The first Olympic Winter Villages
The three Olympic Villages used at Oslo 1952 are regarded as the first Olympic Winter Games Villages, with teams having stayed mainly in hotels at previous editions.
The Olympic Villages were spread across the city, in the areas of Sogn, Ullevål and Ila, and all remain in use today. Originally comprising 363 rooms and housing 600 athletes and coaches, Sogn Student Village was the largest of the three and has grown in size since the Games. It is now home to around 1,500 students, living in a range of accommodation: 359 one-person flats, 1,251 single rooms, 38 family flats and 35 flats for couples.
Well served by public transport, the Sogn Student Village is refurbished on a regular basis. In early 2020, for example, more cycle paths and parking areas for bicycles were built, with steps also being taken to reduce car traffic inside the village.
Some 200 of the athletes and coaches taking part at Oslo 1952 were housed in a two-block facility in the district of Ila. It was converted immediately after the Games to provide retirement housing, a function it still performs to this day, though the original blocks were rebuilt in 1996. The facility now specialises in the provision of rehabilitation services for the elderly.
The remaining 400 athletes and coaches stayed at Ullevål Village, close to the city’s municipal hospital. Post-Games, its two blocks comprising 256 rooms were used as living quarters for hospital staff, though some have since been converted into student apartments. As with Oslo’s two other Olympic Villages, Ullevål Village is well maintained and continues to provide excellent accommodation nearly seven decades on from its construction.
Additional accommodation for competitors was provided at three hotels in Norefjell, which hosted the men’s and women’s giant slalom and downhill races. Located 120 kilometres from the Norwegian capital, Norefjell is now a small ski resort with a luxury spa and aparthotel complex, making it a popular year-round destination.
Sogn Student Village was built in response to a shortage of student accommodation after World War Two. in conjunction with Oslo’s two other Olympic Villages, it increased the city’s housing stock.
At previous Olympic Winter Games, athletes had been accommodated in hotels and private homes. Breaking with that tradition, the Oslo 1952 Organising Committee decided to make the city’s hotels available for dignitaries, the press and travelling spectators only, and to build specific accommodation for competitors.