The venue for this Olympiad was first determined by a vote of the members of the International Olympic Committee, and not by a meeting. In addition, these are the first winter games that took place in the crowded European capital, which made the competition more solemn.
The 1952 Winter Olympics enjoyed a huge audience interest, because Norway is the undisputed leader in winter sports. The national teams of 30 countries took part in the competition. For the first time, athletes from New Zealand and Portugal came to the Games. The national teams of Germany and Japan were allowed, the GDR team refused to participate. The USSR became a member of the IOC just a year before this Olympics and, fearing low results, the sports leadership sent only observers to Norway.
By the start of the Games, the Norwegians have built a modern bobsleigh track, the huge Bislett stadium and reconstructed the famous Holmenkollen springboard. A unique indoor ice skating rink "Jordan Amfi" was opened in the eastern part of Oslo, which meets all international requirements for holding ice hockey tournaments.
During the construction of the central sports arena, several technical improvements were introduced. The commentators were provided with modern equipment. The northern part of the stand was given to reporters and had tables with telephones. A modern medical center was located under the stands. Another technological innovation of these Games was the use of computers to calculate scores for skaters' performances.
22 sets of awards were played in eight sports - bobsleigh, alpine skiing and speed skating, combined skiing, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, ice hockey and figure skating. At the Games-52, for the first time, competitions among skiers were held in the race for 10 kilometers, where Finnish Lydia Videman won. The ball hockey was held as an exhibition tournament.
The hero of the Olympics was the speed skater from Norway, Hjalmar Andersen, who won three gold medals. American skier Andrea Lawrence-Mead and German bobsledder Andreas Ostler won two gold medals each.
The hosts of the competition won in the team competition, with 16 medals, of which 7 were gold, 3 were silver and 6 were bronze. The honorable second place was taken by the Americans with 11 medals, the third place was taken by the national team of Finland.
