Winter Sports at the Summer Olympics
There have been some sports which are now part of the Winter Olympics, that started off as part of the Summer Olympic Games before there was such a thing as the Winter Olympic Games. As these sports or events are still part of the Olympics, albeit changing from the Summer to Winter versions, they are not technically discontinued.
Figure skating made its first appearance at the Olympics at the 1908 Summer Games in London. Organizers of the 1916 Summer Games in Berlin planned to introduce a “Skiing Olympia,” featuring Nordic events in the Black Forest, but the Games were canceled after the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Figure skating was also held in 1920 at Antwerp, Belgium. In Antwerp, another Winter Olympic Games staple event ice hockey was also on the program.
The beginning of the Winter Olympics as a separate event from the Summer Games began with the organizing of the “International Winter Sports Week” at Chamonix, France, in 1924, which is now known as the first Winter Olympic Games. See more about Winter Olympics History, and Winter Olympics Sports.
At the 1932 and 1936 Summer Olympics (as well as at the 1924 Winter Olympics), a prize was awarded for the very wintery sport of Alpinism. This prize has been discontinued. From the Winter Olympic program, there are many more sports that were once part of the Winter Olympics that are discontinued, such as military patrol (a precursor to the biathlon). See our list of Discontinued Winter Olympic Sports.
Related Pages
- Discontinued Winter Olympic Sports and Events
- More about the Winter Olympic Games
- See the full list of Discontinued Games Events
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