St Moritz 1928: A famous Swiss resort cements its status
St Moritz was already an experienced host of winter sports events when it staged its first Olympic Winter Games just four years after the inaugural event, an occasion that added to the prestige of both the resort and the Games themselves.
Already a popular resort on account of its excellent winter sports facilities, St Moritz was an appealing choice as host. The centrepiece was the world-famous Cresta Run, a natural ice track that remains in use today. In fact, the only venues that had to be built for the Games were the Olympic Stadium and the ski jumping hill, which were used again – along with the three existing venues – when the Swiss resort welcomed the Olympic Winter Games for a second time 20 years later. Thanks to its well-established tradition of organising events, St Moritz also possessed the requisite knowledge and expertise to host the Games, a key factor in its successful staging, and in the resort’s selection as host once more in 1948.
The 1928 Olympic Winter Games were the first to be officially billed as such, with Chamonix 1924 being recognised as the first Olympic Winter Games only two years after the event. These were the first Olympic Games to be staged since the disbanding of the Nordic Games in 1926, which had been a focal point for Scandinavian resistance to the very concept of the Olympic Winter Games. Opposition was vocal in the lead-up to Chamonix 1924, but evaporated once the competitions began.
By the time St Moritz 1928 came around, more and more countries were willing to take part, none more eager than the Scandinavian nations, the winter sports powerhouses of the day. A total of 464 athletes from 25 countries gathered at the Swiss resort, significantly more than the 16 nations and 258 athletes that came together at Chamonix 1924. Though well short of the participation figures that modern-day Olympic Winter Games attract, they nevertheless reflected the growing appeal of this global sporting occasion, which was enhanced by the prestigious backdrop that St Moritz and the Swiss Alps provided. Though most of the competitions took place in unseasonably high temperatures, St Moritz 1928 cemented the growing appeal of the Olympic Winter Games, and marked the start of the resort’s long, illustrious and mutually beneficial association with the Olympic Movement. That association continued in 2020, when St Moritz staged the speed skating, bobsleigh, skeleton and luge competitions of the Winter Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020.