Fun Facts 1
1. What country hosted the first Winter Olympics, in 1924?
Answer: France. The Chamonix events featured 260 athletes from 16 countries.
6. What was the first Olympic sport open to women?
Answer: Figure skating. The second was Alpine skiing, which opened to women in 1936.
11. What two women were involved in one of figure skating’s biggest scandals, when one was attacked by the husband of her rival?
Answer: Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan. Kerrigan recovered from her injury and won silver, while Harding was banned from the sport.
16. Originating in Switzerland, what “spooky” name is given to the face-down version of luge?
Answer: Skeleton. Skeleton was born in the 1880s and officially named in 1892, inspired by the sport’s metal-framed sled.
21. What Olympic symbol is used to light a cauldron to open the Games?
Answer: The torch. In 1964, for the first time in Winter Olympics history, the torch was lit in Olympia, Greece, and was carried via relay to the Games’ location.
2. American gold medalists in what sport include Kristi Yamaguchi and Peggy Fleming?
Answer: Figure skating. The United States has won 16 gold medals and 54 medals total in the sport.
7. What type of weather presented difficulties during the second Winter Olympics, held in 1928 in St. Moritz, Switzerland?
Answer: Warm weather. Temperatures reached 75ºF, causing many events to be rescheduled and one canceled.
12. What winter Olympic sport includes events like downhill, slalom, and super-G?
Answer: Skiing. One famous Olympic skier is Austrian Hermann Maier, who bounced back from a 1998 ski crash to win two gold medals just a few days later.
17. Why were the 1944 Olympic Winter Games not played?
Answer: World War II. Postponed until 1956, the seventh winter Olympics were played in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
22. What is the name of the area built to house Olympic athletes during the competition?
Answer: The Olympic Village. In 1968, seven separate Olympic Villages were built to house contestants.
3. The 1988 bobsled team from what nation captivated global audiences and inspired the film Cool Runnings?
Answer: Jamaica. Their two-man team finished 30th, and their four-man team crashed and did not finish, but collectively they won the world's hearts.
8. The movie Miracle covers a 1980 Olympic story in which sport?
Answer: Ice hockey. The 2004 flick tells the story of coach Herb Brooks’ miraculous win over the strong Soviet team.
13. During 2018’s Pyeongchang games, which two usually separated nations marched together and even played a unified women’s hockey game?
Answer: North and South Korea. The nations flew flags depicting a unified Korea during the Games.
18. For the first time in Olympic history, the 1956 Games were broadcast over what medium?
Answer: Live television. An Italian network was the first to make this groundbreaking move.
23. The 1984 Winter Games saw a record 49 countries compete in which city, once part of Yugoslavia but now in Bosnia and Herzegovina? Answer: Sarajevo. The IOC introduced incentive
Answer: Sarajevo. The IOC introduced incentives for smaller countries to participate that year,
4. In what country is Cortina d’Ampezzo, the site of the 1956 games?
Answer: Italy. The town will host the Games again in 2026.
9. What sport is Olympic great Shaun White known for competing in?
Answer: Snowboarding. With his trademark red hair, he became known as the Olympics’ “Flying Tomato.”
14. Which Winter Olympic sport involves teams of two or four people navigating a steeply twisting course in a gravity-powered sled?
Answer: Bobsled. It was in this sport that Vonetta Flowers became the first Black athlete to win Winter Olympic gold.
19. A 2015 biopic tells the tale of Eddie Edwards, a British ski jumper known better by what nickname?
Answer: Eddie the Eagle. He is remembered as a lovable underdog whose 1988 Olympic run won the hearts of many.
24. What is the IOC?
Answer: The International Olympic Committee. The organization was formed in 1894 to oversee the Olympic Games.
5. Which of these nations has not hosted an Olympic Winter Games: Norway, Sweden, or China?
Answer: Sweden. Norway hosted the 1952 and 1994 Games, while China played host in 2022.
10. Which figure skater of the 1970s was known as “America’s Sweetheart” and inspired a pixie haircut craze?
Answer: Dorothy Hamill. Her trademark skating move was a spin called the Hamill Camel.
15. Which of these is not a winter Olympic sport: curling, biathlon, or cricket?
Answer: Cricket. Biathlon has been part of the Games since 1960, while curling went Olympic way back in 1924.
20. Usually associated with cartoon characters and theme parks, what media mogul managed the 1960 Olympic Opening Ceremony in California?
Answer: Walt Disney. These games also saw the debut of South Africa at the Winter Olympics.
25. Heading into the 2026 Games, what country holds the all-time gold medal record for the Winter Olympics?
Answer: Norway. The nation has a total of 148, with the United States following in second place with 114.