St. Moritz 1928 Olympic Winter Games

St. Moritz 1928 Olympic Winter Games, athletic festival held in St. Moritz, Switz., that took place Feb. 11–19, 1928. The St. Moritz Games were the second occurrence of the Winter Olympic Games.

The St. Moritz Olympics, held at a ski resort, were marred by bad weather. The culprit was the foehn, a strong wind that carried with it warm air, causing temperatures to soar above 75 °F (24 °C) some afternoons. Numerous events were rescheduled, and one contest—the 10,000-metre speed skating event—was canceled, though some books list American Irving Jaffee, who held the lead after the first run, as the winner. St. Moritz also marked the return of German athletes, who had been banned from Olympic competition following World War I; the country claimed only one medal, a bronze in the four-man bobsled.

Standouts among the 464 competing athletes were speed skater Clas Thunberg (Finland) and Nordic skier Johan Gröttumsbråten (Norway), who each won two gold medals. In figure skating Gillis Grafström (Sweden) captured his third title, while 15-year-old Sonja Henie (Norway) won the first of her three gold medals. Canada continued to dominate in ice hockey. The team’s obvious superiority led officials to devise a new tournament format in which Canada went straight to the final round, awaiting the winners of the three pools. Canada still won, posting victories over Sweden (11–0), Switzerland (13–0), and Great Britain (14–0). St. Moritz featured the debut of skeleton sledding, a contest in which competitors, lying headfirst on sleds, raced down the 1,213-metre- (0.75-mile-) long Cresta Run.