Over the course of just one year, a variety of Olympic facilities were built along the banks of the Arve, the river that carves its way through Chamonix Valley. The circular Olympic rink, which would also serve as the stadium for the Opening Ceremony, had a 27,660m2 skating surface installed, featuring a racing track and a curling sheet, which required prior construction of a concrete flood wall to support the embankment that was preventing the river from bursting its banks. The water pipes were then modified so that a thin layer of water could be sprayed onto the icy surface.

Events held on ice, such as figure skating (at London 1908 and Antwerp 1920) and ice hockey (at Antwerp 1920) had already featured at the Games prior to 1924, but IOC President Pierre de Coubertin was a strong advocate for integrating as many winter sports as possible in the Olympic programme, arguing that they should enjoy the same standing as summer sports.

On 25 January 1924, on the morning of the Opening Ceremony, there was an immense feeling of collective relief, as, after several days of rain, during which the newly built ice rink had at times resembled a pond, local temperatures finally dropped, bringing the freezing weather that the organisers had prayed for. To top things off, the sun even made an appearance, illuminating the entire valley and encouraging a huge number of sport enthusiasts from the town and surrounding areas to attend the opening.

Are you familiar with tug of war? Did you know that only two teams took part in the rugby 15s competition, that the oldest Olympic medallist in history was a 72-year-old Swede or that Brazil already had its first gold medallist 100 years ago? Here are some facts from the great history of 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. 

Just as the Belgians reigned supreme in the epée and the Italians showed their prowess in the foil, in the sabre events it was the Hungarians who underlined their status as world masters, completing a clean sweep in the individual competition and winning gold in the team competition.

The 1912 Games were a groundbreaking edition for female Olympians. For the first time, swimming competitions for women were included – with 100m freestyle and 4x100m freestyle races on the programme.

The brainchild of Baron de Coubertin, the modern pentathlon made its first appearance at the Olympic Games in 1912.

Cycling had a limited presence at Stockholm 1912, and almost did not appear on the schedule at all. In fact, this was the only time in the Games’ history that didn’t feature track cycling, with the sole event being a road race that took place around Lake Malaren, Sweden’s third largest lake, on 7 July.

The Detroit-born athlete, Ralph Craig, was originally a hurdling specialist, but in Stockholm he showed his sprinting aptitude to devastating effect.