1948 Winter Olympics

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V Olympic Winter Games
Host city	St. Moritz, Switzerland
Nations participating	28
Athletes participating	669 (592 men, 77 women)
Events	22 in 4 sports
Opening ceremony	January 30
Closing ceremony	February 8
Officially opened by	Enrico Celio
Athlete's Oath	Riccardo Torriani
Stadium	St. Moritz Olympic Ice Rink

The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games, were celebrated in 1948 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The games opened on January 30, 1948. St. Moritz was also the site of the 1928 Winter Olympics.

These Games were the first in twelve years, as none were held during World War II.

[edit] Highlights

• A North American sweep in figure skating:
  • Barbara Ann Scott became the first Canadian to win the figure skating gold medal.
  • Dick Button became the first American to win a figure skating title for the United States, and also became the first figure skater to perform a double axel during an Olympic figure skating event.
• Winter pentathlon was held as a demonstration sport.
• Norway won all three medals in the ski jumping event.

[edit] Medal winners

• Alpine skiing
• Bobsleigh
• Figure skating
• Ice hockey
• Nordic skiing
  • Cross-country skiing
  • Nordic combined
  • Ski jumping
• Speed skating
• Tobogganing (skeleton)

[edit] Demonstration sports

• Military patrol
• Winter pentathlon

[edit] Participating nations

28 nations competed in St. Moritz, the same number as the previous Winter Games in 1936. Chile, Denmark, Iceland, Korea, and Lebanon all made their Winter Olympic debut at these Games. Germany and Japan were not invited because of their involvement in World War II. Estonia and Latvia had been annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940, and would not compete again as independent nations until 1992. Argentina returned to the Winter Games after missing the 1932 and 1936 Games, and Australia and Luxembourg did not compete in 1948, after having participated in 1936.

[edit] Medal count

Main article: 1948 Winter Olympics medal count

These are the top ten nations that won medals at the 1948 Winter Games.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Norway	4	3	3	10
	Sweden	4	3	3	10
3	Switzerland (host nation)	3	4	3	10
4	United States	3	4	2	9
5	France	2	1	2	5
6	Canada	2	0	1	3
7	Austria	1	3	4	8
8	Finland	1	3	2	6
9	Belgium	1	1	0	2
10	Italy	1	0	0	1

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1948 Winter Olympics