to ensure that the organization of the Games proceeded without hindrance. Since no athletes' village existed from the previous Games, the athletes and officials were housed in hotels around the city. It was very important for the committees to draw upon their experiences from the 1928 Olympics. Their selection of locations for the various events was contingent on the weather conditions as all the events were held outdoors.
Over 800 people were involved in reporting the news of the Games to the world. Nearly 500 press credentials were issued by the Press Commission for the Games. Television would not make its Olympic debut until 1956. The coverage of the 1948 Games was split between newspapers and radio broadcasts. The organizing committee had to provide technology, such as long distance telephone lines and telegraph services, to assist the press in communicating with their constituents.
Over 2,200 people were needed to provide all the services for the press, officials and athletes at the Games. These services included sanitation, security, and care of the venues. Accommodating the influx of people into St. Moritz was a difficult task for the organizing committee. It was complicated by the mountainous region in which the community was situated. A massive project to improve the village's transportation infrastructure had to be completed prior to the Games. This included building and widening roads for vehicular traffic. Several train stations were built to accommodate the increased demands for public transit. They had to also had to increase the capacity of the city's sewers. All of the projects had to be approved by the Swiss government, and justified by its impact on the success of the Games. To aid the organizing committee the IOC demanded that all participating nations provide lists of their athletes several months prior to the Games. Consequently the Swiss knew exactly how many athletes and officials to plan for.
Politics
Since these Games were the first since World War II they were given the name "The Games of Renewal." Japan and Germany were not invited to these Games because they were still ostracized by the international community for their role in World War II. Their absence was short-lived though, as they returned to Olympic competition in
1952The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games, took place in Oslo, Norway, from 14 to 25 February 1952. Discussions about Oslo hosting the Winter Olympic Games began as early as 1935; the city wanted to host the 1948 Games, but World War II made that impossible...
. The Soviet Union did not send athletes to the St. Moritz Games of 1948, but they did send ten delegates as observers of the Games to determine how successful the Soviet athletes would have been had they competed.
Impact of World War II
Sapporo, Japan had been the choice for the
1940 Winter GamesThe anticipated 1940 Winter Olympics, which would have been officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games, were to be celebrated in 1940 in Sapporo, Japan.The games were cancelled due to the onset of World War II...
. In 1938 the Japanese decided to decline the invitation to host the Games claiming that preparations for the Olympic Games were draining the country's resources. The IOC turned to the host of the
1936 GamesThe 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, Germany. Germany also hosted the Summer Olympics the same year in Berlin...
,
Garmisch-PartenkirchenGarmisch-Partenkirchen is a mountain resort town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the Oberbayern region, and the district is on the border with Austria...
, which would make it the only city to host consecutive Games. This became impractical when Germany
invadedThe Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
Poland on September 1, 1939; subsequently Germany withdrew its bid to host the Games. Finland believed it could host the Games and extended an invitation to the IOC, but the Soviet Union's
invasionThe Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
of Finland ended all hope of an Olympic Games in 1940. The
1944 Winter OlympicsThe anticipated 1944 Winter Olympics, which would have been officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games , were to be celebrated in February 1944 in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy...
had been awarded to
Cortina d'AmpezzoCortina d'Ampezzo is a town and comune in the southern Alps located in Veneto, a region in Northern Italy. Located in the heart of the Dolomites in an alpine valley, it is a popular winter sport resort known for its ski-ranges, scenery, accommodations, shops and après-ski scene...
, Italy in 1939. As the war continued, this proved to be impractical and the second consecutive
olympiadAn Olympiad is a period of four years, associated with the Olympic Games of Classical Greece. In the Hellenistic period, beginning with Ephorus, Olympiads were used as calendar epoch....
passed without a celebration of the Games. The IOC was presented with two possible host cities for the first post-war Games:
Lake PlacidLake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a population of 2,638....
, United States and
St. MoritzSt. Moritz is a resort town in the Engadine valley in Switzerland. It is a municipality in the district of Maloja in the Swiss canton of Graubünden...
, Switzerland. The IOC decided to award the Games to Switzerland, a neutral country, immediately following World War II, in order to avoid political posturing on the part of former combatants.
The impact of World War II was still being felt in 1948. The lack of financial resources and human energy made the organization of the Games challenging. Athletes were also affected by a lack of resources. Many competitors arrived with little or no equipment. In one notable case,
NorwegianNorway competed at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.-Medalists:- Alpine skiing:MenMen's combinedThe downhill part of this event was held along with the main medal event of downhill skiing. For atlethes competing in both events, the same time was used...
skiers had to borrow skis from the
AmericanThe United States competed at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.- Medalists :- Alpine skiing:MenMen's combined...
team in order to compete. There was also a lack of spectators due to travel restrictions and a shortage of finances in a European economy that was still recovering under the
Marshall PlanThe Marshall Plan was the large-scale American program to aid Europe where the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to combat the spread of Soviet communism. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948...
.
Events
The Games featured four sports: Skiing—broken into
alpineAt the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland, the six alpine skiing events were held from Monday, February 2 to Thursday February 5, 1948.After these games, the combined event was dropped as an Olympic medal event for four decades, until 1988...
and
NordicAt the 1948 Winter Olympics, five Nordic skiing events were contested – three cross-country skiing events, one ski jumping event, and one nordic combined event, all for men only....
disciplines—
bobsledAt the 1948 Winter Olympics, two bobsleigh events were contested. The two-man competition was held on Friday, January 30, 1948 and on Saturdayday, January 31, 1948 while the four-man competition was held on Friday, February 6, 1948 and on Saturday, February 7, 1948.-Medal summary:-Participating...
, skating—both
figure skatingAt the 1948 Winter Olympics, three figure skating events were contested: men's singles, ladies singles, and pair skating.-Event summary:Barbara Ann Scott became the first Canadian to win the figure skating gold medal while Dick Button became the first American to win a figure skating title for the...
and
speed skating-Medal summary:-Participating nations:Twelve speed skaters competed in all four events.A total of 68 speed skaters from 15 nations competed at the St. Moritz Games:-Medal table:-References:*...
—and
ice hockeyIn Ice hockey at the 1948 Winter Olympics, Team Canada returned to its dominance, winning their fourth Gold Medal out of the first five Olympic Games.-Rival United States teams:...
. There were also two demonstration sports,
military patrolAt the 1948 Winter Olympics, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in 1948, the last military patrol competition was held as a demonstration sport. This was in part to the aftermath of World War II, which decimated Europe. This sport would be superseded by the biathlon competition which debuted at the 1960...
and the
winter pentathlonAt the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, a winter pentathlon competition was held. It was one of two demonstration sports held at these Games.The pentathlon was composed of five segments:*cross-country skiing*shooting*downhill skiing*fencing...
. The sports were broken down into 22 events.
Bobsled
Two sliding sports were contested at the 1948 Winter Games, the first was bobsled. A controversy erupted when it was alleged that the sleds of the United States team had been sabotaged. It was discovered that the steering wheels had been damaged. After news broke of the apparent improprieties a truck driver stepped forward and admitted to having accidentally backed into the shed housing the bobsleds. The accident however did not hinder the United States teams who won a bronze in the two-man event and a gold and a bronze in the four-man event. The
SwissSwitzerland was the host nation for the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz. It was the second time that Switzerland had hosted the Winter Games, after the 1928 Winter Olympics, also in St. Moritz.-Medalists:- Alpine skiing:Men...
two-man teams placed first and second, which is the best possible results for the event since only two teams were allowed to enter. The driver of the first place team,
Felix EndrichFelix Endrich was a Swiss bobsledder who competed in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Competing in two Winter Olympics, he won the gold medal in the two-man event at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St...
, beat his coach, the driver of the second place team,
Fritz FeierabendFritz Feierabend was a Swiss bobsledder who competed from the mid 1930s to the mid 1950s...
.
Ice hockey
The
ice hockeyIce hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
tournament was won by
CanadaThe Canadian national ice hockey team is the ice hockey team representing Canada. The team is overseen by Hockey Canada, a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation, and participates in international competitions. From 1920 until 1963, Canada's international representation was by senior...
, with
CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia competed at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The country's only medal was a silver in ice hockey.-Medalists:- Alpine skiing:MenMen's combined...
second and
SwitzerlandSwitzerland was the host nation for the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz. It was the second time that Switzerland had hosted the Winter Games, after the 1928 Winter Olympics, also in St. Moritz.-Medalists:- Alpine skiing:Men...
third. This was the fifth Olympic gold medal for Canada in hockey. The only team to beat Canada since hockey was introduced at the
1920 Summer OlympicsThe 1920 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium....
was
Great BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland competed as Great Britain at the 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, United States....
at the
1932 Winter OlympicsThe 1932 Winter Olympics, officially known as the III Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1932 in Lake Placid, New York, United States. The games opened on February 4 and closed on February 15. It would be the first winter olympics held in the United...
. The tournament was almost cancelled when rival teams representing the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
arrived. An
Amateur Athletic UnionThe Amateur Athletic Union is one of the largest non-profit volunteer sports organizations in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs.-History:The AAU was founded in 1888 to...
(AAU) team was supported by the
United States Olympic CommitteeThe United States Olympic Committee is a non-profit organization that serves as the National Olympic Committee and National Paralympic Committee for the United States and coordinates the relationship between the United States Anti-Doping Agency and the World Anti-Doping Agency and various...
(USOC), and an
Amateur Hockey AssociationThe Amateur Hockey Association of Canada was an amateur men's ice hockey league founded in 1886, in existence until 1898. It was the second ice hockey league organized in Canada, after one in Kingston, Ontario started in 1883. It was organized to provide a longer season to determine the Canadian...
(AHA) team was supported by the Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace (LIHG). The
International Olympic CommitteeThe International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
ruled that neither team could compete, but the Swiss organizing committee allowed the AAU team to march in the
opening ceremonyOlympic Games ceremonies were an integral part of the Ancient Olympic Games. Some of the elements of the modern ceremonies harken back to the Ancient Games from which the Modern Olympics draw their ancestry. An example of this is the prominence of Greece in both the opening and closing ceremonies...
, and the AHA team to play unofficially, without being eligible for medals.
Figure skating
Barbara Ann Scott became the first and only
CanadianCanada competed at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Canada has competed at every Winter Olympic Games.-Medalists:- Alpine skiing:MenMen's combined...
woman to win an Olympic gold medal in figure skating, when she won the competition at St. Moritz. Despite the distraction caused by a low-flying airplane during her compulsory routine, she was able to muster the focus to place first entering the free skate. The ice had been shredded the night before the free skate by two ice hockey games (the
ice resurfacerAn ice resurfacer is a truck-like vehicle or smaller device used to clean and smooth the surface of an ice rink. The first ice resurfacer was developed by Frank J. Zamboni in 1949 in the city of Paramount, California...
had not yet been invented); nonetheless she was able to adjust her routine to avoid the potholes and emerge victorious.
Eighteen-year-old American
Dick ButtonRichard Totten "Dick" Button is an American former figure skater and a well-known long-time skating television analyst. He is a two-time Olympic Champion and five-time World Champion...
completed the unprecedented North American sweep of the figure skating gold medals. He led the field after the compulsory skate and then won the gold medal by becoming the first person to ever complete a double axel in competition. Later in the 1952 Olympics, Dick Button would win gold a second time. His victory came at the expense of
SwissSwitzerland was the host nation for the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz. It was the second time that Switzerland had hosted the Winter Games, after the 1928 Winter Olympics, also in St. Moritz.-Medalists:- Alpine skiing:Men...
world champion
Hans GerschwilerHans Gerschwiler was a Swiss figure skater.-Biography:Born in Switzerland, Gerschwiler made his international debut at the 1939 European Figure Skating Championships, where he placed 5th. Between 1939 and 1947, no international skating competitions were held, due to World War II...
who fell during the free skate. Despite the mishap Gershwiler would win the silver medal.
Speed skating
The speed skating competition was held on the same rink that had hosted the events in 1928. At 1856 metres (6,089.2 ft) above sea level, the speed skating competition was held at the second highest altitude in Olympic history, only Squaw Valley in 1960 was higher. The competition was dominated by the Scandinavian countries of Norway and Sweden who won nine out of the twelve possible medals. Scandinavians had done poor in speed skating events up until the 1948 Games. The reason for their success was that speed skating in Europe had come to a stand still during World War II. Only countries that were ancillary to the conflict had the resources to keep their speed skating programs intact. The 500 meter race was won by
Finn HelgesenFinn Helgesen was a speed skater from Norway. He was born in Drammen, Buskerud.At the Norwegian Championships, Helgesen won the 500 m in 1947 and 1949. He became Olympic Champion on the 500 m at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St...
of Norway. There was a three-way tie for second place between Norwegian
Thomas BybergThomas Hedvin Byberg was a Norwegian speed skater. He represented Hommelvik Idrettslag and Trondhjems Skøiteklub.He was born in Hommelvik....
and Americans
Robert FitzgeraldRobert Stuart Fitzgerald was a poet, critic and translator whose renderings of the Greek classics "became standard works for a generation of scholars and students." He was best known as a translator of ancient Greek and Latin...
and Kenneth Bartholomew. All three had finished in exactly 43.2 seconds.
SwedeSweden competed at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.-Medalists:- Alpine skiing:MenMen's combinedThe downhill part of this event was held along with the main medal event of downhill skiing. For atlethes competing in both events, the same time was used...
Åke SeyffarthÅke Seyffarth was a Swedish speed skater who specialised in long distance events. He was born in Stockholm....
won a gold medal in the 10,000 meter race and a silver medal in the 1,500 meter race. The 5,000 meter event was effected by weather. The twenty racers encountered both wind, sun, and snow in the course of the day's competition. Finally long-distance specialist
Reidar LiaklevReidar Liaklev was a speed skater from Norway who won the gold medal at the 1948 Winter Olympics of St. Moritz...
from Norway prevailed.
Alpine skiing
Alpine skiing made its Olympic debut at these Games. A few events had been held at the
1936 GamesThe 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, Germany. Germany also hosted the Summer Olympics the same year in Berlin...
but the St. Moritz Games featured a full slate of three men's and three women's alpine events.
FrenchmanFrance competed at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.-Medalists:- Alpine skiing:MenMen's combinedThe downhill part of this event was held along with the main medal event of downhill skiing. For atlethes competing in both events, the same time was used...
Henri OreillerHenri Oreiller was a French alpine ski racer. He won two gold medals and a bronze medal in skiing at the 1948 Olympic Games, becoming the most successful athlete there....
won a medal in all three Alpine events; gold in the downhill and combined, and bronze in the slalom. He was one of only two athletes to win two gold medals at the 1948 Games, and he was also the only athlete to win three or more medals.
AustriaAustria competed at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.-Medalists:- Alpine skiing:MenMen's combinedThe downhill part of this event was held along with the main medal event of downhill skiing. For atlethes competing in both events, the same time was used...
dominated the women's alpine events, winning five out of a possible nine medals.
Trude BeiserTrude Beiser is a former alpine ski racer....
was a double-medal winner, earning gold in the combined event and silver in the downhill. She was not the only female skier to win two medals though,
United StatesThe United States competed at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.- Medalists :- Alpine skiing:MenMen's combined...
skier
Gretchen FraserGretchen Kunigk Fraser was an alpine ski racer. She was the first American to win an Olympic gold medal for skiing....
won gold in the slalom and took silver behind Beiser in the combined. Austrian
Erika MahringerErika "Riki" Mahringer is an Austrian former alpine skier who competed in the 1948 Winter Olympics and in the 1952 Winter Olympics. In 1948 she won the bronze medal in the slalom event as well as in the Alpine combined competition. In the downhill contest she finished 19th...
earned two medals by winning bronze medals in both the slalom and the combined.
Nordic skiing
In nordic skiing a total of 106 skiers from 15 nations competed in three events. The events were the 50 kilometer race, the 18 kilometer race and the 4 x 10 kilometer relay. There were no women's events at the 1948 Games.
Martin LundströmMartin Lundström is a former Swedish cross-country skier who competed in the late-1940s and early-1950s.He was born in Tvärliden, Norsjö Municipality....
of
SwedenSweden competed at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.-Medalists:- Alpine skiing:MenMen's combinedThe downhill part of this event was held along with the main medal event of downhill skiing. For atlethes competing in both events, the same time was used...
was the other athlete to win two gold medals when he won the 18 kilometer race and participated on the winning cross-country relay team. Overall Sweden won seven out of a possible fifteen medals in the nordic events, including all three gold medals and a sweep of the 18 kilometer race. All fifteen medals were won by either Sweden, Norway, or
FinlandFinland competed at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.-Medalists:- Alpine skiing:MenMen's combinedThe downhill part of this event was held along with the main medal event of downhill skiing. For atlethes competing in both events, the same time was used...
.
Skeleton
Skeleton made its second appearance at the Olympics during these Games. It debuted at the
1928 Winter OlympicsThe 1928 Winter Olympics, officially known as the II Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated February 11–19, 1928 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The 1928 Games were the first true Winter Olympics held on its own as they were not in conjunction with a Summer Olympics...
also held in St. Moritz. Skeleton was a form of luge, which had originally appeared in the St. Moritz region at the end of the 19th century. American
John HeatonJohn Rutherford "Jack" Heaton was an American bobsledder and skeleton racer who competed from the late 1920s to the late 1940s....
won his second Olympic medal in the skeleton, he won his first 20 years earlier when he was 19 years old.
ItalianItaly competed at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Nino Bibbia won the nation's first gold medal at the Winter Games.-Medalists:- Alpine skiing:MenMen's combined...
slider
Nino BibbiaNino Bibbia , a fruit and vegetable merchant, was an Italian skeleton racer and bobsledder who competed in the late 1940s. He won the gold medal in the men's skeleton event at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz...
won the gold medal. It was the first of his 231 career wins on the Cresta Boblsed track. One of the curves at
Cesana PariolCesana Pariol was the venue for bobsled, luge and skeleton during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. The track, built for the games, is located in Cesana...
, where the
bobsledThree bobsleigh events were competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics, at the Cesana Pariol venue. The competition took place between February 18 and February 25, 2006....
,
lugeThe Luge competition at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games was held at Cesana Pariol in Cesana, Italy. Three events were staged, taking place from February 11 to February 15. These were the first games where a qualifying system was used to determine the enterants into the games.-Medal...
, and
skeletonThe skeleton competition at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games was held at Cesana Pariol in Cesana, Italy on February 16 and February 17 .-Medal table:-Events:...
events took place at the
2006 Winter OlympicsThe 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter...
in
TurinTurin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, was named after Bibbia.
Nordic combined
The nordic combined event had been contested and each Winter Olympics since 1924. Nordic combined required athletes to first compete in the open 18 kilometer cross-country ski race alongside the other cross-country competitors. Their times would be assigned a point value. Two days later the athletes would take two jumps off the ski jump hill. The jumps would be given a point value and the longest jump would be combined with their cross-country time to create a score. Traditional nordic combined power Norway was stunned at the 1948 Games when Finland's
Heikki HasuHeikki Vihtori Hasu is a Finnish Nordic skier who competed in the late 1940s and early 1950s who was born in Sippola....
became the first non-Norwegian to win the event. In fact Norway did not even make the podium. Hasu's teammate
Martti HuhtalaMartti Elias Huhtala was a Finnish Nordic combined athletes who competed in the late 1940s. He won a silver medal at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz in the Nordic combined Individual.-External links:*...
took the silver and
Sven IsraelssonSven Israelsson was a Swedish nordic combined skier who competed in the late 1940s. He won a bronze medal in the individual event at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz. He also won the Nordic combined event at the Holmenkollen ski festival in 1947.-External links:* - click Vinnere for...
from Sweden won the bronze.
Ski jumping
The
NorwegiansNorway competed at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.-Medalists:- Alpine skiing:MenMen's combinedThe downhill part of this event was held along with the main medal event of downhill skiing. For atlethes competing in both events, the same time was used...
swept the ski jumping event.
Birger RuudBirger Ruud was a Norwegian ski jumper.Born in Kongsberg, Birger Ruud, with his brothers Sigmund and Asbjørn, dominated international jumping in the 1930s, winning three world championships in 1931, 1935 and 1937. Ruud also won the Olympic gold medal in 1932 and 1936...
had won the gold medal in the ski jumping event at both the
1932The 1932 Winter Olympics, officially known as the III Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1932 in Lake Placid, New York, United States. The games opened on February 4 and closed on February 15. It would be the first winter olympics held in the United...
and
1936The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, Germany. Germany also hosted the Summer Olympics the same year in Berlin...
Winter Games. The twelve-year hiatus due to World War II meant that Ruud was 36 years old in 1948. He had retired from competition and was coaching the Norwegian team. However, when he arrived at the Games he decided to come out of retirement and compete one last time. Despite not having competed for several years he earned a silver medal. Norwegian
Petter HugstedPetter Hugsted was a champion Norwegian ski jumper. Born in Kongsberg, he won the Olympic gold medal in Ski Jumping in 1948 Winter Olympics at St. Moritz. This was impressive, especially after being held in the Grini concentration camp during the German occupation of Norway...
won the gold and teammate
Thorleif SchjelderupThorleif Schjelderup was a Norwegian author and in the 1940s and 1950s one of Norway's best ski jumpers.He was born in Aker as a son of Ferdinand Schjelderup and his wife Marie Leigh Vogt....
won the bronze.
Demonstration sports
Two demonstration sports were held at the 1948 Games. Military patrol had been a demonstration sport at the 1924, 1928, and 1936 Winter Olympic Games. It entailed a combination of cross-country skiing and shooting at targets. Eventually the competition would be renamed Biathlon and was made an official Olympic medal sport at the 1960 Games in
Squaw ValleySquaw Valley Ski Resort in Olympic Valley, California, is one of the largest ski areas in the United States, and was the site of the 1960 Winter Olympics. It is the second-largest ski area at Lake Tahoe , with 33 chairlifts, and has the only funitel lift in the U.S...
, United States. Winter pentathlon involved five competitions: 10 kilometer cross-country ski race, shooting, downhill skiing, fencing and horseback riding. This was the first and last time the event was held. Fourteen competitors took part in the event.
Calendar
The opening ceremonies were held at 10:00 am on January 30 along with the initial hockey games and the first two runs of the two-man bobsled. The closing ceremonies were held at 4:00 pm on February 8. All of the medals were awarded at the closing ceremonies rather than immediately after the event as current tradition dictates.
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January 1948
February 1948 |
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Gold
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| Ceremonies |
● Olympic Games ceremonies were an integral part of the Ancient Olympic Games. Some of the elements of the modern ceremonies harken back to the Ancient Games from which the Modern Olympics draw their ancestry. An example of this is the prominence of Greece in both the opening and closing ceremonies...
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● Olympic Games ceremonies were an integral part of the Ancient Olympic Games. Some of the elements of the modern ceremonies harken back to the Ancient Games from which the Modern Olympics draw their ancestry. An example of this is the prominence of Greece in both the opening and closing ceremonies...
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BobsleighAt the 1948 Winter Olympics, two bobsleigh events were contested. The two-man competition was held on Friday, January 30, 1948 and on Saturdayday, January 31, 1948 while the four-man competition was held on Friday, February 6, 1948 and on Saturday, February 7, 1948.-Medal summary:-Participating...
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●At the 1948 Winter Olympics, two bobsleigh events were contested. The two-man competition was held on Friday, January 30, 1948 and on Saturdayday, January 31, 1948 while the four-man competition was held on Friday, February 6, 1948 and on Saturday, February 7, 1948.-Medal summary:-Participating...
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●At the 1948 Winter Olympics, two bobsleigh events were contested. The two-man competition was held on Friday, January 30, 1948 and on Saturdayday, January 31, 1948 while the four-man competition was held on Friday, February 6, 1948 and on Saturday, February 7, 1948.-Medal summary:-Participating...
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Ice hockeyIn Ice hockey at the 1948 Winter Olympics, Team Canada returned to its dominance, winning their fourth Gold Medal out of the first five Olympic Games.-Rival United States teams:...
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●In Ice hockey at the 1948 Winter Olympics, Team Canada returned to its dominance, winning their fourth Gold Medal out of the first five Olympic Games.-Rival United States teams:...
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| Figure skating At the 1948 Winter Olympics, three figure skating events were contested: men's singles, ladies singles, and pair skating.-Event summary:Barbara Ann Scott became the first Canadian to win the figure skating gold medal while Dick Button became the first American to win a figure skating title for the...
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Speed skating-Medal summary:-Participating nations:Twelve speed skaters competed in all four events.A total of 68 speed skaters from 15 nations competed at the St. Moritz Games:-Medal table:-References:*...
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● The 500 metres speed skating event was part of the speed skating at the 1948 Winter Olympics programme. The competition was held on Saturday, January 31, 1948.Forty-two speed skaters from 15 nations competed.-Medalists:-Records:...
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● The 5000 metres speed skating event was part of the speed skating at the 1948 Winter Olympics programme. The competition was held on Sunday, February 1, 1948.Forty speed skaters from 14 nations competed.-Medalists:-Records:...
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● The 1500 metres speed skating event was part of the speed skating at the 1948 Winter Olympics programme. The competition was held on Monday, February 2, 1948.Forty-five speed skaters from 14 nations competed.-Medalists:-Records:...
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● The 10000 metres speed skating event was part of the speed skating at the 1948 Winter Olympics programme. The competition was held on Tuesday, February 3, 1948.Twenty-seven speed skaters from eleven nations competed.-Medalists:-Records:...
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Alpine skiingAt the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland, the six alpine skiing events were held from Monday, February 2 to Thursday February 5, 1948.After these games, the combined event was dropped as an Olympic medal event for four decades, until 1988...
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● The men's alpine skiing combined event was part of the alpine skiing at the 1948 Winter Olympics programme. It was the second appearance of the event...
●The women's alpine skiing combined event was part of the alpine skiing at the 1948 Winter Olympics programme. It was the second appearance of the event...
●The men's alpine skiing downhill event was part of the alpine skiing at the 1948 Winter Olympics programme. It was the first appearance of the event. The competition was held on Monday, February 2, 1948....
●The women's alpine skiing downhill event was part of the alpine skiing at the 1948 Winter Olympics programme. It was the first appearance of the event. The competition was held on Monday, February 2, 1948....
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● The men's alpine skiing slalom event was part of the alpine skiing at the 1948 Winter Olympics programme. It was the first appearance of the event. The competition consisted of was held on Thursday, February 5, 1948....
●The women's alpine skiing slalom event was part of the alpine skiing at the 1948 Winter Olympics programme. It was the first appearance of the event. The competition was held on Thursday, February 5, 1948.Twenty-eight alpine skiers from ten nations competed....
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Cross-country skiingAt the 1948 Winter Olympics, three cross country skiing events were contested. The 18 km competition was held on Saturday, January 31, 1948, the relay event was held on Tuesday, February 3, 1948, and the 50 km event was held on Friday, February 6, 1948....
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● The 18 kilometre cross-country skiing event was part of the cross-country skiing at the 1948 Winter Olympics programme. It was the fifth appearance of the event. The competition was held on Saturday, January 31, 1948....
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● The 4x10 kilometre relay cross-country skiing event was part of the cross-country skiing at the 1948 Winter Olympics programme. It was the second appearance of the event. The competition was held on Tuesday, February 3, 1948....
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● The 50 kilometre cross-country skiing event was part of the cross-country skiing at the 1948 Winter Olympics programme. It was the fifth appearance of the event. The competition was held on Friday, February 6, 1948....
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SkeletonMedals awarded for the skeleton discipline at the 1948 Winter Olympics held in St Moritz. In many locations the sport was referred to as tobogganing during these and the 1928 Games...
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●Medals awarded for the skeleton discipline at the 1948 Winter Olympics held in St Moritz. In many locations the sport was referred to as tobogganing during these and the 1928 Games...
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| Nordic combined At the 1948 Winter Olympics, the Individual Nordic combined event was contested.-Individual:February 1, 1948-References:*...
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● At the 1948 Winter Olympics, the Individual Nordic combined event was contested.-Individual:February 1, 1948-References:*...
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| Ski jumping -K90 individual ski jumping :February 7, 1948The competition took place at "Olympiaschanze" with a K-Point of 68m .-External references:*...
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● -K90 individual ski jumping :February 7, 1948The competition took place at "Olympiaschanze" with a K-Point of 68m .-External references:*...
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| Total gold medals | | 3 | 1 | 6 | 3 | | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 22 |
| Cumulative Total | | 3 | 4 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 22 | |
Venues
The
Stad OlympiqueSt. Moritz Olympic Ice Rink is an outdoor stadium in St. Moritz, Switzerland. It was the venue for the ice hockey, speedskating and figure skating events, as well as the location of the opening and closing ceremonies at the 1928 Winter Olympics and 1948 Winter Olympics.-References:...
(Olympic Stadium) hosted the
opening and closingOlympic Games ceremonies were an integral part of the Ancient Olympic Games. Some of the elements of the modern ceremonies harken back to the Ancient Games from which the Modern Olympics draw their ancestry. An example of this is the prominence of Greece in both the opening and closing ceremonies...
ceremonies. The stadium was also used for speed skating, the figure skating competition and the medal games for ice hockey. Most of the ice hockey games were held at the
SuvrettaSt. Moritz is a resort town in the Engadine valley in Switzerland. It is a municipality in the district of Maloja in the Swiss canton of Graubünden...
and
KulmSt. Moritz is a resort town in the Engadine valley in Switzerland. It is a municipality in the district of Maloja in the Swiss canton of Graubünden...
stadiums in St. Moritz. Bobsled was held at the
St. Moritz-Celerina Olympic BobrunThe St. Moritz-Celerina Olympic Bobrun is a bobsleigh piste located in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Constructed in 1903, it officially opened on New Year's Day 1904 and is the oldest bobsleigh track in the world and the only one that is naturally refrigerated...
. Skeleton was contested on the
CrestaCresta may refer to:* Cresta, Gauteng, a suburb in South Africa* Cresta, California, an unincorporated community* CRESTA, Catastrophe Risk Evaluating and Standardizing Target Accumulations* Cresta * Vauxhall Cresta, an automobile model...
Run track. Olympia Bob Run was built in 1897 and modernized for the 1948 Games while the Cresta Run was first constructed in 1885. The ski jump competitions were held at
OlympiaschanzeOlympiaschanze St. Moritz was a ski jumping venue in St. Moritz, Switzerland, it was built in 1926 and closed in 2006. The ski jumping and the ski jumping part of the nordic combined event for the 1928 Winter Olympics.Its K-point was 66 mm.-References:...
ski jump hill in St. Moritz. It was built in 1927 for the 1928 Games, and remained in use until 2006. The alpine events were held on ski-runs in and around
Piz NairPiz Nair is a mountain above St. Moritz in the Albula Range in Switzerland. The summit is easily accessible from the village with a funicular and an aerial tramway. The mountain hosted the alpine skiing events for the 1948 Winter Olympics in neighboring St. Moritz.-External links:*...
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Participating nations
28 nations competed in St. Moritz, the same number as the previous Winter Games in 1936.
ChileChile competed at the Winter Olympic Games for the first time at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.- Alpine skiing:MenMen's combined...
,
DenmarkDenmark competed at the Winter Olympic Games for the first time at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.- Figure skating:Men- Speed skating:Men-References:*...
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IcelandIceland competed in the Winter Olympic Games for the first time at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.- Alpine skiing:MenMen's combined...
,
KoreaSouth Korea, as Korea, competed in the Winter Olympic Games for the first time as an independent nation at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.-Speed skating:...
, and
LebanonLebanon competed in the Winter Olympic Games for the first time at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.- Alpine skiing:MenMen's combined...
all made their Winter Olympic debut at these Games.
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and
JapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
were not invited because of their involvement in World War II.
ItalyItaly competed at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Nino Bibbia won the nation's first gold medal at the Winter Games.-Medalists:- Alpine skiing:MenMen's combined...
, despite being an Axis power originally, was allowed to send athletes after their defection to the Allies in 1943.
EstoniaEstonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
,
LatviaLatvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
and
LithuaniaLithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
had been annexed by the
Soviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in 1940, and would not compete again as independent nations until 1992.
ArgentinaArgentina competed at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland. It was only the second time that Argentinian athletes had competed at the Winter Games, after missing the 1932 Winter Olympics and the 1936 Winter Olympics.- Alpine skiing:...
returned to the Winter Games after missing the 1932 and 1936 Games, and Australia and
LuxembourgLuxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
did not compete in 1948, even though they had participated in 1936.
Medal count
These are the top ten nations that won medals at the 1948 Winter Games.
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4 |
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10 |
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4 |
3 |
3 |
10 |
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3 |
4 |
3 |
10 |
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3 |
4 |
2 |
9 |
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2 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
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2 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
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1 |
3 |
4 |
8 |
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3 |
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6 |
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1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
| 10 |
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1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
See also
External links