Arctic blast from the past: What athletes looked like in 1924 as Chamonix in France held the FIRST Winter Olympics


While these days most Olympic athletes compete dressed head to toe in aerodynamic skin-tight lycra, fashion at the very first games nine decades ago was a much genteel affair.

These pictures are taken from the official report of the 1924 Winter Olympics and show a scene that seems a world away from the multi-billion pound event now taking place in Sochi, Russia.

Originally called the International Winter Sports Week and held in association with the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, the games were organised by the French Olympic Committee and held at the foot of Mont Blanc.

A genteel affair: The Swedish and British curling teams stand on the ice at the foot of Mont Blanc during the very first Winter Olympics in France in 1924

Dancing on ice: Andrée Joly and Pierre Brunet, who won the bronze in pairs figure skating. The couple, who were married in 1929, went on to take gold in 1928 and 1932

Not a stitch of Lycra: Speed skaters line up at the starting line, but do they realise how many hundredths of a second they're losing in that get up?

Competitors in the bobsled show that although they lacked high-tech materials, competitors in the 1924 Winter Games still had an eye for patterns

At least they had real snow: Workers clear drifts from the grounds of the Olympic Stadium

Is that even safe? The silver-medal winning British bobsled team hurtle down Chamonix's track in a vehicle that looks like the mere skeleton of modern day equivalents

Catching air: Norway's Jacob Tullin Thams shows of the tricks that earned him a gold medal in the ski jump

Body armour is for wimps: This is how real men played ice hockey. The sport would be completely dominated by the Canadians who won six of its first seven golds



Warming up: Some members of the Swedish curling team have a stiff drink while sitting out in the snow