The Olympic Games are an international sporting event. It will take place every 4 years for sports practiced on snow and ice. These are the youngest Winter Olympics. The first Winter Olympics were held in 1924 in Chamonix, France. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get the original essay The Winter Olympic Games (official name) (French: Jeux Olympiques d'hiver) is a major international sporting event held annually times every four years, for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympics, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held in Chamonix, France. The Olympic Games were inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which took place in Olympia, Greece, from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894, leading to the first modern Games in Athens in 1896. The IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure and authority. The top five sports (divided into nine disciplines) were bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, Nordic skiing (comprising the disciplines military patrol, cross-country skiing, Nordic combined and ski jumping) and skating (comprising the disciplines disciplines figure skating and speed skating). ). The Games were held every four years from 1924 to 1936, interrupted in 1940 and 1944 by World War II, and resumed in 1948. Until 1992, the Winter and Summer Olympic Games were held the same years, but in accordance with a decision taken in 1986 by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to place the Summer and Winter Games on separate cycles of four years, alternating even years, the next Olympic Games Winter Games after 1992 will take place in 1994. The Winter Games have evolved since their creation. Sports and disciplines were added and some of them, such as alpine skiing, luge, short track speed skating, freestyle skiing, skeleton and snowboarding, earned a permanent place on the Olympic program. Others, notably curling and bobsleigh, were abandoned and then reintroduced; others were permanently abandoned, such as the military patrol, although the modern winter Olympic sport of biathlon evolved from it. Still others, such as speed skiing, bandy and skijoring, were demonstration sports but were never incorporated as Olympic sports. The rise of television as a global means of communication increased the visibility of the Games. It generated revenue through the sale of broadcasting and advertising rights, which became lucrative for the IOC. This allowed outside interests, such as television companies and corporate sponsors, to exert influence. The IOC has had to face several criticisms, internal scandals, the use of performance-enhancing drugs by Winter Olympic athletes, as well as a political boycott of the Winter Olympics. Nations used the Winter (as well as Summer) Games to proclaim the superiority of their political systems. The Winter Olympics were hosted on three continents by eleven different countries. The Games have been held four times in the United States (1932, 1960, 1980, 2002); in France three times (1924, 1968, 1992); and in Austria (1964, 1976), Canada (1988, 2010), Japan (1972, 1998), Italy (1956, 2006), Norway (1952, 1994) and Switzerland (1928, 1948) at two times. In addition, the Games have been held once in Germany (1936), Yugoslavia (1984) and Russia (2014). The IOC has chosen Pyeongchang, South Korea, to host the 2018 Winter Olympics and Beijing, China, to host the Olympics,.