The Norwegian city of Oslo - the organizer of the VI Olympic Winter Games in 1952 - received the right to host the competition as a result of a vote of the IOC members, and not a meeting, as it was before. The American Lake Placid and the Italian Cortina d'Ampezzo also fought for this right.
For the first time in history, the Games were held in the capital of the state, and not in a small resort town, as it was before. The Norwegian princess Ragnhild opened the White Olympics on February 14, and Torbjorn Falkanger, a ski jumping athlete, took the oath on behalf of all Olympians. A feature of the Oslo Games was the numerous religious services that took place on February 14, 24 and 25. The closing took place on February 25 at the Bislett stadium, where the Olympic relay was taken over by the representative of the Italian city of Cortina d'Ampezzo, the next capital of the Winter Games.
Unlike the previous Olympics in St. Moritz, the Games in the Norwegian capital enjoyed great interest from the audience. A new bobsleigh track, an ice skating rink "Jordan Amphi" with artificial ice, a stadium "Bislett" was built, a springboard in Holmenkollen was repaired especially for this event. The technical equipment of the athletes, the press, as well as the medical care were top notch.
694 athletes from 30 countries competed for the Olympic medals in Oslo. There were 109 women among the athletes. 22 sets of medals were played in 8 sports. For the first time, the Portuguese and New Zealanders fought for the Olympic awards. The German national team was admitted to the competition from Germany, but the athletes from the GDR themselves refused to participate. The USSR again acted only as an observer.
There have been changes in the program of the Olympic Games. In particular, the skeleton and the demonstration race of military patrols disappeared from it. On the other hand, a demo ball hockey tournament was held. Medals were awarded in bobsled, alpine skiing and speed skating, cross-country skiing and nordic combined, figure skating, ski jumping, ice hockey.
The hosts of the competition became the winners of the VI Winter Olympics in 1952: the Norwegians were first in 7 disciplines, second in 3 and third in 6. The Americans were in second place with 11 medals (4-6-1), and the Finnish national team was third with 9 medals (3-4-2).
