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Is this really the centenary Winter Olympics?
The 2026 Winter Games kick off today, with events set to take place around northern Italy across the next two weeks. The competition is being marketed with the tagline ‘100 Years of Olympic Winter Games’ - but is that really an accurate portrayal of their history?
In this episode of HistoryExtra’s series History Behind the Headlines: Briefing, sports historian Martin Polley charts the real origins of the contest.
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MORE ON THE WINTER OLYMPICS
For more from Martin Polley on the history of the Games, don't miss our Long Reads episode on Monday: https://play.megaphone.fm/tz3_ntwttvsdtrzofiz5dq
GO BEYOND THE PODCAST
For further historical analysis of the latest breaking news, don't miss HistoryExtra's History Behind the Headlines podcast: https://play.megaphone.fm/vv4s-xn6tfmntfojkacmna
And if you’ve enjoyed this episode, why not become a member of HistoryExtra for access to thousands of ad-free podcasts, hundreds of hours of video and a huge archive of articles from leading historians: https://www.historyextra.com/subscribe/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
View all episodes
By History ExtraThe 2026 Winter Games kick off today, with events set to take place around northern Italy across the next two weeks. The competition is being marketed with the tagline ‘100 Years of Olympic Winter Games’ - but is that really an accurate portrayal of their history?
In this episode of HistoryExtra’s series History Behind the Headlines: Briefing, sports historian Martin Polley charts the real origins of the contest.
-----
MORE ON THE WINTER OLYMPICS
For more from Martin Polley on the history of the Games, don't miss our Long Reads episode on Monday: https://play.megaphone.fm/tz3_ntwttvsdtrzofiz5dq
GO BEYOND THE PODCAST
For further historical analysis of the latest breaking news, don't miss HistoryExtra's History Behind the Headlines podcast: https://play.megaphone.fm/vv4s-xn6tfmntfojkacmna
And if you’ve enjoyed this episode, why not become a member of HistoryExtra for access to thousands of ad-free podcasts, hundreds of hours of video and a huge archive of articles from leading historians: https://www.historyextra.com/subscribe/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices