The
1952 Winter Olympics were held in and around
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...
,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
, from 14 to 25 February 1952. Ten competition and eight non-competition venues were used, in addition to three designated, but unused, reserve competition venues. Six of the competition venues were located in Oslo, while one each was located in
Bærum
Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). It is part of the electoral ...
,
Skedsmo Skedsmo was a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Romerike. The administrative centre of the municipality was the town of Lillestrøm. About one third of the municipal population lived in Lillestrøm. ...
,
Drammen
Drammen () is a city and municipality in Viken, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and villages such as Konne ...
and
Krødsherad
Krødsherad (''Krødsherad kommune'') is a municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Noresund. The municipality of Krødsherad was established when it was separated from the municipali ...
.
Bislett stadion
Bislett Stadium ( no, Bislett stadion) is a sports stadium in Oslo, Norway. Bislett is Norway's most well known sports arena internationally, with 15 speed skating world records and more than 50 track and field world records having been set here ...
was the centerpiece of the games, hosting the
opening and closing ceremonies, the
speed skating
Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skatin ...
and the
figure skating
Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are m ...
. Bislett featured both a circumference speed skating track and a long rink used for figure skating, separated by snow banks.
[Organising Committee for the VI Winter Olympic Games (1952): 28] Two reserve venues were designated for the skating events,
Tryvann stadion in Oslo and
Hamar stadion in
Hamar
Hamar is a town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the traditional region of Hedmarken. The town is located on the shores of Mjøsa, Norway's largest lake ...
.
[Organising Committee for the VI Winter Olympic Games (1952): 31–32]
Jordal Amfi
Jordal Amfi was an indoor ice hockey rink in Oslo, Norway, the first bearing that name. The venue opened in 1951 to host the 1952 Winter Olympics. Jordal was also the site of the 1958 and the 1999 IIHF World Championship. It would in the followi ...
, an outdoor
artificial ice
An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...
rink,
[Organising Committee for the VI Winter Olympic Games (1952): 30] was built with a capacity for 10,000 spectators. This allowed
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...
to be played on artificial ice for the first time at the Olympics.
Of the tournament's 36 matches, 23 were played at Jordal, while the remaining were played at
Kadettangen in Bærum,
Dælenenga idrettspark in Oslo,
Lillestrøm stadion
Lillestrøm idrettspark, colloquially known as Lillestrøm stadion, is a sports facility located at Lillestrøm in Skedsmo, Norway. The main venue is Romerike friidrettsstadion, an athletics stadium with eight all-weather running tracks. It has ...
in Skedsmo and
Marienlyst stadion
The Marienlyst Stadion has been the home ground of Strømsgodset Toppfotball since 1967. It's located on Marienlyst in Drammen, Norway.
History
The pitch was opened in 1924, and was the home ground of Drafn, Skiold and Drammens BK. The final ...
in Drammen.
[
The ]ski jumping
Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fina ...
, cross-country skiing and Nordic combined
Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in cross-country skiing and ski jumping. The Nordic combined at the Winter Olympics has been held since the first ever Winter Olympics in 1924, while the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup ...
events were held at Holmenkollbakken
Holmenkollbakken is a large ski jumping hill located at Holmenkollen in Oslo, Norway. It has a hill size of HS134, a construction point of K-120, and a capacity for 70,000 spectators. Holmenkollen has hosted the Holmenkollen Ski Festival since ...
, from the city center.[Organising Committee for the VI Winter Olympic Games (1952): 32] Although upgraded several times since its opening in 1892, the former wooden superstructure was replaced with a concrete tower and in-run ahead of the Olympics, with the out-run being extended to . Stands were erected to seat 13,000 people, with capacity for an additional 130,000 standing spectators at the base of the hill.[Organising Committee for the VI Winter Olympic Games (1952): 33] Cross-country races started and ended at the base of the ski hill.[Organising Committee for the VI Winter Olympic Games (1952): 34] A switchboard was posted at the start and finish lines to help spectators monitor the progress of the competitors during the races.[Organising Committee for the VI Winter Olympic Games (1952): 35] Most of the stands built for the ski jumping competition had to be removed for the cross-country races. As a result, there was little room for spectators to sit and watch the cross-country events. Spectators were therefore allowed to walk within the course.[
The alpine skiing events were split between Rødkleiva, located in Oslo near Holmenkollen, and ]Norefjell
Norefjell is a mountain range in the Scandes Mountains system in Norway. It stretches between the valleys of Eggedal (west) and Hallingdal (east). It covers parts of the municipalities Flå, Sigdal, and Krødsherad, all in the county Busker ...
, located at Krødsherad, from Oslo and the only venue outside Greater Oslo. Rødkleiva featured the slalom events, with an elevation difference on the hill of and a course length of .[Organising Committee for the VI Winter Olympic Games (1952): 35–36] Downhill and giant slalom, the latter of which was making its Olympic debut, were competed at Norefjell. Considerable construction and upgrades were made to the area to make it suitable for Olympic competition. A bridge was built across the lake of Krøderen to help with transportation concerns; a new hotel, two ski lifts, and a new road were also constructed.[
There was no permanent bobsleigh run in Norway as there was very little interest in the sport.][Organising Committee for the VI Winter Olympic Games (1952): 38] The organizers decided to build a temporary course, Korketrekkeren
Korketrekkeren (direct translation: "The Corkscrew") is a tobogganing track and former bobsleigh and luge track in Oslo, Norway. The tobogganing track runs between Frognerseteren and Midtstuen and is operated as a public venue by the municipa ...
, out of snow,[Findling and Pelle (1996): 254] which ran down the hill from Frognerseteren
Frognerseteren is a neighborhood of Oslo, Norway, located within Nordmarka. It is a popular starting point for recreational hiking and skiing in Oslo. Frognerseteren Station is the terminal station of the Holmenkollen Line of the Oslo Metro. Fro ...
, near Holmenkollen. The course was long and featured 13 turns. The run was built and tested in 1951, and was rebuilt in 1952 in time for the Olympics.[
]
Competition venues
The following list contains the ten venues used for competitions during the 1952 Winter Olympics. They are listed by their name, as well as containing the sports held at the venue, the municipality where they are located and the spectator capacity.
Reserve venues
Three reserve venues were designated, should the weather not make it possible to hold events in Oslo. The following list contains the venue, the municipality they are located in, and the events for which they were designated.
Non-competition venues
The following is a list of the eight non-competition venues for the Olympics. This includes the name of the venue, the municipality in which it is located and its purpose.
Post-Olympic use
Bislett remained a speed skating venue until 1988, after which it only hosted athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competi ...
and football.[Eriksen and Greve (1995): 110] Between 1925 and 1986, it saw 13 world championships
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
and 10 European championships in speed skating. The structure was demolished and replaced with a new stadium in 2005. It hosts the annual Bislett Games
The Bislett Games is an annual track and field meeting at the Bislett Stadium in Oslo, Norway. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League.
History
The first international athletics meeting at Bisl ...
, now part of the Diamond League in athletics. Marienlyst is used as a football stadium, and hosts both Strømsgodset IF
Strømsgodset IF is a Norwegian multi-sports club from Gulskogen in Drammen. It has sections for association football, handball and bandy, but is best known for the top-level football section known as Strømsgodset Toppfotball, which plays in Eli ...
and the Norway national under-21 football team
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
. Lillestrøm, Dælenenga and Kadettangen are only used for lower-level football, as they lack any significant spectator stands. Jordal Amfi received a roof in 1972 and hosted the World Ice Hockey Championships
The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annua ...
in 1958
Events
January
* January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being.
* January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
* January 4
** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...
and 1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...
.[Eriksen and Greve (1995): 81] Holmenkollbakken has been rebuilt several times since the Olympics; most recently it was entirely rebuilt in 2010. The complex has received a ski stadium, collectively known as Holmenkollen National Arena
Holmenkollen National Arena ( no, Holmenkollen nasjonalanlegg) is a Nordic skiing, ski jumping and biathlon venue located at Holmenkollen in Oslo, Norway. It consists of the large ski jumping hill Holmenkollbakken, the normal hill Midtstubak ...
. In addition to the annual Holmenkollen Ski Festival
The Holmenkollen Ski Festival ( no, Holmenkollen skifestival or ) is a traditional annual Nordic skiing event in Holmenkollen, Oslo, Norway. The full official name of the event is Holmenkollen FIS World Cup Nordic.
History
It takes place in March ...
, the hill hosted the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships is a biennial nordic skiing event organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS). The World Championships was started in 1925 for men and opened for women's participation in 1954. World Championship eve ...
in 1930
Events
January
* January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will b ...
, 1966, 1982 and 2011.
References
Bibliography
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{{featured list
1952 Winter Olympics venues
Winter Olympics 1952
Oslo-related lists