1952

OSLO, NORWAY

With the death of Britain’s King George VI just over a week before the Winter Olympics, the flags of the 30 competing countries were flown at half-staff. Norway’s Princess Ragnhild — whose grandfather, King Haakon VII, was at the funeral in London — became the first woman to open the Games.

Canada’s only gold medal came, predictably, in men’s hockey, but not without some controversy. Playing the U.S. in the final round-robin match, a victory by undefeated Canada would have relegated the U.S. to a three-way tie with Sweden and Czechoslovakia. Instead, the two teams played to a 3-3 tie, ensuring Canada the gold and the U.S. silver. Oslo newspaper Dagbladet promptly wrote, “We could not avoid the impression that this meeting was a kind of exhibition, whose result was fixed in advance. The Canadians did not play as well as expected and from the second half seemed to lose interest in the match, sometimes making mistakes that even a Norwegian hockey player would not have.”

Canada also won a bronze medal, in men’s speedskating.