In May 1931 in Barcelona, at the IOC session, it was decided that the 1936 Summer Olympics would be held in Berlin, and the winter Olympics - in two other German cities - Garmisch and Partenkirchen. These towns won the fight against the German cities of Schreiberhau and Braunlag, as well as St. Moritz (Switzerland). A total of 646 athletes took part in the Games, including 80 women, from 28 countries. 17 sets of awards were played. For the first time, Australian, Greek, Spanish, Bulgarian athletes and athletes from Liechtenstein took part in the Olympic Games.
A stormy wave of protest erupted from countries and athletes who did not want to come to a country with a fascist regime, but the IOC did not react to this. Nevertheless, the Organizing Committee of the Olympics made great efforts to ensure that more countries and athletes participated in the Olympics. So, in response to the statement of the US National Olympic Committee that they did not have enough funds to send the national team to Germany, an anonymous donation came ($ 50,000).
The German leadership tried to propagate its regime, its hatred of Jews. However, we must pay tribute to the IOC and in particular to its president, Henri de Bayeux-Latour. In a conversation with Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler, he said that plaques and shields with inscriptions like "Jews are undesirable here" or "Dogs and Jews are not allowed in" should be removed from city streets and toilet doors, because they contradict Olympic traditions. Then Hitler asked the question: "Mr. President, when you are invited to visit, you do not teach the owners how to look after the house, do you?" However, Latour found an answer: “I'm sorry, Chancellor, but when the flag with five rings is displayed in the stadium, it is no longer Germany. This is Olympia, and we are the masters in it. " After that, the signs were removed. It is worth noting that there was one Jewish athlete in the German national team - Rudi Bal.
During World War II, the fascist regime treated the athletes who performed in Garmisch-Partenkirchen cruelly. One of the saddest examples is the imprisonment in a concentration camp of the Norwegian Birger Ruud, a two-time Olympic ski jumping champion.
For the first time, competitions in alpine skiing were included in the Olympic program. Both men and women participated. The champions were the Germans - Christel Krantz and Franz Pfnur.
The IOC banned ski instructors from participating in competitions, and they, by the way, were professionals. Austrian and Swiss skiers boycotted the Games. Only a few Austrians went to the start, and even then under the flag of Germany.
Also, for the first time at the Olympic Games, the men's ski relay 4x10 km was held. Finns became champions in it. Norwegian skater Ivar Ballangrud became the hero of the Olympics, winning gold in the distances of 500, 5000 and 10000 m and gold in the distance of 1500 m. Here the phenomenal figure skater from Norway Sonya Heni won her third (and, by the way, the last) gold medal in the Olympic Games.
In hockey, the Canadians unexpectedly lost in the final to Great Britain, which, however, consisted of natives of Canada.
Demonstration sports were the military patrol race and the ice-stock (Bavarian ice game). The main difference between "ice drain" and curling is that the speed of movement of stones with the help of brushes does not change.
Result: a confident victory of the Norwegians in the team event (7 gold, 5 silver and 3 bronze medals). The second - the Germans, due to the success of the skiers (3-3-0), the third - the Swedes (2-2-3).
