Canada playing the United States in the Chamonix hockey final. Canada proved victorious. (Source: Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Used with permission. )

The ‘First’ Winter Olympics

How Chamonix 1924 iced out a rival Nordic competition

The year was 1924. The place was Chamonix, a French Alpine town just below the snowy slopes of Mont Blanc. There, a global sporting tradition began—albeit modestly. At the time, the event was called La Semaine Internationale des Sports d’Hiver — International Winter Sports Week. The following year, the International Olympic…