Military build up and stronger partnership with US
The 1924 Winter Olympics produced some memorable champions. American speedskater Charles Jewtraw became the first Winter Games champion by winning the first event, the 500m speed skating.
One hundred years ago, the sporting world welcomed a brand new tournament, the first-ever Winter Olympics.
Lining up for the camera in this photograph is the American speed skating team.
Taking place in Chamonix, France, between January 25 and February 5, 1924, the event was a huge success, attracting 10,004 paying spectators. Originally called Semaine des Sports d'Hiver (International Winter Sports Week), it was retrospectively named the First Olympic Winter Games by the International Olympic Committee.
Here's goaltender Alphonse Lacroix of the US ice hockey team, during practice at the rink at Chamonix.
Beatrix Loughran is also seen in this photograph along with French figure skater Andree Joly. Both are having fun posing for the camera during practice at the Stade Olympique de Chamonix.
For this event, the little winter resort town of Chamonix invested the then-staggering sum of 3.5 million French francs building a bobsled run and an ice rink, as well as improving an existing ski jump. Pictured are delegates of the competing nations gathering near Saint-Michel Church and the Hôtel de Ville for the opening ceremony.
Pictured: the start of the 10,000m speed skating event. This was another competition that attracted a sizeable crowd.
The event was highly anticipated and widely publicized. Posters like this one were displayed across Europe proudly advertising the tournament.
The British four-man bobsleigh team in action at Chamonix. The team, made up of Ralph Broome, Thomas Arnold, Alexander Richardson, and Rodney Soher, took an impressive silver in the event.
Pictured: Italian athletes during the inaugural parade at the Winter Olympics in Chamonix.
Canada dominated the ice hockey events at Chamonix. The team managed to score 85 times without conceding a goal in their first three matches.
Swiss Nordic combined skier Hans Eidenbenz high in the sky during the ski jumping event.
Pictured: Norwegian ski jumper Jacob Tullin Thams takes flight as he competes in the ski jump event. Thams won the first Olympic ski jumping gold medal in 1924. Additionally, he is one of the few athletes who have competed in both the Summer and Winter Olympic games: at the 1936 Games in Berlin, he was a member of the silver medal-winning Norwegian 8m sailing team.
Belgian figure skater Freddy Mésot poses during a training session ahead of the 1924 Winter Olympics.
Another athlete who made their name at Chamonix 100 years ago was Sonja Henie. At just 11 years old, the Norwegian figure skater was the youngest competitor at the Winter Games.
The British curling team competing on the ice at Chamonix.
Female figure skaters competing at the 1924 Winter Games included Herma Planck-Szabo of Hungary (left), Ethel Muckelt of Britain (center), and Beatrix Loughran of the USA. Planck-Szabo won gold, with Loughran and Muckelt taking silver and and bronze, respectively.
The ice hockey final between Canada and the USA was one the highlights of the 1924 Winter Games. The Canadians triumphed, beating their rivals 6–1 to claim gold.
Charles Jewtraw also became the first athlete to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics. The American had previously won national titles in 1921 and 1923, and held the national record in 100 yards at 9.4 seconds.
But not everybody crossed the finishing line. Here, an injured competitor is brought back into town following a bobsleigh crash.
British speed skaters pictured training in Chamonix for the Winter Games.
Chamonix lies in the shadow of Mont Blanc, at 15,766 ft (4,895 m) the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe. It's seen here in a rare early 1920s aerial view.
Born in Oslo in 1912, Henie is considered to be the greatest female figure skater of all time, after winning three Olympic titles: in 1928 (St. Moritz, Switzerland), 1932 (Lake Placid, USA) and 1936 (Garmisch-Partenkirchen, West Germany) and 10 world championship titles in a row (1927–1936). She later starred in 10 Hollywood movies, and became a US citizen in 1940. She died of leukemia in 1969, at the age of 57.
After the 1924 Winter Games, Jewtraw retired from competitive sport. He died in 1996, aged 95. His medal is now on display in the Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
American Anders Haugen had won the ski jumping bronze medal in the individual large hill, though he was not awarded the medal due to a scoring error. He would have to wait 50 years to receive his accolade, handed to him by Anna Maria Magnussen, the youngest daughter of Thorleif Haug, the Norwegian skier who'd received the bronze medal by mistake. Haugen lived to the ripe old age of 90.
Thorleif Haug himself legitimately won all three Nordic skiing events (18 km, 50 km, and combined) at Chamonix in 1924. He died of pneumonia in 1934, at 40 years old.
The first Winter Olympic Games in 1924 helped raise Chamonix's profile as an international tourist destination. Today, as one of the oldest ski resorts in France, Chamonix remains popular with alpinists and mountain enthusiasts.
Sources: (Olympics)
See also: Spectacular Winter Olympic moments throughout the years
The inaugural Winter Olympic Games took place a century ago at Chamonix in France. Held between January 25 and February 5, 1924, the tournament is memorable for the first gold medal ever won by an athlete at a Winter Games. The event also produced some noteworthy champions, and set the stage for future winter sports competitions. So, what did the first-ever Winter Olympic Games look like one hundred years ago?
Click through and replay some of the highlights.
Finnish speed skater Clas Thunberg was the event's outstanding individual performer. He collected five medals, including three gold, in the five speed skating events. Thunberg died in 1973, aged 80.
100 years on: Remembering the inaugural 1924 Winter Olympics
The first-ever Winter Games were an international success
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The inaugural Winter Olympic Games took place a century ago at Chamonix in France. Held between January 25 and February 5, 1924, the tournament is memorable for the first gold medal ever won by an athlete at a Winter Games. The event also produced some noteworthy champions, and set the stage for future winter sports competitions. So, what did the first-ever Winter Olympic Games look like one hundred years ago?
Click through and replay some of the highlights.