1952 Winter Olympics

VI Olympic Winter Games
The emblem is a circle with the Olympic rings and the New Oslo Town Hall in the centre. Bordering the circle are the words, "DE VI. OLYMPISKE VINTERLEKER OSLO 1952".
Host city	Oslo, Norway
Nations participating	30
Athletes participating	694 (585 men, 109 women)
Events	22 in 6 sports
Opening ceremony	February 14
Closing ceremony	February 25
Officially opened by	Princess Ragnhild
Athlete's Oath	Torbjørn Falkanger
Olympic Torch	Eigil Nansen
Stadium	Bislett stadion

The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1952 in Oslo, Norway.

Host City Selection

Oslo had two other candidate cities going against it for the 1952 Winter Olympics. The vote took place at the 40th IOC Session in Stockholm, Sweden, on June 21, 1947. The chart's information comes from the International Olympic Committee Vote History web page. Oslo was the first national capital city to host the Winter Olympics, and the only city that was a national capital at the time the Winter Olympics were held there (Sarajevo did not become a national capital until Bosnia and Herzegovina gained independence in 1992, eight years after Sarajevo hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics). Most of all, these Winter Olympics was the first to be contested by having the International Olympic Committee members to cast their ballots for their favorite choice.

1952 Winter Olympics Bidding Results
City	NOC Name	Round 1
Oslo	Norway	18
Cortina d'Ampezzo	Italy	9
Lake Placid, New York	United States	1

Highlights

• In the speedskating Hjalmar Andersen of Norway won 3 gold medals in the 1,500 m, the 5,000 m and the 10,000 m.
• In the alpine skiing the winner of the downhill was the Italian Zeno Colò in a time of 2:30.80 and in the slalom event Othmar Schneider was the champion with Antoin Miliordos falling 18 times before finishing his run, as he went over the line backwards.
• Bandy was a demonstration sport but has so far never returned to the Olympics.
• In alpine skiing, American Andrea Mead Lawrence won two gold medals in slalom and giant slalom. She was the first woman to achieve this feat as well as the first American, male or female, to win double golds in a single Olympics.

Medal winners

The jersey of Canada's Edmonton Mercurys, the ice hockey gold medal winners

See the medal winners ordered by sport:

• Alpine skiing
• Bobsleigh
• Figure skating
• Ice hockey
• Nordic skiing
  • Cross-country skiing
  • Nordic combined
  • Ski jumping
• Speed skating

Demonstration sport

• Bandy

Venues

• Bislett stadion - speed skating
• Frognerseteren - bobsleigh
• Holmenkollen ski jump - cross country skiing, nordic combined, and ski jumping
• Lillestrøm stadion - ice hockey

Participating nations

A total of 30 nations sent athletes to compete at these Games, which was the highest number to that date. New Zealand and Portugal participated at the Winter Olympic Games for the first time. Australia, Germany (of the three contemporary German states, only West Germany sent athletes), and Japan returned, after having missed the 1948 Winter Olympics. South Korea, Liechtenstein, and Turkey did not participate in 1952, after having competed in 1948.

Medal count

These are the top ten nations that won medals at the 1952 Winter Games.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Norway (host nation)	7	3	6	16
2	United States	4	6	1	11
3	Finland	3	4	2	9
4	Germany	3	2	2	7
5	Austria	2	4	2	8
6	Canada	1	0	1	2
	Italy	1	0	1	2
8	Great Britain	1	0	0	1
9	Netherlands	0	3	0	3
10	Sweden	0	0	4	4

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: 1952 Winter Olympics

• International Olympic Committee – Oslo 1952 main page
• Oslo 1952 – official report, digitized copy online
• The program of the 1952 Oslo Winter Olympics