The winter Olympics were begun in 1924 and were held in the same year as the summer games until the 1994 winter games in Lillehammer, Norway, when the alternating cycles began.
The 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, reflected a changed political landscape: the 172 participating nations and territories included the Unified Team (with athletes from 12 former Soviet republics), a reunited Germany, and South Africa, which was allowed to compete for the first time since 1960.
The Olympic games are competitions of individual athletes, not of nations, and the IOC does not keep national scores; however, the media of all nations report national standings according to one of two scoring systems.
Although awarded before the Nazi Party came to power in Germany, the government saw the Olympics as a golden opportunity to promote their fascist ideology.
Rower Jack Beresford won his fifth Olympic medal in the sport, and his third gold medal.
For the first time the Olympic Flame was brought to the Olympic Town by a torch relay, with the starting point in Olympia, Greece.
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