How did the Winter Olympics begin? We've got the story for you in our new Games History Moment (GHM) show, which for 2024 will focus on the first Winter Olympics that took place in Chamonix, France, in 1924.

The origin story has drama, competition, backtracking, and throwing people under the bus--which goes to show that the International Olympic Committee has had telenovela-esque situations since its early days.

Alison explores how winter sports were an element in some of the very early Summer Olympics and how World War I impacted the introduction of even more winter sports. The Nordic Games--and its instant success--was also a key factor in how the Winter Olympics came to be, as was a marketing scheme put together by the organizers of the Paris 1924 Summer Olympics.

Sources for this episode:

• Olympedia (and the OlyMADMen)
• Olympics.org
• Diagoras: International Academic Journal on Olympic Studies - Alison cites this article as a good read.

For a transcript of this episode, please visit http://flamealivepod.com.

Thanks so much for listening, and until next time, keep the flame alive!

Photo: Project Gutenberg

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Keep the Flame Alive: Games History Moment with hosts Jill Jaracz & Alison Brown - released monthly. Look for our regular episodes every week, with daily editions during the Olympics and Paralympics.

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