Friday, January 25, 2019

First Olympic Winter Games begins 95 years ago today

Photo courtsey of imgur.com (dQw4w9WgXcQ)
By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved

PASADENA, TEXAS (January 25, 2019) Today, January 25, is the 95th anniversary of the first Olympic Winter Games, held in Chamonix, France, from January 25 to February 5, 1924. Two hundred, fifty-four athelets from 16 countries competed in six sports, consisting of 16 events.

The United States brought home four medals, including the first medal awarded in Winter Olympic Games history. Charles Jewtraw, from Clinton County, New York, bested thirty other skaters to win the gold medal in the men's 500-meter speedskating. His time of 44.0 seconds also established an Olympic record. 

Beatrix Loughran (Mount Vernon, New York) took silver in ladies figue skating. She also took the bronze medal in the event in 1928 ans another silve in pairs in 1932. The United States also took silver in men's ice hockey, while Anders Haugen earned bronze in the ski jumping. Thorleif Haug was awarded third place at the event's conclusion, but a clerical error in calculating Haug's score was discovered in 1974 by Jacob Vaage, who further determined  Haugen of the United States, who had finished fourth, had actually scored 0.095 points more than Haug. The International Olympic Committee verified this, and in Oslo in September 1974, Haug's daughter presented the medal to the 86-year-old Haugen.

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