DESCRIPTION

The Participant’s medal is identical to the third-place winner’s medal. A victorious-looking athlete holding ice skates and skis stands on the obverse with an outline of the Alps in the background. The reverse has the French legend written in fourteen lines (in french) CHAMONIX / MONT BLANC / SPORTS D’HIVER / 25 JANVIER – 5 FEVRIER 1924 / ORGANISES / PAR LE /COMITE OLYMPIQUE FRANCAIS / SOUS LE HAUT PATRONAGE DU COMITE / INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIQUE / A L’OCCASION / DE LA CELEBRATION / DE LA /VIIIE OLYMPIADE / ***

THE GAMES

In 1922, the International Olympic Committee voted to stage “International Sports Week 1924” in Chamonix, France. This event was a complete success and was retroactively named the First Olympic Winter Games. The first event to be decided in Chamonix was the men’s 500m speed skating with the first gold medal going to Charles Jewtraw of the United States. Clas Thunberg of Finland earned medals in all five speed skating events: three gold, one silver and one bronze. Norway’s Thorleif Haug dominated Nordic skiing, winning both cross-country races and the Nordic combined. The Canadian ice hockey team won all five of their matches, outscoring their opponents 110 to 3.