Abstract des Autors

The "Winter Olympic Games" did not officially exist in 1924. Nevertheless, a so-called "international winter sports week" took place from the 25th of January to the 5th of February in Chamonix as a "prelude" to the Olympic Games of Paris. Thanks to a proposal discussed during the IOC Congress in Prague in 1925 and confirmed during the 24th IOC session in Lisbon in May 1926, this event was renamed the first Winter Olympic Games in history, thus initiating a posteriori a cycle which continued till nowadays. At the time of the winter contests in Chamonix the question of naming the event obviously reflected a rather political problem, opposing on the one hand the Scandinavians and on the other the French, Swiss and Canadians, on the control of the main international winter sport competitions. In brief the Winter Olympic Games were perceived as a potential concurrent for the Nordic Games organized in Sweden and Norway since the early XXth Century. These facts are known and have been in the focus of many scholars analysing the Games of Chamonix. Much less known, however, are the role played by this event for the organizers of the Summer Olympic Games and the difficult relationships between Chamonix and Paris during the years of preparation. Behind the international level, the local and the national stakes must not be neglected.