The 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China begins Friday, February 7. The 2022 Games start a little more than 98 years after the original winter games were hosted in Chamonix, France in 1924. The 1924 competition was titled “International Winter Sports Week” and was later reclassified as the first Winter Olympic Games by the International Olympic Committee, in 1928.
The 1924 Games featured Figure Skating, Bobsledding, Cross Country Skiing, Curling, Ice Hockey, Nordic Combined, Ski Jumping, Speedskating, and Military Patrol (later rebranded as Biathlon). 258 athletes from 16 countries competed in 1924, while the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea featured nearly 3,000 athletes representing 92 countries.
As we get ready to watch the world’s greatest winter athletes compete in China next month, take a moment to enjoy the attached slideshow to see how far winter sports (and winter sports fashion) has come since the earlier days of skiing, skating and other winter sports.
St. Moritz, Switzerland December 17, 1936. Curling is a very popular sport at St. Moritz. Photo: Underwood Archives/UIG 
c. 1960. A very large cross county ski race. Photo: Underwood Archives/UIG 
Lake Placid, New York c. 1920. Joe Moore, world champion amateur indoor skater, trains for international competition in Lake Placid. Moore competed in the 1924 Olympics in Chamonix, France. Photo: Underwood Archives/UIG 
c. 1939. A skier descending an untravelled mountain in a cloud of powder. Photo: Underwood Archives/UIG 
Bobsleigh. Oslo, 1952. Photo: Touring Club Italiano/Marka/UIG 
Ski slide, Virginia, Minnesota, 1910-1915. Photo: HUM Images/UIG 
International Skiing Competition for the Polish Championship in Zakopane. The winner of the 18 km race Bronislaw Czech at the finish, 1933. Photo: HUM Images/UIG 
Lake Placid, New York January 1, 1926. A portrait of L. Noble of the Yale hockey team which defeated Williams College during the past week of winter games at Lake Placid. Photo: Underwood Archives/UIG 
New York, December 13, 1927. Two members of society practice for an ice skating pageant benefit to be held at Madison Square Garden. Photo: Underwood Archives/UIG 
New York c. 1926. Speed skater Murphy at the Ice Palace in Brooklyn. Photo: Underwood Archives/UIG 
Eugenio Monti and Renzo Alverà . VII olympic games. Cortina, 1956. Photo: Touring Club Italiano/Marka/UIG 
Policeman and other spectators watch Curling in Central Park with Men having Brooms at the ready over the ice. 
Alto Adige. Curling. Photo: Touring Club Italiano/Marka/UIG 
Hockey on ice. Photo: Touring Club Italiano/Marka/UIG 
Couple Ice Skating at Tidal Basin, Washington DC, USA, Harris & Ewing, January 1930. Photo: Universal History Archive/UIG 
Woman Ice Skating with Hockey Stick with Lincoln Memorial in Background, Washington DC, USA, Harris & Ewing, January 1922. Photo: Universal History Archive/UIG 
Lake Placid, New York December 26, 1936. Skijoring in the Adirondacks. On frozen Mirror Lake, a group of skiers holds tight as horses pull them along. Photo: Underwood Archives/UIG 
Stockholm, Sweden December 12, 1926. Sail skating is one of the most popular sports in Sweden, and here is the tight finish to a race. Photo: Underwood Archives/UIG
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Sources: www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-winter-olympics