A flashback to the inaugural Winter Olympics

A flashback to the inaugural Winter Olympics

A summary of the 1924 inaugural Winter Olympics games held in Chamonix, France. Research found in the January- February 1924 editions of The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune and The Times London of England.

By MacKenzie Ruta

The first Olympic Winter games took place in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The opening ceremony was January 25. Only 17 nations participated in the games. Compared to today’s media coverage of the Olympics, coverage back then was limited. However, I was able to find several articles covering the games in the archives of The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, and The Times London.

The 1924 games were the first time the results of the events were broadcasted on the radio for listeners worldwide. There would be more than 10,000 paying spectators; and ultimately, Norway would win the games.

Coverage before the start of the games

Photo Courtesy Olympics.org
The official poster for the 1924 Winter Olympics.
Over  5,000 copies were distributed.

 I was able to find several articles that covered the games before they even started. There were weather concerns early on and a delay threatened the start of the games. An article by The New York Times stated on January 23 that “ heavy rains last night and a continued thaw today converted the Olympic skating rink into a miniature lake, melted the snow at several turns in the bobsleigh chute and cause mud to crop at spots in the ski jumps.”  Fortunately, the weather cooperated and the opening ceremony was held on time. 150 athletes representing 17 nations marched in a parade to the rink and took an oath of amateurism as part of the ceremony. There was no lighting of the torch; that tradition was not started until 1936.

I addition to the weather concerns before the games, there was also concern that Chamonix was not big enough to hold the crowds that would arrive for the games. An article in The New York Times described Chamonix as home to only 3,000 residents and predicted that the town would be ill-equipped to hold the 22,000 people expected to visit during the games. In the end the Olympic village was created so that the athletes would be living with their teammates in a city close to the stadium and only half of the expected attendees actually visited Chamoinx.

Awards and Medals

Not only were medals awarded to the athletes with the top performances, but points were also awarded to the countries for each medal earned. Many articles I found in my research reported about the countries that were leading in points. Norway and Finland were battling it out for first place the majority of the time. In the end it was Norway that received first; Finland, second; Great Britain, third; and the United States, fourth.  Clas Thunburg of Finland was the top medal-earning athlete, over all. He earned three gold medals, one silver and one bronze.

Highlights of the games

Some of the highlights from the games were the men’s hockey finals that took place on Feb.6. Canada defeated the United States 6-1- in front of the largest crowd of all the events. According to an article by The Chicago Tribune, the United States speed skating team almost withdrew from competition two days before the event due to a disagreement on a rule stating the team could only have two trainers in the locker room. The dispute was between U.S. trainer William Taylor and the Olympic secretary Alan H. Murh. Taylor told Murh, “ it is a question of principle and also the manner in which my request was refused. I know of no such Olympic rule preventing the engaging the services of a professional trainer, or limiting the number provided”. In the end, Taylor was allowed to be in the locker room with the team during competition.

Photo Courtesy Ap Images
The Olympic flag hangs at hal-mast to mourn the death of President Wilson.

Conclusion of the games 

With the conclusion of the games, revenue of 251,000 francs was recorded. The total was disappointing, as the committee had hoped to make at least 500,000 francs off the games. It was determined that part of the reason for the poor revenue was the number of complimentary tickets given away to athletes’ friends and family members. All of the nations except for Sweden agreed change the way the scoring worked in hockey by offering more points. The last day of the games was overshadowed by the news of the death of President Wilson. The U.S. flags hung at half-mast on Feb. 5 in the Olympic Village, the day of the closing ceremony.

Recommendations for covering the anniversary of the games

When writing about the Chamonix games, I would recommend doing a comparison of the games back in 1924 to how they are today in Sochi. More than 17 nations competed in the 2014 Winter Olympics and the venues have become so much bigger. The new stadiums and other venues are able to hold thousands more people than Chamonix did. It would be interesting to cover what nations are leading in medals today to the nations that won the most medals back in 1924. Through my research, it was easy to see how great of a transformation the games have undergone. By comparing the Chamonix games to the Sochi games, readers will be able to see how truly amazing the Winter Games have become.