Vintage Sporting Photos To Get You in Winter Olympics Mode
The opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Games is set for February 4 and the Games, despite restricted attendance due to the coronavirus, promise feats of speed, endurance, and derring-do by the athletes. As you await their arrival, let's flash back to an earlier time in winter sports before high-tech gear, wicking fabrics, and...helmets.
These photographs below show people taking part in a variety of winter sports—some familiar like skating, skiing, and hockey—and others that are a bit more niche like skate sailing and ice boating. They can all be found in The New York Public Library's vast Digital Collections which we invite you to explore.
United States National Champion, Anders Haugen, Minneapolis, Minn. NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID: 101807
Ice boating on the Shrewsbury River, New Jersey. Photo by Ewing Galloway. NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID: 1166148
The champion woman skatesailor of America: Rusty (Marion) Capes of Brooklyn won the women's championship at the annual meet of the Skate Sailing Association of America, on Lake Hopatcong, N.J., 1/28/24. NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID: 405548
Still thinking about the Summer Olympics? You might enjoy Olympians of the Past: Images from NYPL's Digital Collections