In 1952, the VI Winter Olympic Games were held in Oslo. The Italian city of Cortina d'Ampezzo and Lake Placid (USA) also fought for the right to hold them, but the IOC members decided not in their favor. Athletes from the USSR did not participate in the Olympics, as the government feared too low results, which could adversely affect the country's reputation.
At the VI Winter Olympics in Oslo, only 22 sets of medals were played in 8 sports. In particular, competitions were held in bobsleigh, speed skating and alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, ski jumping and Nordic combined. The skeleton was excluded from the winter games program.
Interestingly, the best performance at the Oslo Olympics was its hosts, the Norwegians. It was they who managed to win the largest number of awards, including 7 gold, 3 silver and 6 bronze medals. America was in second place. Athletes from the United States received 4 gold, 6 silver and 1 bronze medals. And finally, in third place were athletes from Finland, who won 3 gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze medals.
In addition to the main sports listed above, the 1952 Winter Olympics program included demonstration ball hockey competitions. Athletes from Sweden, Norway and Finland took part in them. The winner of the tournament was Sweden, which in the main sports won only 4 bronze medals and not a single silver and gold medal, so that the Swedish athletes were able to please their compatriots. The second place in the bandy tournament was taken by Norway, and the third went to the Finns.
The 1952 Winter Olympics had several interesting features. The most important of these was the holding of cross-country skiing competitions among women. It was then that for the first time in the history of the Olympic movement, athletes were able to prove themselves not only in alpine skiing, but also in 10 km races. Moreover, in Norway they vigorously protested against the admission of women to these competitions, but in this matter the opinion of the representatives of the country that hosted the Olympic Games was not taken into account.
The cross-country skiing was attended by 20 athletes from 8 countries. Skiers from Finland performed the most successfully: they got all three medals. The first place was taken by Lidia Viderman, the second - Mirja Hietamies, and the third - Siiri Rantanen. In general, according to the results of the competition, skiers from Finland, Sweden and Norway were in the lead, leaving their rivals from other countries far behind.
