hypa ANALYSIS
hypa is famous for it's global analysis which looks at issues relating to current events and helps us fill our web pages with stuff. hypa has access to sources of information from all over the world, and from out of it. Each week we look at an issue connected to our chosen topic of the week.
History of the Winter Games
The Winter Games began with the invention of snow way back in 1922. It was then that sportsmen and women began to explore the possibility of having fun in cold weather.
The first winter sport was snowball fighting but this has been dropped from the modern Games on the ground that, whilst being fun for the participants, it did not make for good television and was therefore unattractive to sponsors.
But after this early set back many more winter sports were invented. For example, skiing was invented in 1924 in Sweden by Olaf Thorensen. Legend has it that after he was described as being "as thick as two short planks" Olaf was determined to prove that two short planks could be very useful. The result was the world's first pair of skis.
The first ever Winter Games was held in Arizona, America, in 1924. Due to an unusual lack of snow the games were not a big success.
But the games continued, and in 1952 there were a record six sports included. By the 1956 games a major ice-cream manufacturer became a large sponsor and that was when the Winter Games really became successful.
The 1998 Nagano Winter Games will be the biggest ever. Events include Snow-Wrestling, Snow Eating, Snow Digging, the Downhill 100m Hurdles, the Uphill 100m Hurdles and the Snow Shoe Shuffle.