The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games (; ; ; ) and commonly known as St. Moritz 1948 (; ), were a winter multi-sport event held from 30 January to 8 February 1948 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The Games were the first to be celebrated after World War II; it had been twelve years since the last Winter Games in 1936. It was the first Winter Olympics held during the Cold War.
From the selection of a host city in a neutral country to the exclusion of Japan and Germany, the political atmosphere of the post-war world was inescapable during the 1948 Games. The organizing committee faced several challenges due to the lack of financial and human resources consumed by the war. These were the first of two winter Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Sigfrid Edström.
28 nations marched in the opening ceremonies on 30 January 1948. Bibi Torriani played for the Switzerland men's national ice hockey team and became the first ice hockey player to recite the Olympic Oath on behalf of all athletes. Nearly 670 athletes competed in 22 events in four sports. The 1948 Games also featured two demonstration sports: military patrol, which later became the biathlon, and winter pentathlon, which was discontinued after these Games. Notable performances were turned in by figure skaters Dick Button and Barbara Ann Scott and skier Henri Oreiller. Most athletic venues have existed since St. Moritz first hosted the Winter Games in 1928. All the venues were outdoors, meaning the Games were heavily dependent on favorable weather conditions.
Host city selection
The IOC selected St. Moritz to host the 1948 Games by acclamation at the 39th general session in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 6 September 1946. The selection process consisted of two bids, and saw St. Moritz be selected ahead of Lake Placid, New York, United States. St. Moritz was chosen because all of the venues of the 1928 Winter Olympics were available, and the Swiss resort could organize the Games much quicker than any other city except for 1936 host Garmisch-Partenkirchen which was not considered. Despite the existence of many of the 1928 sites, it was still a difficult task to organize a Winter Olympic Games in less than 18 months.
Organizing
The Comité Olympique (CO) was composed of local dignitaries and members of the Swiss National Olympic Committee (COS). They decided to separate into several sub-committees responsible for various aspects of the Games. These committees included housing and maintenance, venue construction, finances, and media and advertising. The local committees worked very closely with the Swiss federal government and the IOC to ensure that the organization of the Games proceeded without hindrance. Since no athletes' village existed from the previous Games, the athletes and officials were housed in hotels around the city.
Over 800 people were involved in reporting the news of the Games to the world. The organizing committee had to provide technology, such as long-distance telephone lines and telegraph services, to assist the press in communicating with their constituents.
Over 2,200 people were needed to provide all the services for the press, officials, and athletes at the Games. These services included sanitation, security, and care of the venues. Japan and Germany were not invited to these Games because the international community still ostracized them for their role in World War II. Their absence was short-lived, though, as they returned to Olympic competition in 1952.
Impact of World War II
Sapporo, Japan had been the choice for the 1940 Winter Games. In 1938, the Japanese decided to decline the invitation to host the Games claiming that preparations for the Olympic Games were draining the country's resources.
The impact of World War II was still being felt in 1948. The lack of financial resources and human energy made the organization of the Games challenging. Athletes were also affected by a lack of resources. Many competitors arrived with little or no equipment. In one notable case, Norwegian skiers had to borrow skis from the American team to compete.
Events
Medals were awarded in 22 events contested in 4 sports (9 disciplines).
- Bobsleigh
- Skating
- Skiing
There were also two demonstration sports, military patrol and the winter pentathlon.
Bobsled
Two sliding sports were contested at the 1948 Winter Games; the first was bobsled. A controversy erupted when it was alleged that the sleds of the United States team had been sabotaged. It was discovered that the steering wheels had been damaged. After news broke of the apparent improprieties a truck driver stepped forward and admitted to having accidentally backed into the shed housing the bobsleds. The accident, however, did not hinder the United States teams, who won a bronze in the two-man event and a gold and a bronze in the four-man event. This was the fifth Olympic gold medal for Canada in hockey. The only team to beat Canada since hockey was introduced at the 1920 Summer Olympics was Great Britain at the 1936 Winter Olympics. The tournament was almost canceled when rival teams representing the United States arrived. An Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team was supported by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), and an Amateur Hockey Association (AHA) team was supported by the Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace (LIHG).
Figure skating
Barbara Ann Scott became the first and only Canadian woman to win an Olympic gold medal in figure skating when she won the competition at St. Moritz. Despite the distraction caused by a low-flying airplane during her compulsory routine, she could muster the focus to place first entering the free skate. The ice had been shredded the night before the free skate by two ice hockey games (the ice resurfacer had not yet been invented); nonetheless, she was able to adjust her routine to avoid the potholes and emerge victorious.
Eighteen-year-old American Dick Button completed the unprecedented North American sweep of the figure skating gold medals. He led the field after the compulsory skate and won the gold medal by becoming the first person to complete a double Axel in competition. Later in the 1952 Olympics, Dick Button would win gold a second time. Swiss world champion Hans Gerschwiler fell during the free skate, but rebounded to win the silver medal.
Speed skating
The speed skating competition was held on the same rink that had hosted the events in 1928. At above sea level, the speed skating competition was held at the second-highest altitude in Olympic history; only Squaw Valley in 1960 was higher. The competition was dominated by the Scandinavian countries of Norway and Sweden who won nine out of the twelve possible medals. Scandinavians had done poorly in speed skating events up until the 1948 Games. Their success was because speed skating in Europe had reached a standstill during World War II. Only countries that were ancillary to the conflict had the resources to keep their speed skating programs intact.
Alpine skiing
Alpine skiing made its Olympic debut at these Games. He was one of only two athletes to win two gold medals at the 1948 Games, and he was also the only athlete to win three or more medals. There were no women's events at the 1948 Games. Martin Lundström of Sweden was the other athlete to win two gold medals when he won the 18 kilometer race and participated on the winning cross-country relay team. Sweden won seven out of fifteen possible medals in the Nordic events, including all three gold medals and a sweep of the 18 kilometer race. All fifteen medals were won by either Sweden, Norway, or Finland.
Nordic combined
The Nordic combined event had been contested at each Winter Olympics since 1924. Nordic combined required athletes to first compete in the open 18 kilometer cross-country ski race alongside the other cross-country competitors. Their times would be assigned a point value. The athletes would take two jumps off the ski jump hill two days later. The jumps would be given a point value, and the longest jump would be combined with their cross-country time to create a score. Traditional Nordic combined power Norway was stunned at the 1948 Games when Finland's Heikki Hasu became the first non-Norwegian to win the event. Norway did not even make the podium. Hasu's teammate Martti Huhtala took the silver, and Sven Israelsson from Sweden won the bronze.
Ski jumping
The Norwegians swept the ski jumping event. Birger Ruud had won the gold medal in the ski jumping event at both the 1932 and 1936 Winter Games. The twelve-year hiatus due to World War II meant that Ruud was 36 years old in 1948. He had retired from competition and was coaching the Norwegian team. However, when he arrived at the Games, he decided to come out of retirement and compete one last time. Despite not having competed for several years, he earned a silver medal. Norwegian Petter Hugsted won the gold and teammate Thorleif Schjelderup won the bronze.
Demonstration sports
Two demonstration sports were held at the 1948 Games. Military patrol had been a demonstration sport at the 1924, 1928, and 1936 Winter Olympic Games. It entailed a combination of cross-country skiing and shooting at targets. Eventually the competition would be renamed Biathlon and was made an official Olympic medal sport at the 1960 Games in Squaw Valley, United States. Winter pentathlon involved five competitions: 10 kilometer cross-country ski race, shooting, downhill skiing, fencing and horseback riding. This was the first and last time the event was held. Fourteen competitors took part in the event.
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em auto; font-size:90%; position:relative; width:75%;"
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| style="background:#0c3;"|OC||Opening ceremony
| style="background:#39f;"| ●||Event competitions
| style="background:#fc0;"|1||Event finals
| style="background:#e33;"|CC||Closing ceremony
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{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em auto; font-size:90%; line-height:1.25em; width:75%;"
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! style="width:24%;"|January 1948 <br/> February 1948
! style="width:6%;"|30th<br/>Fri
! style="width:6%;"|31st<br/>Sat
! style="width:6%;"|1st<br/>Sun
! style="width:6%;"|2nd<br/>Mon
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! style="width:6%;"|8th<br/>Sun
! style="width:10%;"|Gold<br/>medals
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|align=left| 20px|alt=|link= Ceremonies || style="background:#0c3; text-align:center;"| OC || || || || || || || || || style="background:#e33; text-align:center;"|CC||
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!Total gold medals !! !! 3 !! 1 !! 6 !! 3 !! !! 3 !! 2 !! 2 !! 2 !! 22
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!Cumulative Total !! !! 3 !! 4 !! 10 !! 13 !! 13!! 16 !! 18 !! 20 !! 22 !!
|}
Venues
thumb|right|alt=A snow-covered ski jump with the words, "St. Moritz" at the base|The Olympiaschanze ski jump hill in St. Moritz
The Stad Olympique (Olympic Stadium) hosted the opening and closing ceremonies. The stadium was also used for speed skating, the figure skating competition, and the medal games for ice hockey. Most of the ice hockey games were held at the Suvretta and Kulm stadiums in St. Moritz. The ski jump competitions were held at Olympiaschanze ski jump hill in St. Moritz. It was built in 1927 for the 1928 Games and remained in use until 2006. The alpine events were held on ski-runs in and around Piz Nair.
Participating nations
thumb|Participating nations
Twenty-eight nations competed in St. Moritz, the same number as the previous Winter Games in 1936. Chile, Denmark, Iceland, Korea, and Lebanon all made their Winter Olympic debut at these Games.
Podium sweeps
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Date
!Sport
!Event
!NOC
!Gold
!Silver
!Bronze
|-
|31 January
|Cross-country skiing
|Men's 18 kilometre
|
|Martin Lundström
|Nils Östensson
|Gunnar Eriksson
|-
|7 February
|Ski jumping
|Normal hill
|
|Petter Hugsted
|Birger Ruud
|Thorleif Schjelderup
|}
See also
- List of 1948 Winter Olympics medal winners