Winter Olympics 100 Questions | Which countries have hosted both the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics?

　　The 24th Winter Olympic Games will kick off in Beijing on February 4, 2022.

The sports department of Chinanews.com launched a series of columns "Hundred Questions about Winter Olympics", aimed at popularizing Winter Olympic knowledge, answering hot questions, sharing interesting stories about ice and snow, and helping everyone have a better watching experience during the Beijing Winter Olympics.

The 62nd Winter Olympics 100 Questions | Which countries have hosted both the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics?

　　As we all know, Beijing is about to become the world's first "Double Olympic City" that has hosted both the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics.

But did you know that China is the first country to host the Winter and Summer Olympics at the same time?

　　Since its inception in 1896, the Summer Olympics has gone through 125 years, and 32 sessions have been held.

Greece, France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Japan, Finland, Australia, Italy, Mexico, Canada, the Soviet Union, South Korea, Spain, China, Brazil and other countries have successively hosted the Summer Olympics.

　　Although the history of the Winter Olympics is relatively short, it has also gone through nearly a hundred years.

France, Switzerland, the United States, Germany, Norway, Italy, Austria, Japan, Yugoslavia, Canada, Russia, South Korea and other places have successively hosted events. The 24th Winter Olympics will be held in Beijing, China in February 2022.

On the evening of October 28, the National Stadium, the National Speed ​​Skating Stadium, and the National Aquatics Center, the iconic venues of Beijing, the "Double Olympic City," collectively lit for the first time.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Han Haidan

　　With reference to project settings, number of participants, and funding, the scale of the Summer Olympics is much larger than that of the Winter Olympics.

However, from some perspectives, the difficulty of bidding for the Winter Olympics is even more difficult than that of the Summer Olympics.

　　It can be seen from the above that in the past 23 Winter Olympics, the host sites were densely clustered in the 40-50 degree north latitude area.

One of the reasons lies in the fact that the Winter Olympic Games must be held in a place where the temperature is low enough to hold the snow, and it must not be too cold to cause discomfort to the athletes.

This alone excludes many cities that are capable of hosting large-scale events.

　　Therefore, so far, the only countries that have hosted both the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics are the United States, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Russia (Soviet Union), and South Korea.

　　In another 40 days, while Beijing will become the world's first "Double Olympic City", China will also become the 9th country in the world to host both the Winter and Summer Olympics.

(Yuechuan)