Hosting Country
What country hosted the first Winter Olympics, in 1924?
France
American gold medalists in what sport include Kristi Yamaguchi and Peggy Fleming
Figure skating
The 1988 bobsled team from what nation captivated global audiences and inspired the film Cool Runnings?
Jamaica
What was the first Olympic sport open to women?
Figure skating (1900)
The second was Alpine skiing, which opened to women in 1936
What type of weather presented difficulties during the second Winter Olympics, held in 1928 in St. Moritz, Switzerland?
Warm weather
Temperatures reached 75°F, causing many events to be rescheduled and one canceled.
What Olympic symbol is used to light a cauldron to open the Games?
The torch
How many times has the United States hosted the Winter Olympics?
Four
What sport is Olympic great Shaun White known for competing in?
Snowboarding
The movie Miracle covers a 1980 Olympic story in which sport?
Ice hockey
What winter Olympic sport includes events like downhill, slalom, and super-G?
Skiing
During 2018’s Pyeongchang games, which two usually separated nations marched together and even played a unified women’s hockey game?
North and South Korea
True or false? Professional athletes are banned from competing in the Olympics today.
False
While the Games were originally exclusively for amateur athletes, the IOC changed the rules in 1986 to allow professionals.
In what country is Cortina d’Ampezzo, the site of the 1956 games?
Italy
Which figure skater of the 1970s was known as “America’s Sweetheart” and inspired a pixie haircut craze?
(DH)
Dorothy Hamill
For the first time in Olympic history, the 1956 Games were broadcast over what medium?
Live television
Originating in Switzerland, what “spooky” name is given to the facedown version of luge?
Skeleton
Why were the 1944 Olympic Winter Games not played?
World War II
How many years separate the Winter Olympics from the Summer Olympics?
Two
The two events used to be held in the same year but began alternating after the 1992 Olympics.
Which of these nations has not hosted an Olympic Winter Games: Norway, Sweden, or China?
Sweden
What two women were involved in one of figure skating’s biggest scandals, when one was attacked by the husband of her rival?
Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan
A 2015 biopic tells the tale of Eddie Edwards, a British ski jumper known better by what nickname?
Eddie the Eagle
Usually associated with cartoon characters and theme parks, what media mogul managed the 1960 Olympic Opening Ceremony in California?
Walt Disney
This country was banned from competing under its national flag at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics due to doping violations.
Russia
What is the IOC?
The International Olympic Committee
The organization was formed in 1894 to oversee the Olympic Games
The 1984 Winter Games saw a record 49 countries compete in which city, once part of Yugoslavia but now in Bosnia and Herzegovina?
Sarajevo
Heading into the 2026 Games, what country holds the all-time gold medal record for the Winter Olympics?
Norway
How many sports were included in the first Winter Olympic Games?
6
bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, military patrol, skating (figure and speed), and skiing
Which Winter Olympic sport involves teams of two or four people navigating a steeply twisting course in a gravity-powered sled?
Bobsled
What year did the U.S. boycott the Summer Olympics in Moscow?
1980
What is the name of the area built to house Olympic athletes during the competition?
The Olympic Village