The father of the modern Olympics,
Pierre de Coubertin, wasn't 
particularly interested in holding 
winter games, and had to be 
convinced.  It took years.  The only 
part of the world where snow 
sports were played competitively at
the beginning of the 20th century 
was Scandinavia.  Every four 
years, Nordic games were held 
among the Scandinavian countries 
which were similar to the Olympics,
and featured cross-country skiing 
events, ski jumping, and a variation 
of ice hockey called bandy.

Alpine - downhill - ski racing wasn't
even invented until early in the 
20th century, and then, by an 
English Methodist missionary 
named Henry Lunn.  The early 
summer Olympics included the 
winter sports figure skating and ice
 hockey, but the first winter games 
were not held until 1924, in 
Chamonix, France.  And these 
games were not officially 
recognized as the first Winter 
Olympics until 1926, when their 
status was accorded retroactively.
Before that, the event was known 
as Chamonix International Sports 
Week.

From those first games, which 
included only 294 competitors from 
16 countries, and just 13 women, competing in 14 events, the Winter 
Olympics has grown to 
encompass, as of 1994, 57 events,
64 countries, and 2,289 athletes.  
For an event to be included in the 
games, it must be played in at least 
25 countries over two continents.

While the Scandinavians dominated
the early games, with their 
established expertise in Nordic - 
cross country - skiing, ski jumping 
and ice skating, the balance of 
power shifted with the introduction
of downhill skiing in 1936, and then 
the emergence of the powerful 
Soviets and Eastern European 
nations, from the 1950s onward.  
The Americans and Canadians 
have also been strong in skating 
and downhill events through the 
years.

1994 saw the end of the cycle of 
staging both Winter and Summer 
Olympics in the same year.  In 
order to accommodate the change, 
the Winter Games were held in 
1992 and 1994, with the next 
games scheduled for 1998, while 
the Summer Games will be held in 
1996 and every four years 
thereafter.  That way, every two 
years there will be an Olympics.