Vintage Sporting Photos To Get You in Winter Olympics Mode

By Carrie McBride, Communications
January 18, 2022

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. 

Skating on a lake

Skate sailing on a lake. Photo by Brown Brothers. NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID: 405547

Ski jump. Hanover, New Hampshire. 1936

Ski jump. Hanover, New Hampshire. 1936. NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID: 4000935

Children skiing in Petrovsk- Razumovsk (Moscow)

Children skiing in Petrovsk- Razumovsk (Moscow). NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID: 52378

United States National Champion, Anders Haugen, Minneapolis, Minn

United States National Champion, Anders Haugen, Minneapolis, Minn. NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID: 101807

Dartmouth-Williams Hockey Game at Lake Placid

 Dartmouth-Williams Hockey Game at Lake Placid. NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID: 101669

Irving Brokaw Skating in Central Park, New York

Irving Brokaw Skating in Central Park, New York. NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID: 101182

Ski Running

Ski Running. NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID: 101805

Ice boating on the Shrewsbury River, New Jersey.

Ice boating on the Shrewsbury River, New Jersey. Photo by Ewing Galloway. NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID: 1166148

Ski jumping at the Dartmouth carnival.

 Ski jumping at the Dartmouth carnival. NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID: 1166149

The Dartmouth winter sports squad.

The Dartmouth winter sports squad. NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID: 405549

Rusty (Marion) Capes

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

delivering.

Curling: delivering. Photo by Paul Thompson. NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID: 414657

Still thinking about the Summer Olympics? You might enjoy Olympians of the Past: Images from NYPL's Digital Collections