<P> A predecessor, the Nordic Games, were organised by General Viktor Gustaf Balck in Stockholm, Sweden in 1901 and were held again in 1903 and 1905 and then every fourth year thereafter until 1926 . Balck was a charter member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and a close friend of Olympic Games founder Pierre de Coubertin . He attempted to have winter sports, specifically figure skating, added to the Olympic programme but was unsuccessful until the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom . Four figure skating events were contested, at which Ulrich Salchow (10 - time world champion) and Madge Syers won the individual titles . </P> <P> Three years later, Italian count Eugenio Brunetta d'Usseaux proposed that the IOC stage a week of winter sports included as part of the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden . The organisers opposed this idea because they desired to protect the integrity of the Nordic Games and were concerned about a lack of facilities for winter sports . The idea was resurrected for the 1916 Games, which were to be held in Berlin, Germany . A winter sports week with speed skating, figure skating, ice hockey and Nordic skiing was planned, but the 1916 Olympics was cancelled after the outbreak of World War I . </P> <P> The first Olympics after the war, the 1920 Summer Olympics, were held in Antwerp, Belgium, and featured figure skating and an ice hockey tournament . Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey were banned from competing in the Games . At the IOC Congress held the following year it was decided that the host nation of the 1924 Summer Olympics, France, would host a separate "International Winter Sports Week" under the patronage of the IOC . Chamonix was chosen to host this "week" (actually 11 days) of events . The Games proved to be a success when more than 250 athletes from 16 nations competed in 16 events . Athletes from Finland and Norway won 28 medals, more than the rest of the participating nations combined . Germany remained banned until 1925, and instead hosted a series of games called Deutsche Kampfspiele, starting with the Winter edition of 1922 (which predated the first Winter Olympics). In 1925 the IOC decided to create a separate Olympic Winter Games and the 1924 Games in Chamonix was retroactively designated as the first Winter Olympics . </P> <P> St. Moritz, Switzerland, was appointed by the IOC to host the second Olympic Winter Games in 1928 . Fluctuating weather conditions challenged the hosts . The opening ceremony was held in a blizzard while warm weather conditions plagued sporting events throughout the rest of the Games . Because of the weather the 10,000 metre speed - skating event had to be abandoned and officially cancelled . The weather was not the only noteworthy aspect of the 1928 Games: Sonja Henie of Norway made history when she won the figure skating competition at the age of 15 . She became the youngest Olympic champion in history, a distinction she held for 74 years . </P>

When did the olympics split summer and winter