The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics is just around the corner. In other words, why is the Olympic Games divided into the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics? When did the Winter Olympics start? Why is beijing the only one called the "City of the Two Olympics"? Before watching the Beijing Winter Olympics, it is necessary to briefly understand the history of the Winter Olympics.
●Birth
Skating entered the Olympics as early as 1908
To put it mildly, before the Summer Olympics there were ice and snow events. At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, a new sport was added – figure skating. In today's view, it is a bit strange that the Summer Olympics will play ice and snow sports. In fact, the London 1908 Olympics had a six-year-long schedule (4.27-10.31), figure skating was the last event to be unveiled, and October in England was cold enough.
By the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp (4.20-9.12), in addition to figure skating, ice hockey was added. The addition of winter events has further increased the attention of the Olympic Games, and at the same time, the International Olympic Committee has seen the value of setting up a separate Winter Olympic Games. In 1921, the International Olympic Committee decided to hold a "Winter Sports Week" (1.25-2.4) in chamonix, a small town in southeastern France, prior to the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris (5.7-7.27). Although the word "Olympic" was avoided that year, it was later recognized as the first Winter Olympics.
At the beginning of the establishment of the Winter Olympic Games, the host countries of the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games were basically the same. France in 1924, the United States in 1932 and Germany in 1936 all hosted two Olympic Games in the same year. With the exception of 1928, when the Winter Olympics were held in Switzerland (St. Moritz) and the Summer Olympics in the Netherlands (Amsterdam).
To some extent, the Winter Olympics were actually born out of the Summer Olympics. According to historical records, the founder of the modern Olympic Games, Coubertin, considered setting up a separate Winter Olympic Games at the beginning of the olympic games, but gave up because of too much resistance. If it were not for the success of figure skating at the London Olympic Games, I am afraid that the International Olympic Committee might not have dared to launch the Winter Olympic Games.
● Development
Before 1994 the Winter Olympics and the Summer Olympics were held in the same year
Since the founding of the Winter Olympic Games in 1924, the Winter Olympic Games and the Summer Olympic Games have been held for a long time in the same year. That is to say, as long as the Olympic year is reached, the Winter Olympic Games will be held at the beginning of the year, and the Summer Olympic Games will be held in the middle of the year. This phenomenon of parallel competitions lasted for 68 years, except for the two Olympic years (1940 and 1944) suspended by World War II, and the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games were held in parallel for a total of 16 times. However, after World War II, the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics were never held in the same country.
Honestly, let the Winter Olympics and the Summer Olympics be held in the same year, the density of events is too large. This has led to the workload of the International Olympic Committee and individual sports federations in the Olympic year is very complicated, and for the participating countries and regional Olympic Committees, the selection, preparation and participation of the two international competitions of the Winter and Summer Olympic Games are also too concentrated, which is very unfavorable to preparation.
In 1988, at the 93rd Plenary Session of the International Olympic Committee, the IOC officially decided that the Winter Olympic Games and the Summer Olympic Games would alternate between two years apart, so 1992 was the last time the Winter Olympic Games and the Summer Olympic Games would be held in the same year. Just two years after the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville (France), Lillehammer (Norway) hosted the 17th Winter Olympics. In the history of the Olympic Games, this is the shortest time apart.
Since 1994, the Winter Olympics and the Summer Olympic Games have no longer been held in the same year, and the Winter Olympic Games and the World Cup football matches have been held in the same year. For the Olympic Games, staggering the Winter Olympic Games and the Summer Olympic Games is an epoch-making reform, which not only reduces the "inner volume" of the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games, but also enhances the brand value of the Olympic Games, after all, every two years can usher in an "Olympic year".
● Project
Curling is the youngest sport in the Winter Olympics
The Winter Olympics rely on ice and snow, and the event is naturally inseparable from ice and snow. Since the first Winter Olympics, the Winter Olympics have set up four major events: skating, skiing, ice hockey, and snowmobiling. Skiing, skating, ice hockey, and snowmobiling have always played the most classic and traditional roles in the nearly 100-year history of the Winter Olympics, and these four cornerstones are the foundations of the Winter Olympics.
At the Winter Olympics figure skating arena, China's Sui Wenjing/Han Cong is undoubtedly a major focus.
In 1936, at the Gamisch-Partenkirchen (Germany) Winter Olympics (the fourth), alpine skiing became an official Olympic event for the first time, but the first seven Winter Olympic Games have continued the basic pattern of the four major events of "ice hockey car". It was not until the 8th Winter Olympics (8th) in Valley in the United States in 1960 that military ski shooting became an official sport and was renamed biathlon. At the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck (Austria), bobsleigh joined the Olympic family. So far, the Winter Olympics have formed a new pattern of 6 major events and 10 sub-events, and then for nearly 30 years, the Winter Olympics have maintained this pattern.
In 2018, Geng Wenqiang represented the Chinese team in the men's steel frame snowmobile competition at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
At the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, ice skating became an official sport and was renamed "curling". Curling is the latest of the seven major events of the Current Winter Olympics. At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, the steel-framed snowmobile project that appeared twice in the Winter Olympics was finally officially returned and fixed. Since then, the new pattern of 7 major events and 15 sub-events of the Winter Olympic Games has been officially established.
●Held
Beijing will become the first "City of Two Olympics"
Unlike the Summer Olympics, the Winter Olympics require more climatic and geographical conditions. Therefore, in the 98 years since the establishment of the Winter Olympic Games, there has never been a case of holding in the southern hemisphere. Of the 23 Winter Olympics that have been held so far, 14 have been held in Europe, 6 in North America and only 3 in Asia (twice in Japan and once in South Korea).
In fact, not all of the cities that host the Winter Olympics are high latitudes, and they are limited to 12 countries in north-central Europe, Northeast Asia and North America. Although with the development of science and technology, the Winter Olympics have basically adopted artificial snow, and the demand for natural snow has been greatly reduced, the IOC has strict requirements in the selection of host cities, and the core weather has one: whether the average temperature in February is below 0 °C.
The United States, which hosted the most winter olympics, was held four times. France, the birthplace of the modern Olympics, has hosted three Winter Olympics. Switzerland, Norway, Italy, Austria, Japan and Canada have each held twice. The Beijing Winter Olympics will be the fourth time to host the Winter Olympics in Asia, so China is the third Asian country to host the Winter Olympics. It is worth mentioning that in the history of the Olympic Games, there has never been a city that has hosted both the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games, and Beijing is the world's first "double Olympic city".
A few days ago, Christopher Dolby, executive director of the Olympic Department of the International Olympic Committee, told the media that the preparations for the Beijing Winter Olympics are impeccable. "We have made minor adjustments to the winter Olympics running plan. The venue was also ready and looked great. The Beijing Winter Olympics are impeccable and at the moment we are very confident in the Beijing Winter Olympics. ”
The Beijing Winter Olympics have a total of 109 gold medals
At the Beijing Winter Olympics, there are 7 major events, namely skiing, ice skating, ice hockey, biathlon, bobsleigh, bobsleigh and curling. A total of 109 gold medals will be generated throughout the event.
New Express reporter Wang Di