Monthly Archives: January 2014

Snowboarding, Sport factsheets

Snowboarding Factsheets

Olympic History:  Snowboarding is a sport combining elements of surfing, skateboarding, and skiing.  The snowboarders slide down a snow-covered surface on a single board strapped to their feet.  It developed in the 1960s with the first mass-produced snowboard being sold in 1966, termed the “Snurfer.”  In the late 1970s, snowboarding became more popular and snowboarders began to “invade” traditional snow resorts, often met by opposition from skiiers who tried to exclude the snowboarders from “their” mountains.  By the 1990s, almost all ski resorts allowed snowboarding, and the resorts have found the snowboarders to be an excellent source of new revenue.

Competition in snowboarding developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s.  World Championships in the sport were first held in 1993 for both men and women.  Snowboarding was admitted to the Olympic program for the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano. Through 2010, the three snowboarding events have been halfpipe, parallel giant slalom, and boarder-cross. Parallel giant slalom is similar to professional skiing, in which two skiiers race down parallel race courses of identical design.  The first snowboarder with the best time over two runs advances to the next round.  Halfpipe is an acrobatic, balletic event, conducted in a tube, or halfpipe, bounded by two steep parallels walls of ice.  Boarder-cross is a very exciting, almost combative, event that is contested in rounds and heats, with each heat consisting of several snowboarders (4-8).  The snowboarders race pack-style down the same course, with the first finishers advancing to the next round.  The event is fast, with lots of action, skills, and contact, and was added to the Olympic Program in 2006 at Torino.

Two new events for both men and women have been added to the Olympic Program for 2014. These are slopestyle, which has some elements similar to halfpipe, but done on a downhill course, with jumps and obstacles added; and parallel slalom, similar to parallel giant slalom, but on a shorter course with tighter turns.

Snowboarding is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS), according to the International Olympic Committee, although this is controversial.  When snowboarding sought recognition as an Olympic sport, it tried to do so under the aegis of its own federation, the International Snowboarding Federation (ISF).  But the IOC does not recognize that federation.  The IOC agreed to allow snowboarding on the Olympic program but only if governed by the FIS as a discipline of skiing.  The decision was not well accepted by the snowboarding community, and in the early years of Olympic competition, several top snowboarders skipped the Olympics in protest.

As of November 2013, there are 120 member nations affiliated to the FIS.  This makes it the largest International Sporting Federation for any winter sport.  The FIS governs what it terms six disciplines of skiing – alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, Nordic combined, freestyle skiing, and snowboarding.  Cross-country, ski jumping, and Nordic combined are often termed one sport of nordic skiing, as in this book.

The 120 member nations of FIS are as follows: Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, DPR Korea (North), Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Great Britain, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malta, Marocco, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Palestine, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, United States of America, Uruguay, US Virgin Islands, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.

Luge, Sport factsheets

Luge Factsheets

Olympic History:          Sledding on snow down hills has been done since the 16th century.  But sledding sport can be traced to the mid-19th century when British tourists starting sledding on the snowbound roads of the Alps.  The original form of the sport was the skeleton sleds that were used on the Cresta Run at St. Moritz.  Skeleton was contested at the Olympics in 1928 and 1948, both times when the Winter Games were contested at St. Moritz, and was added to the Olympic Winter program for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, but the sport is governed now by the bobsled federation, the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et Tobogganing (FIBT).

Luge spread to Switzerland in the 1890s as a variant of the skeleton race.  The first recorded competitions took place in 1890 at the Innsbruck-based Academic Alpine Club.  The Internationaler Schlittensportverband (International Sled Sport Federation) was formed in 1913 and the first European Championships were held in 1914 at Reichenfeld, Austria.

At the IOC meeting in Athens in 1954, luge tobogganing was recognized as an official Olympic sport but luge events were not contested in the Olympics until 1964.  The first world luge championships were contested in Oslo in 1955.  It was planned to introduce the sport at the 1960 Olympic Winter Games but the Squaw Valley organizers had decided not to build a bob run and not to hold bobsled events, and they likewise opposed building a luge run for the participation of only a few countries.  Thus the Olympic début was delayed until 1964.  Since that time luge has been contested at all Olympic Winter Games, with a singles and doubles event for men, and a singles event for women.  Technically, it could be considered that there is a men’s event, a women’s event, and a mixed event, since the doubles are open to mixed pairs.  However, no mixed pair has ever competed internationally at the Olympics or World Championships. In 2014 at Sochi, a team relay event consisting of two men and two women will be contested. This has been a World Championship event since 1989 when it was originally contested with three men and three women, but that was changed to teams of four in 1999.

In 1935, the International Schlittensportverband, later renamed the Internationaler Rodelverband (International Luge Federation), joined the bobsleigh federation, the FIBT, as the “Section de Luge.”  Prior to 1957, luge was governed by the FIBT.  In that year, the Fédération Internationale de Luge de Course (FIL) separated from the FIBT and was formed with 13 founding nations.  The FIL currently has 53 affiliated member nations, all of which are recognized by the IOC.  This makes it the second smallest International Federation, after curling, in terms of affiliated national federations.

The 53 member federations of the FIL are as follows: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bermuda, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Netherlands Antilles, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tonga, Turkey, Ukraine, United States, US Virgin Islands, and Venezuela.

Cross country skiing, Sport factsheets

Cross-Country Skiing Factsheets

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Olympic History:          Nordic skiing has been practised in the Scandanavian countries since the 18th century, and competitions are known from the early 19th century.  The sport has been on the Olympic program since the Chamonix games of 1924.

Nordic skiing consists of three major disciplines: cross-country skiing, ski jumping, and Nordic combined, combining elements of both cross-country and ski jumping.  All three disciplines have been contested at all Winter Olympics.  Women have competed only in cross-country skiing at the Olympic Winter Games and first began to do so in 1952, although that will change in 2014 with women competing in ski jumping.

Cross-country skiing consists of races varying from 10 to 50 kilometres for men, and from 5 to 30 kilometres for women, as well as relay races.  The skiiers used to always race in time trial fashion, starting at intervals, but more mass start races have been added.  For the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, 1,500 metre sprint cross-country skiing was added as an event for both men and women.  At Torino in 2006, a two-person team sprint ski race was added for men and women.

In the 1980’s, cross-country skiing underwent a revolution that was started by Bill Koch, the first American to be a top international cross-country skiier.  He changed from the classic cross-country style of alternating legs and arms with the stride being pushed straight backwards, remaining in the ski track, to a style similar to skating on skis, and using shorter skis.  The FIS was urged to ban this style by the north Europeans, but it was decided instead to allow two styles.  However, races are now designated as either “classic” or “freestyle,” with skating being allowed in freestyle races. In the relays, the first two legs are skiied classically while the final two legs are freestyle. Currently, the techniques allowed for each cross-country event alternate, with one style being used at one Olympic Winter Games, and the style reverting to the opposite at the next celebration.

A two-day combined pursuit event, one day classical and one day freestyle, was also contested for both men and women from 1992-2006, but this has been changed.  The race now begins with a classical leg, followed by an immediate break, in which the skiiers change to freestyle skis, and then complete a freestyle leg. It is now called the skiathlon.

As of November 2013, there are 120 member nations affiliated to the FIS.  This makes it the largest International Sporting Federation for any winter sport.  The FIS governs what it terms six disciplines of skiing – alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, Nordic combined, freestyle skiing, and snowboarding.  Cross-country, ski jumping, and Nordic combined are often termed one sport of Nordic skiing.

The 120 member nations of FIS are as follows: Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, DPR Korea (North), Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Great Britain, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malta, Marocco, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Palestine, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, United States of America, Uruguay, US Virgin Islands, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.

Ski jumping, Sport factsheets

Ski Jumping Factsheets

Olympic History:          Nordic skiing consists of three major disciplines: cross-country skiing, ski jumping, and Nordic combined, combining elements of both cross-country and ski jumping, all of which have been on the Olympic program since the Chamonix games of 1924. The IOC actually considers ski jumping a discipline within the sport of skiing.

Jumping off hills on skis was pioneered by Norwegian Sondre Norheim in the 19th century, and had developed into a full sport by the 20th century. It has been contested in the Olympic Winter Games since the start in 1924. Originally dominated by participants from Norway, the top competitors now also hail from Finland and Central Europe, with Japan having the best jumpers from Asia.

Three events are currently contested at the Olympics, all for men. Since 2009, women also compete in World Championships, but despite legal action to have the event included for the Vancouver Games, women did not compete in ski jumping in 2010. However, women’s ski jumping will be contested at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Through 1960, ski jumping at the Olympics had only a single event.  But Olympic ski jumping is now contested on two hills, usually termed the normal and large hill.  The size of the hill has varied over time, but those figures refer to the expected length of the jumps measured to the “norm” point of the hill, and not to the size of the hill.  The exact size of the hills, most commonly measured by the distance of the calculation point (or K-point), has gradually increased. In 1924, the normal hill K-point was at 71 m, while in 2010 it was at 95 m, and the large hill was at 125 m. From 1964-88, the hills were termed the 70 metre (normal) and 90 metre (large), but since 1992, they were often called the 90 and 120 metre hills. The current K-points have been 95 m and 125 m in 2006-14.  In the Olympics, a team event is also contested on the large hill.

Ski jumping is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS). As of November 2013, there are 120 member nations affiliated to the FIS.  This makes it the largest International Sporting Federation for any winter sport.  The FIS governs what it terms six disciplines of skiing – alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, Nordic combined, freestyle skiing, and snowboarding.

The 120 member nations of FIS are as follows: Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, DPR Korea (North), Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Great Britain, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Kosova, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malta, Marocco, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Palestine, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Rumania, Russia, San Marino, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, United States of America, Uruguay, US Virgin Islands, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.

Ice hockey, Sport factsheets

Ice Hockey Factsheets

Olympic History:          Ice hockey is a sport of Canadian origin that began in the early 19th century.  It is based on several similar sports played in Europe, notably bandy in Scandinavia, and somewhat similar to the sports of shinny and hurling.  Around 1860, a puck was substituted for a ball, and in 1879, two McGill University students, W. F. Robertson and R. F. Smith, devised the first rules, combining field hockey and rugby regulations.  Originally the game was played nine to a side.  The first recognized team, the McGill University Hockey Club, was formed in 1880.

The sport became the Canadian national sport with leagues everywhere.  In 1894, Lord Stanley of Preston, Governor-General of Canada, donated a Cup that was first won in 1894 by a team representing the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association – the Stanley Cup.

Between the 1880s and World War I ice hockey became popular in Europe.  The first European Championship was played in 1910 at Les Avants in the Swiss Alps, won by Great Britain.  Ice hockey also spread below the border to the United States with the formation of the U.S. Amateur Hockey League, founded in New York in 1896.

Ice hockey was contested at the 1920 Summer Olympics at Antwerp, held in early April.  These were also the first world championships and were played by seven-man sides, the only time seven-man teams played in the Olympics.  In 1924, the Olympics began using the current standard of six-men on the ice at a time. Also, in 1920, the games consisted of two 20-minute halves, for a 40-minute game. In 1924, 1928, 1932, and 1936, the Olympic games were three 15-minute periods, for a 45-minute game.

Ice hockey has been held at every Olympic Winter Games.  Canada dominated early Olympic ice hockey tournaments, as might be expected.  From 1956, when it first entered the Olympic Winter Games, and easily won the ice hockey tournament, until its break-up, the Soviet Union was the pre-eminent country, their dominance interrupted only by huge American upsets in 1960 and 1980.

Beginning in the 1980s, professional hockey players who had played in the National Hockey League (NHL) were declared eligible to compete in the Olympic ice hockey tournament.  These professionals primarily represented Sweden, Finland, or Czechoslovakia at the Olympics, as the Canadian and American players were competing in the NHL season.  However, at Nagano in 1998, the NHL suspended play for two weeks to allow all NHL players to represent their nations at the Olympics.

This has also been the pattern in 2002, 2006, and 2010, and it will be at Sochi in 2014 as well. The NHL continues to allow this although it seems to kick and scream about it between each Olympics. Recently, it has stated that perhaps it would be better to resurrect the World Cup instead of disrupting the NHL season for Olympic competition.

Women’s ice hockey began to develop in the 1920s in Canada.  By the 1960s, women’s ice hockey in Canada was more organized with girls’ leagues throughout the nation.  In 1982 the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association organized the first Canadian national tournament.  Concurrently, women’s teams and leagues began to develop in the United States and Europe.  The first international championship was the World Invitational Tournament in 1987 in Missisauga, Ontario, Canada, and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) began to plan a womens’ world championships.  European women’s championships began in 1989 and the first women’s world ice hockey championships took place in 1990.

Ice hockey was approved as an Olympic sport for women by the IOC in 1992, and women’s Olympic ice hockey débuted at Nagano in 1998, and has been contested at each Olympics since. Women’s ice hockey has been dominated at the Olympics by Canada, with the United States a close second. No other women’s teams have really challenged these two nations, although in 2006, Sweden did defeat the United States to get to the final and win a silver medal. Because of the dominance of Canada and the United States, and because it is contested by only a few nations for women the IOC has made some mention that perhaps the sport should not be contested for women at the Winter Olympics.

The first international ice hockey federation was the Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace (LIHG), which was formed in 1908 by four national federations: Belgium, France, Great Britain, and Switzerland.  The federation changed its name to the International Ice Hockey Federation in 1954. The IIHF currently (as of November 2013) has 72 affiliated national federations, all of which are also member nations within the IOC. They are as follows:

Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Democratic People’s Republic (DPR) of Korea (North), Estonia, Finland, France, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea (South), Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United States.

Bobsleigh, Sport factsheets

Bobsledding Factsheets

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Olympic History:          Bobsledding as a sport originated in Switzerland in 1886 when an Englishman, Wilson Smith, connected two sleighs with a board to travel from St. Moritz to Celerina.  Bobsledding was first practiced on the Cresta Run at St. Moritz but the run was not suitable for the faster bobsleds, so a separate bob run was constructed there in 1904, the world’s first.  Prior to that time, local roads around St. Moritz were used for bobsled races.  The first bobsled club was formed in 1896 by Lord Francis Helmsley of Britain at St. Moritz.

Bobsledding was on the program of the first Olympic Winter Games in 1924 with a single four-man event.  In 1928, the event was one for sleds with either four- or five-men.  In 1932, the current men’s program of two events, one for two-man sleds, and one for four-man sleds, began.  Bobsledding has been contested at all Olympic Winter Games except for 1960 at Squaw Valley.  Because of the distance to travel to California, only nine countries indicated that they would enter bobsled teams.  The Squaw Valley organizers thus decided not to build a bob run and the sport was not held that year.

Bobsledding at the Olympics was contested for men only through 1998.  In October 1999, the IOC approved the addition of women’s bobsled to the Olympic Winter program and women competed for the first time at Salt Lake City in 2002 in the two-woman bobsled event.

Bobsledding is governed world-wide by Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (FIBT).  As of November 2013, the FIBT has 64 affiliated member nations, all of which are recognized by the IOC.  This makes it the third smallest International Federation, after curling and luge, in terms of affiliated national federations.

The following nations are current members of the FIBT: American Samoa, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bermuda, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, India, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, United States, US Virgin Islands, and Venezuela.

Figure skating

The First Olympic Winter Sports Champions

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The first thing you may have noticed about this blog entry is the title. Not “The first Winter Olympic champions” but specifically “The first Olympic winter sports Champions”. The reason is simple – before the creation of the Winter Games some of the events that were to become part of the winter Olympic programme were held at the Summer Games. Figure skating first appeared at the 1908 Games in London but all winter sports were dropped from the 1912 programme following protests by Scandinavian nations who wished to promote their own Nordic Games. Figure skating returned in 1920 alongside the new sport of ice hockey and this paved the way for the Chamonix Winter Olympics of 1924 to happen.
But who were those first figure skating champions of 1908? Take a look at their biographies below.
Full results from the 1908 Olympic figure skating tournament can be found at http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1908/FSK/

Ulrich Salchow (SWE)
Olympic champion – men

Ulrich Salchow was one of the most successful figure skaters of all-time and dominated figure skating in the early 1900s. His name was given to the figure skating jump “Salchow” that he performed for the first time in 1909. He was a specialist of the now defunct compulsories, which accounted for a large percentage of the total marks.
Salchow won 10 World Championships, 1901-05 and 1907-11. He did not compete in the 1906 World Championships that were held in Munich, as he feared that he would not be judged fairly against Gilbert Fuchs of Germany. His 10 titles are still a record, which he shares with Sonja Henie and Irina Rodnina. When figure skating was first contested at the Summer Olympics in London in 1908, Salchow won the title with ease. In addition, Salchow won the European Championships a record nine times (1898-1900, 1904, 1906-07, 1909-10, 1913), placed second in the World Championships three times (1897, 1899-1900) and once at the European Championships (1901). In his early career he was Swedish national champion in 1895-97. In 1976, he was inducted into the Figure Skating World Hall of Fame.
Salchow could not defend his Olympic gold medal at Stockholm in 1912 because organizers opted out of holding skating contests. When he made one last attempt at the Olympics in 1920, it ended in a fall, ironically while attempting his own jump, the Salchow. Despite this, the then 42-year-old managed to place fourth. In 1906, he published a handbook of skating, which was translated into several languages. He was also active in other sports, including cycling and bobsledding.
After his active career Salchow was President of the International Skating Union from 1925-37 and Chairman of the AIK in Stockholm from 1928-39. He was also chairman of the Swedish Cycling Association (1904-07), Swedish Skating Association (1917-20, 1923-32, 1935-38), and helped to found the Swedish Boxing Federation, where he was chairman from 1919-32, and he was a member of the board of the National Sports Confederation (1911-28).
Salchow was an active yachtsman and worked for the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter and Associated Press as a journalist. He was on the board of the Swedish Radio and a successful merchant and radio pioneer.

Nikolay Panin (Kolomenkin) (RUS)
Olympic champion – men’s special figures

As a youth Nikolay Kolomenkin did rowing, cycling, athletics and gymnastics and was introduced to figure skating after 1893, when he enrolled at St. Petersburg University (now St. Petersburg State University). Kolomenkin was fascinated by this new sport and soon became the top Russian figure skater at the turn of 20th century. But for fear of fellow student’s mocking him, Kolomenkin competed in figure skating under the pseudonym Nikolay Panin and used this name throughout his competitive figure skating career.

In 1908 Kolomenkin became the first Russian Olympic winner when he won the special figures event at the London Olympics. Kolomenkin also won silver at the 1903 World Championships in singles, another silver at the 1908 European Championships, and bronze at the 1904 European Championships. He also won the Russian singles title from 1901-05 and 1907. While studying at university, Kolomenkin was an all-around athlete, competing in cycling, rowing, athletics, swimming, skiing and played football and hockey.

After graduating university with a mathematics degree in 1898, Kolomenkin became a competent sports shooter, winning 23 Russian titles in pistol shooting (1906-17). He also competed at the 1912 Olympics as a shooter, finishing eighth in individual free pistol and fourth in team pistol. After winning his Olympic title, Kolomenkin retired from competitive figure skating and worked as a figure skating coach. From 1915-17 Kolomenkin was general secretary of the Russian Olympic Committee and from 1919-30 worked in various financial positions with the Petrograd (later Leningrad) province and oblast governments. From 1933 until his death, Kolomenkin worked as head of the figure skating department at the Lesgaft State Institute of Physical Culture (now Lesgaft National State University of Physical Education, Sport and Health).

Madge Syers (GBR)
Olympic champion – women

Florence Madeline Cave, known to her friends “Madge” was one of fifteen children of Edward Jarvis Cave, a gentleman of independent means. Like many young girls in her position, she joined fashionable London Society at the Prince’s Skating Rink in Knightsbridge, but unlike most of her contemporaries, Madge took her skating seriously and it was through the sport that she met her future husband, Edgar Syers. Syers, who was 19 years her senior, wielded a considerable influence on Madge Caves development as a skater. He encouraged her to forsake the outdated “English” style with its minimal body movement, and in which she had won the 1899 Challenge Shield, and adopt the free and flowing “International’ style of skating. Madge Caves soon became the world’s leading woman skater. She won the first British pairs competition in 1899 with her future husband. The following year Madge and Edgar Syers were married and soon afterwards they finished second in one of the first international pairs competitions in Berlin.
Although the newly married couple was a formidable combination in pairs competitions, it was in individual events that Madge Syers really shone. As there was no rule prohibiting women from competing, she created a sensation by entering the World Championships in 1902 where – even more sensationally – she finished second to the great Ulrich Salchow of Sweden. The authorities immediately barred women from the championships, but in 1905 the ban was rescinded and the following year a separate ladies’ event was introduced at the world championships. Madge easily won this event in 1906 and 1907, but it was not until 1920 that these events were retroactively recognized as official world championships. She also won the first British singles championship in 1903, finishing ahead of Horatio Torromé, and in 1904 she defeated her husband to retain the title. With this record, Madge Syers was a clear favorite for the 1908 Olympic women’s singles and with all five judges placing her a clear first in both the compulsory figures and the free skating, she was an undisputed winner of the gold medal. She also won a bronze medal partnering her husband in the pairs event. After the 1908 Olympics, Madge Syers, who was also a prize winning swimmer and equestrienne, retired because of ill health and she died at the early age of 35.

Annie Hübler and Heinrich Burger (GER)
Olympic champion – pairs

In 1908 Annie Hübler and Heinrich Burger were the first Germans to won the pairs World Championship and they were the first German winter-sport Olympic Champions. They repeated as World Champions in 1910, and won German titles in 1907 and 1909.
Burger was also successful as a singles skater, winning three German Championships in 1904, and 1906-07. He was also runner-up at the World Championships in 1904 and 1906, and third in 1908. In 1905 he was runner-up at the European Championships. Burger later became a figure skating judge, serving on the jury at the 1928 Winter Olympics. He was a lawyer by profession.
Hübler later became an actress and a singer at the Bremen Town Theatre and the München Chamber Theatre. After her marriage to Ernst Horn, she managed the major department store “Horn” in München at the famous town square “Stachus”, which, with more than 1,000 employees, was the third largest catalogue company in Germany in that era. In 1969 she was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Uncategorized

Winter Olympic Competing Nations and Medalists

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Infostrada’s medal table predictions noted that they expect 26 NOCs to win medals, which would equal the record of Torino 2006 and Vancouver 2010. How many nations have won medals at each Winter Olympics? And how many have won gold medals at each Winter Olympics? Here are the numbers, along with numbers of events available, and the number of competing NOCs.

Year          Events        NOCs    NOCMeds  NOCGolds

1908        4 events               6                    4                   4

1920        4 events             10                   7                   3

1924      16 events             16                10                  8

1928      14 events             25                12                  6

1932      14 events             17                10                  7

1936      17 events             28                11                  8

1948      22 events             28                13               10

1952      22 events             30                13                  8

1956      24 events             32                13                  9

1960      27 events             30                14               10

1964      34 events             36                14               11

1968      35 events             37                15               13

1972      35 events             35                17               14

1976      37 events             37                16               12

1980      38 events             37                19               11

1984      39 events             49                17               11

1988      46 events             57                17               11

1992      57 events             64                20               14

1994      61 events             67                22               14

1998      68 events             72                24               15

2002      78 events             77                24               18

2006      84 events             79                26               18

2010      86 events             82                26               19

For the record, there will be 98 events in Sochi 2014, and we expect about 90 NOCs to compete, although final qualifications and entry lists will not be known in all sports until 19 January.

There are 7 nations that we expect will be competing in the Winter Olympics for the first time – Eritrea, Malta, Paraguay, Timor-Leste (East Timor), Togo, Tonga, and Zimbabwe. Six of the seven have definitely qualified an athlete for Sochi, and Eritrea has a male skiier who is right on the cusp of qualifying – Canadian-born Shannon-Ogbani Abeda.

There are 6 nations that have previously competed at the Winter Olympics who will likely not compete, as follows: Colombia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Senegal, and South Africa. The 6th is North Korea (technically the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPR Korea), although we await word on whether or not Dennis Rodman will be able to switch to a winter sport at the last minute.

You’ll learn more next week when we start publishing our Factsheets on the Winter Competing Nations.

Figure skating

Figure Skating Olympic Record Scores – All the 6.0s

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Olympic writer Alan Abrahamsson talked about the problems with figure skating, and noted in there that people do not understand the new scoring system, in place since the 2002 pairs figure skating controversy. Here are the records for Olympic figure skating, both under the current system, and a listing of all the perfect 6.0 scores, under the old system – that people understood. This can also be found in our Figure Skating Factsheets – just posted today.

Olympic Records for Scoring (Current System since 2006)

Men’s Total                    258.33  Yevgeny Plyushchenko (RUS-2006)

Men’s Short                     90.85  Yevgeny Plyushchenko (RUS-2010)

Men’s Free                    167.67  Yevgeny Plyushchenko (RUS-2006)

Women’s Total           228.56  Kim Yu-Na (KOR-2010)

Women’s Short            78.50  Kim Yu-Na (KOR-2010)

Women’s Free           150.06  Kim Yu-Na (KOR-2010)

Pairs Total                    216.57  Shen Xue / Zhao Hongbo (CHN-2010)

Pairs Short                      76.66  Shen Xue / Zhao Hongbo (CHN-2010)

Pairs Free                     141.81  Pang Qing / Tong Jian (CHN-2010)

Dance Total                 221.57  Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir (CAN-2010)

Dance Compulsory   43.76  Ok. Domnina/Mak. Shabalin (RUS-2010)

Dance OSP                     68.41  Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir (CAN-2010)

Dance Free                  110.42  Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir (CAN-2010)

 

Perfect 6.0s at the Olympics (old system – 1908-2002)

From 1908-2002 scoring in figure skating at the Olympic Winter Games was done on a basis of 0-6 points for each performance, with 6.0 being a “perfect” score, considered the ultimate performance. Following is a listing of the 55 times this was done at the Winter Olympics, fully 19 times by the British ice dance couple of Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, 16 of them in 1984. The next most are 7 by Heinrich Hübler and Annie Burger in 1908 pairs figure skating. (Note that in 1908 scoring was only by ½-points, so the only score above 5.5 was 6.0, which slightly devalues those scores.) This is followed by 4 by Russian singles skater Aleksey Yagudin in 2002, and by the Soviet ice dance couple of Natalia Bestemianova and Andrey Bukin in 1988.

Year  Phase/Judge        ScoreType      Skater(s)                        NOC    Judge

1980 Singles-SP; J#7   Req. El’m’ts    Xu Zhaoxiao               CHN    GBR

1998 Singles-SP; J#3   Presentation  Elvis Stojko                CAN    CAN

1936 Singles-FS; J#2   Total Score     Verners Auls              LAT     GBR

1936 Singles-FS; J#7   Total Score     Verners Auls               LAT     TCH

1948 Singles-FS; J#3   Total Score     Per Cock-Clausen    DEN    USA

1988 Singles-FS; J#9   Tech. Merit     Brian Orser                 CAN    TCH

1994 Singles-FS; J#1   Tech. Merit     Viktor Petrenko       UKR    ROU

1998 Singles-FS; J#9   Tech. Merit     Philippe Candeloro FRA     FRA

2002 Singles-FS; J#3   Tech. Merit     Aleksey Yagudin       RUS    USA

2002 Singles-FS; J#4   Tech. Merit     Aleksey Yagudin       RUS    ROU

2002 Singles-FS; J#6   Tech. Merit     Aleksey Yagudin       RUS    GER

2002 Singles-FS; J#9   Tech. Merit     Aleksey Yagudin       RUS    AZE

1984 Women -FS; J#4 Tech. Merit     Rosalyn Sumners     USA    ITA

1908 Pairs-FS; J#1       Sport. Merit     Hübler / Burger        GER    GER

1908 Pairs-FS; J#2       Sport. Merit     Hübler / Burger        GER    SUI

1908 Pairs-FS; J#2       General Imp.  Hübler / Burger         GER    SUI

1908 Pairs-FS; J#2       General Imp.  Johnson / Johnson   GBR    SUI

1908 Pairs-FS; J#2       Sport. Merit     Syers / Syers               GBR    SUI

1908 Pairs-FS; J#3       Sport. Merit     Hübler / Burger        GER    ARG

1908 Pairs-FS; J#3       Sport. Merit     Syers / Syers               GBR    ARG

1908 Pairs-FS; J#4       Sport. Merit     Hübler / Burger        GER    GBR

1908 Pairs-FS; J#4       General Imp.  Hübler / Burger          GER    GBR

1908 Pairs-FS; J#5       Sport. Merit     Hübler / Burger        GER    RUS

1976 Pairs-SP; J#3       Req. El’m’ts    Rodnina / Zaytsev     URS    TCH

1994 Pairs-FS; J#8       Tech. Merit     Gordeyeva/Grinkov RUS   RUS

1998 Pairs-FS; J#6       Tech. Merit     Kazakova/Dmitriyev RUS   CZE

1984 Dance-OSP; J#1 Artistic Imp.    Torvill / Dean              GBR   HUN

1984 Dance-OSP; J#1 Tech. Merit     Torvill / Dean               GBR   HUN

1984 Dance-OSP; J#7 Tech. Merit     Torvill / Dean               GBR   ITA

1984 Dance-OSP; J#8 Tech. Merit     Torvill / Dean               GBR   CAN

1988 Dance-OSP; J#9 Tech. Merit     Bestiamanova/Bukin URS FRA

1994 Dance-OSP; J#3 Tech. Merit     Torvill / Dean               GBR   GBR

1994 Dance-OSP; J#5 Tech. Merit     Torvill / Dean               GBR   UKR

1998 Dance-OSP; J#7 Tech. Merit    Krylova/Ovsyannikov RUS RUS

2002 Dance-OSP; J#1 Tech. Merit     Lobacheva/Averbukh RUS  POL

1976 Dance-FD; J#3    Tech. Merit     Pakhomova/Gorshkov URS URS

1984 Dance-FD; J#1    Artistic Imp.    Torvill / Dean               GBR  HUN

1984 Dance-FD; J#1    Tech. Merit     Torvill / Dean                GBR  HUN

1984 Dance-FD; J#2    Tech. Merit     Torvill / Dean                GBR  URS

1984 Dance-FD; J#3    Tech. Merit     Torvill / Dean                GBR  FRG

1984 Dance-FD; J#4    Artistic Imp.    Torvill / Dean                GBR  GBR

1984 Dance-FD; J#4    Tech. Merit     Torvill / Dean                 GBR  GBR

1984 Dance-FD; J#5    Artistic Imp.    Torvill / Dean                GBR  JPN

1984 Dance-FD; J#5    Tech. Merit     Torvill / Dean                  GBR    JPN

1984 Dance-FD; J#6    Tech. Merit     Torvill / Dean                  GBR   TCH

1984 Dance-FD; J#7    Tech. Merit     Torvill / Dean                  GBR    ITA

1984 Dance-FD; J#8    Tech. Merit     Torvill / Dean                  GBR  CAN

1984 Dance-FD; J#9    Tech. Merit     Torvill / Dean                  GBR  USA

1988 Dance-FD; J#1    Tech. Merit     Bestiamanova/Bukin  URS  URS

1988 Dance-FD; J#5    Tech. Merit     Bestiamanova/Bukin  URS   ITA

1988 Dance-FD; J#9    Tech. Merit     Bestiamanova/Bukin  URS   FRA

1994 Dance-FD; J#1    Tech. Merit     Grishchuk / Platov       RUS   RUS

1994 Dance-FD; J#3    Tech. Merit     Torvill / Dean                  GBR   GBR

1998 Dance-FD; J#8    Tech. Merit     Grishchuk / Platov       RUS   ITA

1998 Dance-FD; J#9    Tech. Merit     Grishchuk / Platov        RUS   FRA

 

Perfect 12.0s at the Olympics (Both Scores) (old system – 1908-2002)

And under the old system, there were six occurrences when skaters received a perfect score of 12.0 for their performance, with perfect 6.0 score on both measured elements (which have differed over the years). This was done twice by the German pair of Heinrich Hübler and Annie Burger in 1908 (again with the caveat that scoring was only by ½-points), and four times by the British dance couple of Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean in 1984.

Year   Phase/Judge           Type    Skater(s)                NOC     Judge

1908  Pairs – FS; J#2         Both      Hübler / Burger     GER      SUI

1908  Pairs – FS; J#4         Both      Hübler / Burger     GER      GBR

1984  Dance – OSP; J#1   Both    Torvill / Dean         GBR      HUN

1984  Dance – FD; J#1      Both    Torvill / Dean         GBR      HUN

1984  Dance – FD; J#4      Both    Torvill / Dean         GBR      GBR

1984  Dance – FD; J#5      Both    Torvill / Dean         GBR      JPN

 

Skeleton, Sport factsheets

Skeleton Factsheet

Olympic History:     Tobogganing is one of the oldest winter sports.  Descriptions of it in the 16th century are found in literature.  As a racing sport, it can be traced to the mid-19th century when British tourists starting sledding on the snowbound roads of the Alps.  The original form of the sport was the skeleton sleds that were used on the Cresta Run at St. Moritz.

Skeleton sled racing owes it entire early history to St. Moritz and the famed Cresta Run.  The sport developed in that Swiss resort town as a plaything for the rich.  It was written by E. F. Benson in 1913, “There is one Mecca, there is one St. Peter’s, there is one Cresta.  As is Mecca to the Mohammedan, as is St. Peter’s to the Catholic, so is the Cresta Run at St. Moritz to the tobogganer.”

British and American vacationers built the first toboggan run near St. Moritz, on the Klosters Road in nearby Davos, as early as 1882.  In 1884, Major W. H. Bulpetts built a similar track down the Cresta Valley at St. Moritz.  The first toboggan Grand National took place there in 1885, attracting 20 contestants.  All sliders rode at that time in a sitting position.  The prone, head-first position of skeleton racing was introduced about ten years later.  The St. Moritz Tobogganing Club was founded in 1887, and Bulpetts developed the modern model of a skeleton sled in 1902.

For many years the most important races in skeleton, all held at the Cresta Run, were the Grand National and Curzon Cup.  Twice the sport was contested in the Olympics, in 1928 and 1948, both times when the Winter Games were contested at St. Moritz.  World Championships were first held in 1982 and a World Cup circuit for men and women was introduced in 1986.

At the IOC Executive Board Meeting in Athens on 2 October 1999, skeleton was given approval to return to the Olympic program for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, and it has remained on the Program since.

Skeleton is governed world-wide by the bobsled federation, the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (FIBT), not the luge federation, which might seem more appropriate.  As of November 2013, the FIBT has 64 affiliated member nations, all of which are recognized by the IOC.  This makes it the third smallest International Federation, after curling and luge, in terms of affiliated national federations.

The following nations are current members of the FIBT: American Samoa, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bermuda, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, India, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, United States, US Virgin Islands, and Venezuela.