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08 February 2014

Sochi Olympics 2014: 25 Fun Facts about Winter Olympics


The world is all excited about Sochi Winter Olympics. Let's look at some of the most amazing facts about Winter Olympics history and the Sochi Olympics.

Facts About Winter Olympics

winter olympics facts

    1. The first winter Olympics were held in 1924 at Chamonix, France.

    2. 10,004 people paid to watch the first Winter Olympics in Chamonix.

    3. Winter Olympics has never been held in the Souther Hemisphere.

    4. The first Winter Olympics saw 16 nations compete in 16 events.

    5. Winter Olympics have 7 categories of sports, namely biathlon, bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, luge, skating and skiing.

    6. The last time Summer and Winter Olympics were held in the same year was in 1992. The Summer Olympics were held in Barcelona, Spain and the Winter Games were in Albertville, France.

    7. USA has hosted the most number of Winter Olympics with 4. It is followed by France with 3.

    8. Norway has won the most medals at Winter Olympics with a total of 303. The Norwegians also have a record 107 Winter Olympics gold medals.

    9. There have been four deaths at Winter Olympics. Two lugers and two skiers, both died during practice sessions.

    10. Artificial snow was first used during Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, USA in 1980.

    11. Norwegian cross country skier, Bjorn Daehli has won the most medals at Winter Olympics. In the three
    Winter Olympics he has competed, Daehli has won 12 medals including 8 gold medals.

    12. Cross country skier Raisa Smetanina (USSR) is the winningest woman medalist, taking 10 medals (four gold; five silver; one bronze).

    13. American athlete, Eddie Eagan is the only person in Olympic history to have one gold medals at both Summer and Winter Olympics.

    Eddie Eagan
    Eddie Eagan
    14. The opening ceremony of the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, USA was organized by Walt Disney.

    15. Great Britain won the Gold at the Curling event at the 1924 Winter Games, although it wasn’t recognized until 2006, 82 years later.

    Facts About Sochi Olympics, 2014

    Sochi Olympics Logo
    Sochi Winter Olympics 2014 Logo
    1. This year's winter Olympics in Sochi costs around $51 billion, making it the most expensive in event in Olympics' history. Just to make a comparison, the last Winter Olympics at Vancouver cost just around $8 billion.

    2. Sochi is the warmest city ever to host Winter Olympics. The temperatures at Sochi in winter remain around 12 degrees. So, snow events will be held at Krasnaya Polyana which is already equiped with artificial snow machines.

    3. Sochi is the longest city in Europe, spanning over 90 miles along the shores of the Black Sea.

    4. Sochi Olympics will include twelve new events. One of them being women’s ski-jumping.

    5. Sochi has also been home to the tennis star, Maria Sharapova. She moved to the Russian town when she was 2 and played tennis in a local park.

    6. Mascots for the Sochi Winter Olympics are a polar bear, a hare and a leopard.

    Sochi Olympics Mascots
    The Sochi Olympics Mascots, a polar bear, a leopard and hare
    7. The gold medals which will be given at Sochi Olympics will contain 516 grams of silver and 6 grams of gold. 

    8. 88 countries will take part in Sochi Olympics. Some nations will make their debut, including Zimbabwe and Paraguay.

    9. Athletes who win gold on February 15 will be given special gold medals with pieces of a recent meteorite in them. It crashed in Russia on February 15, 2013.

    10. The Sochi Olympics will also feature the debut of Team BMW as they jump into sled-building business.The speed pros will be designing bobsleds for the American team as they hope to win an Olympics gold after 78 years.

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