When you think about the kinds of sports played in winter, nothing can compare to the icy championships of The Winter Games.
The Winter Games History
The first ever Winter Olympics was held in 1924 in Chamonix, France. Events were held over 11 days. The key events were cross country skiing, Nordic combined skiing, military patrol skiing, ski jumping, curling, ice hockey, bobsleigh, figure skating and speed skating. Since then the games have been held every 4 years except for during World War II. The games have developed and expanded with many more sports added including snowboarding. For a period of time the summer and winter olympics were held during the same year but after 1992 the games were split into alternating even years.
Pyeong Chang 2018
The last Winter Olympics were held at Pyeong Chang in South Korea. This was the first time ever the Winter Games had been held in the country. Some new sports were added to the international competition – mixed team alpine skiing and mixed doubles curling. Also added was mass start speed skating and big air snowboarding. The traditional torch relay was marked by the inclusion of 7,500 torch bearers to represent the population of 75million people. Additionally, the torch was protected by 2018 support runners.
Highlights included Czech Republic’s Esther Ledecka who won gold medals in two different sports. She took gold in the super-G skiing event and snowboarding parallel giant slalom. Canadians Tess Virtue and Scott Moir took gold in ice dance and in the team competition, becoming the most decorated and famous figure skaters in the history of the Winter Olympics.
Russia was subject to a doping scandal and lost a bronze medal that had been won in the mixed doubles curling.
Beijing 2022
The next Winter Games starts on Friday 4th of February 2022 and ends on Sunday 20th of February. The games will be held across 3 provinces and attract international participants from around the world.
However, the games are often the subject to controversy and political under tones. The upcoming games are no different, with many calls to boycott the games. The reason for the criticism is to highlight human rights issues in China. In particular focus at the moment is the labor program in Xinjiang for the Uighurs. Countries around the world are still deciding whether to designate China’s actions as genocide. In October 2020 over 160 human rights groups requested the games be moved. However, the International Olympic Committee has yet to make any kind of concession. Their stance seems to be to separate politics and sport.
This wouldn’t be the first time boycotts have been used during the Winter Games. In 1980 the USA and allies staged a walk out of the summer games. This was in response to the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. In return communist countries refused to participate in Los Angeles games in 1984.
Betting on the Winter Games
As technology has advanced, audiences around the world can view in depth analysis, statistics and close up shots of all the winter games events. Popular online betting sites for Canadians include betway sports, spin sports, and 888sport. The Olympics are so famous and enjoyed by people around the world. For this reason most online bookmakers will offer odds on major events. Betting on sporting events can make the result a bit more fun. However, we strongly urge you to only bet for entertainment, and only what you can afford to lose. Anything can happen on the event day, there are no guaranteed wins!
