【Opening remarks】
The footsteps of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics are getting closer and closer. In the world's unique "double Olympic city", are you curious about the past and present life of this ice and snow event, our China and the Winter Olympics? From now on, the Wengu column of the Beijing Daily client has launched a series of special issues of "Frozen", allowing us to revisit the history of the Winter Olympics and jointly welcome the moment when the flame of the Winter Olympics was lit in Beijing.
The Winter Olympics were born 97 years ago in 1924. 28 years after the Summer Olympics, its birth process has experienced many ups and downs, and it is the perseverance of the father of the modern Olympic Games, Coubertin, and the public's enthusiasm for ice and snow sports that finally came to the world.
It has been fiercely opposed by the ice and snow sports powers
In 1896, the International Olympic Committee met in Athens, Greece
Ice and snow sports, the earliest people living in the cold and snow areas to overcome and control the harsh natural climatic conditions and creation, Norway, the Netherlands, China and other countries have early history have relevant records. By the end of the 19th century, modern snow sports were rapidly popularized in some countries in Europe and North America, and international winter sports events flourished. At the beginning of the 20th century, The father of the modern Olympics, Coubertin, came up with the idea of hosting the Winter Olympic Games alone. But what everyone did not expect was that this proposal was strongly opposed by the ice and snow sports powers at that time, Sweden, Norway and other Nordic countries.
Supposedly, shouldn't the powers of ice and snow sports welcome the Winter Olympics, which represent the world's highest level? Why did they jump out against it in the first place? It turns out that they have their own "little nine-nine". As early as 1901, Scandinavian countries, including Sweden and Norway, founded the Nordic Games, which became the traditional event of Nordic ice and snow sports. They feel that since there is already a Nordic Games, there is no need to hold the Winter Olympic Games, and this "tradition" of the Nordic countries cannot be destroyed. Moreover, they have also moved out of the ancient Olympic Games for no reason for winter sports, and say that if they are forced to hold, they will not participate. How many people would be interested if the Winter Olympics did not have the highest level of ice and snow sports to participate? In desperation, the proposal to create the Winter Olympics can only be shelved for the time being.
Figure skater at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London
Fortunately, Coubertin and the members of the International Olympic Committee did not give up lightly. They have worked silently and continuously to create the Winter Olympic Games, which represent the highest level in the world. At the Fourth London Olympic Games in 1908, figure skating was listed as a competition for the first time, which aroused great interest.
At the Seventh Antwerp Summer Olympics in 1920, winter sports such as figure skating and ice hockey were loved. The picture shows Coubertin (front row, second from left) at the games
At the Seventh Antwerp Olympics in 1920, not only did people love figure skating, but also added more exciting ice hockey games. Originally, there were not many spectators at the Olympic Games, but because of the figure skating and ice hockey, thousands of spectators were attracted to watch these two games.
The great enthusiasm of the Olympic audience for ice and snow sports has heated up the proposal to host the Winter Olympics alone. In 1921, Coubertin did his best to persuade his opponents, and the IOC decided that the French Olympic Committee would host the "Olympic Week Winter Games" in Chamonix before the eighth Summer Olympic Games in Paris in 1924.
The first Winter Olympics were posthumously recognized
Chamonix is a small town in France, but it is known as a winter sports center throughout Europe. It is located at the foot of Rembrandt, at an altitude of 4,810 meters, and the ski season continues from September to April of the following year. Every year, as soon as the snow season begins, natural snow fields emerge from the valley, attracting European ice and snow lovers. Interestingly, in such a snowy valley, the temperature can reach 2 °C-5 °C at noon, and those who return from skiing can even dress up in single clothes under the brilliant sun and enjoy the aromatic coffee in the open-air café.
Perhaps in response to the old Chinese saying that "good things are good and grinding", just a week before the opening ceremony of the "Olympic Week Winter Games", chamonix's local wind and rain were incessant, and the torrential rains turned the ice rink into a pool, and the postponement of the game seemed inevitable. Fortunately, there was a sudden freezing caused by a cold snap, which enabled the conference to proceed smoothly as scheduled.
In 1924, the Canadian ice hockey team played against the United States on the field of Chamonix and eventually won the championship. The ice and snow event, held in Chamonix, was later posthumously recognized as the first Winter Olympics
On January 25, 1924, the sky of Chamonix was clear, and the "Olympic Week Winter Games" were officially held. Norway, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, the United States, Canada, France and other countries with high level of ice and snow sports all participated, and the United Kingdom, Italy, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Latvia, Hungary, Yugoslavia and Poland, which are full of interest and freshness in ice and snow sports, also participated. A total of 258 athletes from 16 participating countries competed in 7 sub-events and 16 sub-events in 4 major sports such as skiing, skating, ice hockey and lusbogy, with athletes from 10 countries winning medals, while Norway, Finland and other Nordic ice and snow sports powers won the most gold medals without suspense.
The "Olympic Week Winter Games", which was a great success at the first time, was "justified" at the International Olympic Committee meeting held in 1925 and was posthumously recognized as the first Winter Olympic Games. Since then, the Winter Olympic Games have embarked on the Olympic altar and opened a new journey of development that stands shoulder to shoulder with the Summer Olympic Games in the history of the Olympic Games.
A multiple model of 1 ton was created for the Winter Olympics
The success of the first Winter Olympics has made people in many countries have a strong interest in ice and snow projects, and the influence of the Winter Olympics in the international sports world has also been highlighted, more and more countries and cities hope to host the Winter Olympics, and the team that bids for the Winter Olympics has grown, and the competition has become more and more fierce. In the 1950s, Valley in the United States used unexpected tricks from competitors in order to win the right to host the Winter Olympics.
Valley's bid for the Winter Olympics is still quite difficult. Of the four bidding cities for the eighth Winter Olympics, the other three seem to have a clear advantage: Innsbruck in Austria is a famous ski mecca, while St. Moritz in Switzerland and Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany are all "veterans" of the winter Olympics. Most damningly, when Valley applied to the International Olympic Committee to host the Winter Olympics, the mountain town at an altitude of 1889 meters did not have the sports facilities and venues needed for the competition, and some were just a beautiful blueprint.
Despite the U.S. government's promise of more financial support for the Winter Olympics and the president of the preparatory meeting, Alex Cushing, who did everything in his power to lobby IOC members, these efforts had little success, and the commissioners fell in love with Innsbruck. When the U.S. Olympic Committee was on the verge of giving up, Alex Cushing, a World War II Navy veteran, made the dark horse of Valley finally win with a surprising move - in order to achieve the success of the Winter Olympics, he actually made a model of the 1.3608-ton Olympic proposed venue! The behemoth is said to be impossible to place in the IOC's exhibition halls, so it was placed in an open-air plaza. The huge model allowed the IOC to see the determination of the U.S. government and Valley to bid for the Winter Olympics, and in the end, after two rounds of fierce voting, Valley narrowly defeated rival Innsbruck by two votes.
The lucky one who "wins without a fight"
With so much competition to bid for the Winter Olympics, most of the countries and cities that can win the right to host have to go through hard work, but there are exceptions. In the nearly 100-year history of the Winter Olympics, there have been two lucky winners who easily got the opportunity to host because the original host city abandoned or competitors abstained.
The first lucky one is Innsbruck mentioned above. Although it lost the competition with Valley, it won the bid competition for the next Winter Olympics. After 12 years of successful hosting of the Ninth Winter Olympics, the god of luck has returned. In the bid for the 12th Winter Olympic Games in 1976, the city of Denver in the United States defeated rivals such as Vancouver in Canada, Granada in Spain, Tampere in Finland, and Theon in Switzerland, and won the right to host. But who expected the citizens of Denver to do nothing, and they launched an action against the holding of the Games. Under enormous financial pressure and strong opposition from residents, Denver had to offer to give up the hosting rights. Subsequently, four cities, including Innsbruck, offered to "take over". Because Innsbruck had the feat of "moving snow" to cope with abnormal heat at the Ninth Winter Olympics, the IOC, which was impressed by this, gave it the right to host.
Another lucky winner is Lake Placid in the United States. When competing with Vancouver, Canada for the right to host the XIII Winter Olympics in 1980, Lake Placid became the sole bidder as Vancouver withdrew before the vote, and "Win Without a Fight" won the right to host.
Beijing won the world's only "Double Olympic City" crown
On January 25, 2015, the Beijing Haidian Station of the Winter Olympics City Ice and Snow Challenge Season kicked off at the Capital Gymnasium, and the picture shows the small Xiaoice snow lovers engaged in a fierce ice hockey match Li Ruilin /photo
On November 3, 2013, after Beijing successfully hosted "a truly unparalleled Olympic Games" in the summer of 2008, the Chinese Olympic Committee sent a letter to the International Olympic Committee nominating a bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics in the name of Beijing. In fact, this is not the first time that China has proposed to bid for the Winter Olympics. As early as 2002, Harbin had proposed to the International Olympic Committee to bid for the Winter Olympic Games, but it was ultimately unsuccessful. Later, Changchun City also proposed to bid for the Winter Olympics, and later withdrew its application because the time to bid was not yet ripe. This time, Beijing, on behalf of China, once again embarked on a dream-chasing journey for the Winter Olympics.
On January 7, 2015, Beijing Daily reported on the first page that the delegation of the Beijing Winter Olympic Bidding Committee officially submitted the "Bidding Report"
On February 9, 2015, the first page of Beijing Daily reported that millions of people participated in ice and snow sports and helped Beijing bid for the Winter Olympics
Beijing's bid to host the Winter Olympics, the software and hardware are "unparalleled": the national strategy of the bid for the Winter Olympics and the coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei is highly consistent; 11 of the 12 venues in the Beijing area are the legacy of the 2008 Olympic Games, which greatly reduces the cost of hosting the Games, and the new venues in Yanqing and Zhangjiakou are in line with the local long-term development plan; the Winter Olympics held in Beijing will drive "300 million people to the ice and snow", promote the development of winter sports in China, the world's most populous country, and better realize the people's dream of pursuing a better life...
On July 31, 2015, IOC President Bach announced that Beijing has been awarded the right to host the 2022 Winter Olympics
On July 31, 2015, after the vote of the 128th Plenary Session of the International Olympic Committee, Beijing and Zhangjiakou jointly won the right to host the 24th Winter Olympic Games in 2022, making Beijing the first "double Olympic city" in the history of the 100-year Olympic Games to host both the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games! As soon as the news was announced, Beijing boiled over! The streets and alleys of Beijing and the surrounding olympic venues were full of cheering crowds and smiling faces celebrating the success of the Winter Olympics. We won!
Now, the countdown to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics is getting closer and closer. We eagerly look forward to the spring festival of the Year of the Tiger, which is full of family reunion and full of joy and warmth and peace in Chinese, and all eight visitors gather in Beijing to witness the ignition of the Olympic flame and share a wonderful, extraordinary and outstanding Olympic event!
Resources
Official website of the Chinese Olympic Committee "Into the Beijing Winter Olympic Games", "1924-2014 Ice and Snow Olympic City", "Winter Olympic Tour", "Examination of China's Participation in the Winter Olympic Games", Beijing News Group Graphic Database
Acknowledgement
School of Journalism and Communication, Beijing Sport University
Ice and Snow Olympic City" "Winter Olympic Tour", "China's Participation in the Winter Olympic Games", Beijing News Group Graphic Database
Source Beijing Daily Client | Reporter Huang Yuying
Edited by Kuang Feng
Process Editor Wu Yue