Winter Olympiad (1928)

The 1928 Winter Games, hosted by St. Moritz, Switzerland, were the first to be held in a different nation than the Summer Games of the same year. A new event was contested: the skeleton, which is like Luge except that the athletes descend headfirst. Speed skater A. Clas Thunberg added two more gold medals to the three he had won in 1924. Johan Grottumbråten of Norway won the 18km cross-country event and the Nordic combined. Another Norwegian, Sonja Henie, caused a sensation by winning the women’s figure skating at the age of fifteen. Her record as the youngest winner of an individual event stood for 74 years. In men’s figure skating, Gillis Grafström of Sweden won his third straight gold medal. Canada again dominated the ice hockey tournament, winning their three matches 11-0, 14-0 and 13-0.

Opening date
11 February 1928

Closing date
19 February 1928

Ceremonies

Official opening of the Games by:  President of the Helvetic Confederation Edmund Schulthess

Lighting the Olympic Flame by: For the Winter Games, the flame was lit for the first time in 1952 in Oslo.

Olympic Oath by: Hans Eidenbenz (skiing)

Official Oath by: The first officials' oath was sworn at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich

Closing Ceremony:  Saint-Moritz 19 February 1928, Standard-bearers ot the Nations

Participation

25 NOCs (Nations)
464 athletes (26 women, 438 men)
14 events

Country of the host city: Switzerland (SUI)

Candidate cities: Davos and Engelberg (SUI), According to the International Olympic Committee's rules at the time, the country of the host city chosen to organize the Summer Olympics took priority should it also wish to organize the Winter Games

Sports

• Bobsleigh
• Ice Hockey
• Skating
• Skiing

Venues

• St. Moritz Olympic Ice Rink
• St. Moritz-Celerina Olympic Bobrun

Highlights

• American driver Jennisson Heaton won gold in the skeleton ahead of his fellow citizen John Eaton. In the five-man bobsleigh (its first and only appearance at the Games), he finished behind another compatriot, William Fiske, and took his second medal of these Games.

• The 50km cross-country race took place in freakish weather conditions. At the beginning, the temperature was 0° Celsius; by the end, it had risen to 25°. Per Erik Hedlund (SWE) was the only competitor to conquer the conditions. His winning time was more than 13 minutes faster than any other skier.

Facts

• A new event is contested: the skeleton, which is like Luge except that the athletes descend headfirst.

• Equestrian competitions held on the frozen lake in St Moritz were one of the main attractions outside the Olympic events.

• The skeleton event was staged on the Cresta Run. This track made of natural ice has been reconstructed every winter since the 1870s. The major part of the route of this track lies in a ravine from which stones and earth were used to construct the turns. The track’s wooden structure is then covered with snow and ice. It is considered as the birthplace of skeleton. The events of the 1948 Olympic Games also took place on this track