Sixteen articles on winter sport: ski legends Killy, Klammer, Tomba, Maier and Vonn, short-track star Cathy Turner, eight Olympic disciplines from biathlon to snowboarding, the Winter Olympics, Nagano 1998 and Cortina d'Ampezzo.
The Winter Olympics began in 1924 as a week-long trial event in France and grew into a festival of speed, courage and precision on snow and ice. This collection covers the sports and the champions that made it. It follows the great alpine skiers Jean-Claude Killy, Franz Klammer, Alberto Tomba, Hermann Maier and Lindsey Vonn, short-track champion Cathy Turner, and eight Olympic disciplines: biathlon, bobsleigh, curling, figure skating, ski jumping, speed skating and snowboarding, plus the Winter Games themselves, the 1998 Nagano Olympics and the Dolomite resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo.
The skiers' stories are full of drama. Killy swept all three alpine golds at Grenoble in 1968, Klammer won his legendary 1976 downhill with the weight of Austria on his shoulders, and Maier survived a 65-mph crash at Nagano only to win two golds days later. Vonn collected 82 World Cup wins and once won a cow called Olympe, while Tomba grew up far from the mountains and still won 50 World Cup races.
Every sport has its own science and quirks. Biathletes fire between heartbeats at targets the size of a golf ball, curling stones come mostly from a single Scottish island, bobsleigh brakemen never touch the brakes during a run, and ski jumpers must meet a strict BMI rule. Speed skaters gained huge speed from the hinged clap skate, and Steven Bradbury won gold after all his rivals crashed on the final turn.
From Walt Disney's 1960 opening ceremony to Cortina's return as a host in 2026, the Winter Games are full of surprising history. Pick an article below to read fifteen facts.
Every item on this page, with the one fact most people get wrong about it.
| Name | Where you'll meet it | The fact worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Lindsey Vonn | USA, alpine skiing | She won a pet cow named Olympe. |
| Alberto Tomba | Italy, alpine skiing | Italian television interrupted its broadcasts to show his runs. |
| Franz Klammer | Austria, downhill | He grew up on a farm without ski lifts. |
| Hermann Maier | Austria, alpine skiing | He survived a 65-mph crash at Nagano and won two gold medals days later. |
| Jean-Claude Killy | France, alpine skiing | He won all three alpine gold medals at the 1968 Grenoble Olympics. |
| Cathy Turner | USA, short-track speed skating | She retired at 18 to become a pop singer, then came back to win Olympic gold. |
| Biathlon | Skiing and shooting | Biathletes fire between heartbeats at targets as small as a golf ball. |
| Bobsleigh | Sliding sport | The brakeman never touches the brakes during the race. |
| Curling | Scotland, 16th century | Most Olympic curling stones come from a single Scottish island. |
| Figure Skating | Jumps, spins and artistry on ice | The Axel is the only jump with a forward take-off. |
| Ski Jumping | Norway, 1800s | The ski-flying world record is over 250 metres. |
| Speed Skating | Long and short track | Steven Bradbury won Olympic gold after every rival crashed on the final turn. |
| Olympic Snowboarding | Olympic since 1998 | The first Olympic champion almost lost his gold over cannabis. |
| Winter Olympics | Since 1924 | Walt Disney produced the opening ceremony of the 1960 Games. |
| 1998 Winter Olympics | Nagano, Japan | Sumo grand champions purified the stadium at the opening ceremony. |
| Cortina d'Ampezzo | Dolomites, Italy | It hosted the first Winter Olympics ever shown on television. |
Most World Cup Wins
82
Lindsey Vonn won 82 World Cup races, one of the greatest records in alpine skiing. Lindsey Vonn
Longest Ski Jump
250+ metres
The ski-flying world record stands at more than 250 metres. Ski Jumping
Narrowest Gold
0.04 seconds
Cathy Turner won her first Olympic gold by just four hundredths of a second. Cathy Turner
USA, alpine skiing
Lindsey Vonn won 82 World Cup races and petitioned to race against men. She raced with a severed nerve and won Olympic gold with a badly bruised shin. She spoke fluent German to intimidate rivals and is a Law & Order superfan.
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Italy, alpine skiing
"Tomba la Bomba" grew up far from the Alps and burst onto the Olympic stage in Calgary. He won three Olympic golds and 50 World Cup races, winning races in eleven straight seasons. He served in Italy's military police and starred in a cult action film.
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Austria, downhill
Franz Klammer won the 1976 Olympic downhill in front of an expectant nation and holds the men's record for downhill wins. His yellow suit became iconic, and he dominated the Hahnenkamm. He later raced cars professionally.
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Austria, alpine skiing
Rejected as too small, Hermann Maier worked as a bricklayer before being discovered as a forerunner. He set a record of 2,000 World Cup points in a season and nearly lost a leg in a 2001 motorcycle crash. He later skied 250 miles across Antarctica.
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France, alpine skiing
Jean-Claude Killy grew up in Val d'Isère and overcame tuberculosis to win the first World Cup in 1967. He co-organised the 1992 Albertville Olympics and spent decades in the IOC. A huge ski area, Espace Killy, bears his name.
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USA, short-track speed skating
Cathy Turner won back-to-back Olympic 500-metre titles in 1992 and 1994, the first by just 0.04 seconds. She performed with the Ice Capades, earned a computer systems degree and appeared on American Gladiators. She won four Olympic medals in total.
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Skiing and shooting
Biathlon grew out of Scandinavian hunting and military patrols. Competitors shoot from 50 metres with heart rates above 180, and ammunition is tested in freezers. Ole Einar Bjørndalen is known as the king of the sport.
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Sliding sport
Bobsleigh takes its name from an old head-bobbing technique, and athletes wear shoes covered in metal spikes. Sleds reach over 90 mph and are steered with D-rings. There are fewer than twenty certified tracks in the world.
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Scotland, 16th century
Curling is called "the roaring game" because of the sound of the stones. The oldest known stone dates from 1511, and each stone weighs nearly 44 pounds. Winners traditionally buy the losers a drink.
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Jumps, spins and artistry on ice
Figure skating takes its name from compulsory figures traced on the ice. Surya Bonaly landed an illegal one-footed backflip at the Olympics, and a 2002 judging scandal ended the 6.0 system. Skaters never glide on flat blades.
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Norway, 1800s
Ski jumping began as a show of military bravery, and the V-style revolutionised the sport. Jumpers must meet a strict BMI rule and land in the Telemark position for top marks. Eddie the Eagle even inspired a new rule.
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Long and short track
The hinged clap skate shattered world records, and elite skaters race barefoot inside their boots. Eric Heiden swept the 1980 Olympic events and Dan Jansen won an emotional record-breaking gold. Suits borrow aerodynamic principles from golf balls.
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Olympic since 1998
Snowboarding began as a backyard toy called the Snurfer and was banned from most ski resorts in the 1980s. Lindsey Jacobellis lost a sure gold by showing off, and Shaun White built a secret halfpipe in the wilderness. Max Parrot won gold three years after beating cancer.
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Since 1924
The first Winter Games were not officially called the Olympics, and horses once pulled skiers in a demonstration event. The army had to rescue the 1964 Innsbruck Games, and the flame has travelled underwater and into space. Norway has won the most medals.
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Nagano, Japan
Nagano saw the debut of snowboarding and women's ice hockey, and the Czech Republic beat the NHL stars to hockey gold. Tara Lipinski became the youngest individual champion, and the medals used Japanese lacquerware. Hermann Maier won double gold after a horrific crash.
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Dolomites, Italy
Cortina's bell tower chimes the same melody as Big Ben, and its peaks glow pink at sunset. James Bond skied its bobsleigh run, and it stood in for Colorado in Cliffhanger. It co-hosted the Winter Olympics again in 2026.
Read the full article →8 questions, every answer is somewhere above.
1. What animal did Lindsey Vonn win in Europe?
2. What did Hermann Maier work as before becoming a ski champion?
3. What did Jean-Claude Killy achieve at the 1968 Olympics?
4. What career did Cathy Turner pursue after retiring at 18?
5. Where do most Olympic curling stones come from?
6. Which is the only figure-skating jump with a forward take-off?
7. Which toy did snowboarding start as?
8. Who produced the opening ceremony of the 1960 Winter Olympics?
Norway has won more Winter Olympic medals than any other nation, led by stars such as biathlon king Ole Einar Bjørndalen and cross-country legend Bjørn Dæhlie.
Mostly not. Olympic gold medals are made largely of sterling silver with a gold coating. At Nagano in 1998, the medals were even crafted using traditional Japanese lacquerware.
Rapid sweeping briefly melts the surface and creates a thin lubricating layer of water, letting the stone travel farther and straighter. The ice is deliberately sprayed to be bumpy rather than smooth.
Jamaica's 1988 team crashed at the Calgary Olympics and inspired the film Cool Runnings, though the real events played out differently from the movie.
At Nagano in 1998, where its first champion almost lost his gold over cannabis. The same Games saw women's ice hockey debut and curling return after 74 years.
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