Winter Olympic games
Article
May 29, 2022
Winter Olympic Games is a multi-sport event held every four years, bringing together modalities of winter sports played on ice and snow, being one of the maximum events of the Olympic Movement, alongside the Summer Olympic Games. The first world-wide competition to bring together winter sports was the International Week of Winter Sports, held in 1924 in the French city of Chamonix. Only two years later, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to give the status of Olympic Games to that competition, which would happen regularly. In the beginning, the Summer and Winter Games were assigned to the same country to be held in the same year. It was like this until the fourth edition, in Germany, in 1936 (the year in which Berlin hosted the Summer Games and Garmisch-Partenkirchen hosted the Winter Games). After two editions canceled because of the Second World War (Sapporo 1940 and Cortina d'Ampezzo 1944), the Games were held by different countries, but continued to take place in the same year. In 1986, the IOC decided to intersperse the Summer and Winter Games, always held in even-numbered years. Thus, the 1992 Albertville Games were succeeded by the 1994 Lillehammer Games. The Winter Games have undergone significant changes since their inception. The rise of television as a global medium of communication has raised the profile of the Games. An income stream was also created, through the sale of broadcasting and advertising rights, which became profitable for the IOC. This allowed outside interests such as television companies and sponsors to influence the Games. The IOC had to respond to various criticisms and internal scandals, as well as the use of performance-enhancing substances by athletes. There was a political boycott of the Winter Olympics. Nations have also used the Winter Games to show the supposed superiority of their political systems. The United States has hosted the Games four times, more than any other country. Then comes France, with three editions. In total, ten countries have already hosted the Winter Games. The last edition took place in the South Korean resort of Pyeongchang, between February 9 and 25, 2018. The next edition is scheduled for the period from February 4 to 22, 2022 in the city of Beijing, capital of China, which will become the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.