If you don't fall 10 times, then you are not learning it right!

There’s only 20 days to Springtime!

There’s only 20 days to Springtime, though the deep blanket of snow covering the road on my way to the office seems to suggest to me nothing but “it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas …”.

After weeks of riveting competition and dazzling spectacles against the backdrop of Pyeongchang's snow-capped mountains, the 23rd Olympic Winter Games has come to an end right today with a closing ceremony combining music and dance "somewhat interactive, allowing spectators to both get involved and stay warm”. According to the director of ceremonies it will have a "festival atmosphere to recognize and celebrate the athletes' hard work and achievements at the games." That’s what every Olympic game should aim to achieve then, celebrate sport under a unique flag, that of the fair play, the healthy competition and the ability to compete with other people accepting defeats. That’s the real spirit of the Olympics!

First modern Winter Olympic Games (Initially called Winter Sports Week) took place in Chamonix (France), a 12-day program where 16 countries gathered to compete in sports like figure skating, speed skating, hockey, curling and more between January 25 and February 5, 1924.

Chamonix Winter Olympic Games advertising poster, 1924

A group of American skaters practicing for the first Winter Olympics at Chamonix, 1924 ((Photo by George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images

Herma Planck-Szabo of Austria on her way to winning the women's figure skating gold medal at the first Winter Olympics, 1924 (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

The United States Winter Olympic team participates in the opening ceremonies for the I Winter Olympics in Chamonix, 1924

“Winter sports have about them a certain purity, and that is why I was inclined to support and nurture them in this Olympic environment.”

— Pierre de Coubertin, IOC President, at the closing of the games in 1924

Athlete and figure skater Sonja Henie of Norway at the first Winter Olympics in Chamonix, 1924

British curling team at the Olympic Games in Chamonix, France, 1924

Bobsleigh at the Olympic Games in Chamonix, 1924

The Norwegian Jacob Tullin Thams won with this jump the gold medal in ski jumping at the Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix, 1924

Fugure skaters Theresa Weld Blanchard and Nathaniel Niles at the Olympic Games in Chamonix, 1924

According to the press of 1924, the first Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix were not a big deal on the international stage. However, it was just the first of many winter games to come and the International Olympic Committee was purposeful to keep on organising winter sports celebrations setting the standards for future competitions.

Ladies waiting for the winter Olympic Games in St. Moritz, Lake St. Moritz, 1928

The elegance of the female Figure Skating competitors at the Winter Olympic in St. Moritz, 1928

Ski Jumping event at the 1928 Winter Olympic Games in St. Moritz

The opening ceremony at the Winter Games in St. Moritz, 1928. This mass event made the beautiful region of St. Moritz a touristic attraction

1932 Winter Games were held in Lake Placid, USA

Hubert Stevens and his brother, Curtis Stevens, U.S. representatives in the bob-sled run at Lake Placid, approach the dangerous Whiteface curve as they set their first Olympic record on the first day of competition in 1932. Later, they broke it again. (Courtesy of the 1932/1980 Lake Placid Olympic Museum)

Alpine Skiing at the 1936 winter Olympic Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany)

Epic fall! In the second elimination race of the Olympic four-man bobsled at the winter Olympics in Germany in 1936. The Italian crew failed to take a curve and they catapulted themselves into the air. Much ado about nothing, two of them were slightly hurt ...

In what concerns the 1940 Winter Olympics, which would have been officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games, they were to have been celebrated from 3 to 12 February 1940 in Sapporo, Japan, but the games were eventually cancelled due to the onset of World War II. Therefore, it was for the 1944 Winter games, that would have been celebrated in February 1944 in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.

From left, Barbara Ann Scott, Marion Ruth Take, and Susanne Morrow, members of the Canadian Winter Olympic team, March in the opening parade at the ice stadium in St. Moritz, Switzerland, January 1948

The beautiful panorama around Lake St. Moritz for this Dick Button of Englewood's jump during a practice session in preparation for the Winter Olympics, 1948

Competing in the first run of the Olympic two-man bobsled competition is the French second team, W.G. Hirigoyen and L. Saint-Calbre, during St.Moritz' winter Olympic Games in 1948

Hijo Chang Lee of Korea, left, and A. Huiskes of Holland, compete in the 500 meter Olympic speedskating, at St Moritz, 1948

Andrea Mead, 15, of Rutland, Vermont, speeds past flag markers during competition in the Olympic women's slalom event at St. Moritz, Switzerland, on February 4, 1948

Gustav Allain Lindh of Sweden passes the finish line of Pentathlon Horsemanship, which he won during the Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, 1948

A view from the top of the Holenkollen ski jump near Oslo, Norway, during the VI Olympic Winter games, 1952

To form a fresh smooth surface, lukewarm water is poured over the ice of the speed skating rink of Lake Misurina, where the 1956 Winter Olympics speed skating events will take place in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy

Winter Olympic Games in Posters

Advertising poster of the Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix (France), 1924

Advertising poster of the Winter Olympic Games in St. Moritz (Switzerland), 1928

Advertising poster of the Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid (USA), 1932

Advertising poster of the Winter Olympic Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany), 1936

Advertising poster of the Winter Olympic Games in Saint Moritz (Switzerland), 1948

Advertising poster of the Winter Olympic Games in Oslo (Norway), 1952

Advertising poster of the Winter Olympic Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo (Italy), 1956