Winter Olympics
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98 free Winter Olympics trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
The Winter Olympics began almost by accident: an "International Winter Sports Week" in Chamonix in 1924 that the IOC only retroactively declared the first Winter Games a year later. Since then the Games have been to three continents and thirteen countries, survived a world war, split from the Summer Games in 1994, and grown from 16 events to well over 100. These 98 questions run the whole century. The early years bring an 11-year-old Sonja Henie, the only man to win Summer and Winter gold in different sports, and the Austrian army hauling snow into Innsbruck. The Cold War decades cover Squaw Valley's Disney-produced ceremonies, Eric Heiden's five golds and the Miracle on Ice. Later Games add Torvill and Dean, Eddie the Eagle, the Lillehammer skating saga, the Salt Lake bribery affair, the most expensive Games ever staged in Sochi, and the hosts lined up for 2030 and 2034. The easy tier asks about famous hosts and moments; the expert tier goes to torch relays on skis, demonstration sports with dogs, and the Italian count who first proposed a winter week in 1911. Every answer is cited and briefly explained.
30 of 98 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which town were the first Winter Olympics held, in 1924?
Chamonix
Chamonix: it was billed as an 'International Winter Sports Week', not the Olympics, and only later recognised by the IOC as the first Winter Games.
Q 02Whose ex-husband orchestrated the attack on skater Nancy Kerrigan weeks before the 1994 Winter Olympics?
Tonya Harding
Tonya Harding: she was still allowed to skate at those Games, but finished eighth while Kerrigan took silver.
Q 03Which resort was the first to host the Winter Olympics twice?
St. Moritz
St. Moritz: in neutral Switzerland most of its 1928 venues were still available, so it could host the first post-war Games.
Q 04Where were the Winter Olympics first held outside Europe?
Lake Placid
Lake Placid: the worldwide Depression kept teams away, so only 17 countries took part.
Q 05Which figure skater finished last at the first Winter Olympics, aged just 11?
Sonja Henie
Sonja Henie: four years later she won the first of three straight Olympic titles, then became a Hollywood film star.
Q 06Olympic curling stones are made from granite quarried on which uninhabited Scottish island?
Ailsa Craig
Ailsa Craig: its rare microgranite is unusually hard and resistant to impact, which is why Kays of Scotland makes Olympic stones from it.
Q 07Gillis Grafström, first to win gold at both Summer and Winter Games, competed in which sport?
Figure skating
Figure skating: he won his first gold at the 1920 Antwerp Summer Games, which included skating, then two Winter golds and a 1932 silver.
Q 08Eddie Eagan won a 1932 bobsleigh gold after winning a 1920 gold in which sport?
Boxing
Boxing: after his 1920 light-heavyweight title, Eagan went on to study at Oxford, and twelve years later won gold in the four-man bobsled.
Q 09Which leader opened the Winter Olympics where alpine skiing made its debut?
Hitler
Hitler: his regime took down antisemitic signs before those Games and let Jewish player Rudi Ball join Germany's hockey team.
Q 10The cancelled 1940 Winter Games had originally been awarded to which city?
Sapporo
Sapporo: as Japan's war with China dragged on, the city withdrew in July 1938, and it finally hosted the Winter Games in 1972.
Q 11The 1952 Oslo flame was lit in the fireplace of which skiing pioneer's house?
Sondre Norheim
Sondre Norheim: the flame came from the hearth of his birthplace in Morgedal and was carried to Oslo in a relay run entirely on skis.
Q 12At the 1956 opening ceremony, final torchbearer Guido Caroli entered the stadium how?
On ice skates
On ice skates: the speed skater tripped over a wire and fell, but he wasn't hurt, the torch stayed lit, and he went on to light the cauldron.
Q 13Which country won ice hockey gold at its first Winter Olympics, in 1956?
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union: its upset hockey win began decades of dominance, and it topped the medal table on its Winter Olympic debut.
Q 21Which U.S. city gave up the 1976 Winter Olympics after voters rejected public funding?
Denver
Denver: after the 1972 vote the city withdrew, and Innsbruck, host in 1964, stepped in to stage the Games again.
Q 22Which American speed skater won five individual golds at the 1980 Winter Olympics?
Eric Heiden
Eric Heiden: after retiring he became a professional cyclist and finished the 1985 Giro d'Italia, then trained as an orthopaedic surgeon.
Q 23The 1980 "Miracle on Ice" U.S. hockey team was composed of whom?
College players
College players: their opponents were veteran pros with nominal day jobs, yet the students won 4–3 and went on to take gold.
Q 14Which Hollywood figure ran the opening and closing ceremonies at the 1960 Winter Olympics?
Walt Disney
Walt Disney: a snowstorm delayed the opening by an hour, but his show still went ahead, releasing 2,000 birds over the arena.
Q 15Through 2026, which host city held the only Winter Olympics without bobsleigh?
Squaw Valley
Squaw Valley: a poll found only nine nations would send teams, so organisers refused to build a bob run despite the bobsleigh federation's petitions.
Q 16Who hauled snow and ice to the venues when Innsbruck ran short in 1964?
The Austrian army
The Austrian army: soldiers hauled snow to the ski courses and packed it down after a warm foehn wind left them bare.
Q 17Which city hosted the 1968 Winter Olympics?
Grenoble
Grenoble: there Peggy Fleming won the women's skating gold, seven years after a plane crash had killed the entire US skating team.
Q 18Which skier won all three men's alpine events at the 1968 Winter Olympics?
Jean-Claude Killy
Jean-Claude Killy: he matched Toni Sailer's 1956 sweep, but his slalom win came only after a rival's disqualification.
Q 19Which Austrian skier was banned from the 1972 Winter Olympics as a professional?
Karl Schranz
Karl Schranz: IOC president Avery Brundage made an example of him over ski-maker deals, though almost every top skier had such contracts.
Q 20Francisco Fernández Ochoa won 1972 slalom gold as the first Winter champion from where?
Spain
Spain: his slalom win was a major upset, and his sister Blanca won Spain's second Winter Olympic medal, a slalom bronze, 20 years later.
Q 24Torvill and Dean's perfect-scoring 1984 free dance was set to which piece?
Boléro
Boléro: all nine judges gave Torvill and Dean a perfect 6.0 for artistic impression, and the pair turned professional soon afterwards.
Q 25At which 1988 host city did Dutch skater Yvonne van Gennip win three speed-skating golds?
Calgary
Calgary: the same Games saw favourite Dan Jansen fall in both his races after learning that his sister had died.
Q 26Taron Egerton played which 1988 Winter Olympian in a 2016 biopic?
Eddie Edwards
Eddie 'the Eagle' Edwards: a plasterer with poor eyesight, he finished last in both ski jumps yet set British records in each.
Q 27Cool Runnings is about which nation's 1988 bobsled team?
Jamaica
Jamaica: the real four-man team lost control and crashed on its third run at those Games.
Q 28Which Finnish ski jumper won all three events in his sport in 1988?
Matti Nykänen
Matti Nykänen: 1988 was the first Games with a team ski-jumping event, so his three golds made him the most successful jumper at a single Games.
Q 29Which 1992 host staged the last Winter Games held in the same year as a Summer Games?
Albertville
Albertville: the IOC had decided in 1986 to split the cycles, so the next Winter Games followed after only two years.
Q 30Through 2026, which host city was the northernmost ever to stage the Winter Olympics?
Lillehammer
Lillehammer: at its opening ceremony a ski jumper carried the flame down the hill, standing in for a teammate who was hurt in practice.