Sonja Henie (NOR) was just 11 years of age at Chamonix 1924, where she understandably suffered from a lack of experience and finished last in the women’s figure skating competition. At St. Moritz 1928, aged 15, she showed maturity beyond her years, impressing fans and judges alike as she deservedly claimed her first Olympic gold medal.

“In the opinion of the experts, never has a pairs skating competition been so beautiful to watch and so difficult to judge, due to the quality of the competitors involved. Consequently, numerous couples were awarded the same number of points by several judges, and the standings were determined by the technical merit score, which outweighs the presentation score, as stipulated by the rules.” This was the way in which Frantz Reichel summed up the 1924 figure skating pairs competition in the official report for the Games.

Not long after the end of the First World War, the city of Antwerp hosted the Games of the VII Olympiad, a magnificent edition studded with achievements that have gone down in history. The Games began in the Flemish city on 20 April 1920 at the Palais de Glace with figure skating, returning to the Olympic programme after its debut at London 1908, and ice hockey, which was making its first appearance. Both events proved to be a huge success. 

Since their first edition in 2012, the Winter Youth Olympic Games have been used as a testing ground for innovative sporting developments, and Lillehammer 2016 will be no different.

As the Lillehammer 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games come to a close, we take a look at the young athletes who caught the eye by winning more than one medal.