1936 Winter Olympics

The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, Germany. Germany also hosted the Summer Olympics the same year in Berlin.

Highlights

• Alpine skiing made its first appearance in the winter olympics as the combined, which added a skier's results in both the downhill and slalom. German athletes won both the men's and women's events:
• Ivar Ballangrud won three out of the four speed skating races.
• Sonja Henie won her third consecutive gold medal in woman's figure skating.
• Switzerland won the 4 man bobsled in a time of 5:19.85.
• The country who won the overall games was Norway with a total of 7 gold medals, 5 silver medals and 3 bronze medals.
• These games had the largest and heaviest medals ever awarded to athletes: 100 mm diameter, 4 mm thick, 324 grams.

Sports

A total of 17 events in 8 sporting disciplines were contested at these Games:

• Alpine skiing (2)
• Bobsleigh (2)
• Figure skating (3)
• Ice hockey (1)
• Nordic skiing
• Cross-country skiing (3)
• Nordic combined (1)
• Ski jumping (1)
• Speed skating (4)

Demonstration sports

• Military patrol
• Ice stock sport

Venues

• Große Olympiaschanze - cross country skiing, ski jumping, nordic combined
• Riessersee and surrounding area - bobsleigh, ice hockey, and speed skating.

Participating nations

28 nations sent athletes to compete in Germany. Australia, Bulgaria, Greece, Liechtenstein, Spain, and Turkey all made their Winter Olympic debut in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and Estonia, Latvia, the Netherlands, and Yugoslavia all returned to the Games after having missed the 1932 Winter Olympics.

Medal count

1		7	5	3	15
2	(host nation)	3	3	0	6
3		2	2	3	7
4		1	2	3	6
5		1	2	0	3
6		1	1	2	4
7		1	1	1	3
8		1	0	3	4
9		0	1	0	1
10		0	0	1	1
		0	0	1	1

Bibliography

Berlin Games – How Hitler Stole the Olympic Dream, by Guy Walters ISBN 0-7195-6783-1 (UK) 0060874120 (USA)

External links

• Complete official IOC report. In English
• The program of the 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Winter Olympics