1936 Winter Olympics

IV Olympic Winter Games
It comprises the Olympic rings in the foreground and the summit of the Garmisch-Partenkirchen Alps with a ski track leading to the mountains in the background. Around, there is the inscription “IV. OLYMPISCHE WINTERSPIELE 1936 GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN”
Host city	Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
Nations participating	28
Athletes participating	646 (566 men, 80 women)
Events	17 in 4 sports
Opening ceremony	February 6
Closing ceremony	February 16
Officially opened by	Adolf Hitler
Athlete's Oath	Wilhelm Bogner
Stadium	Olympia Skistadion

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. 1936 is the last year in which the Summer and Winter Games were both held in the same country (the cancelled 1940 games would have been held in Japan, with that country likewise hosting the Winter and Summer games).

The 1936 Winter Olympics were organized on behalf of the Sports Office of the Third Reich (DRL) by Karl Ritter von Halt. Von Halt had been named President of the Committee for the organization of the Fourth Winter Olympics in Garmisch by Reichssportführer Hans von Tschammer und Osten.

Highlights

Opening Ceremony with Adolf Hitler and Rudolf Hess

• German skier Willy Bogner took the Olympic oath during the opening ceremonies.
• 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 Franz Pfnür won men's alpine and Christl Cranz won women's alpine 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.
• Olympia-Kunsteisstadion - figure 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

Norwegian figure skater Sonja Henie

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Norway	7	5	3	15
2	Germany (host nation)	3	3	0	6
3	Sweden	2	2	3	7
4	Finland	1	2	3	6
5	Switzerland	1	2	0	3
6	Austria	1	1	2	4
7	Great Britain	1	1	1	3
8	United States	1	0	3	4
9	Canada	0	1	0	1
10	France	0	0	1	1
	Hungary	0	0	1	1

Bibliography

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

See also

• Sports Office of Nazi Germany
• Olympia, a controversial but landmark film chronicling the games by Leni Riefenstahl.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: 1936 Winter Olympics

• Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936 from the International Olympic Committee
• Complete official IOC report. In German
• The program of the 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Winter Olympics