As almost 3,000 competitors dressed head to toe in aerodynamic skin-tight lycra prepare to take part in the 23rd Winter Olympics in South Korea starting on Friday, these photos from the first event in 1924 point to a simpler time.
The black and white snaps from the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix in the French Alps show a scene that seems a world away from the multi-billion pound event about to begin in Pyeongchang.
In 1924 a total of 258 athletes from 16 nations took part in the inaugural Winter Games and the first medal was won by the American Charles Jewtraw in the 500m speed-skating.
In a sign of the times, Britain’s curling team were decked out in baggy knickerbockers, ties and hats in the event where they won gold.
Fast forward 94 years and there will be 2,900 athletes from 92 countries competing in South Korea across 102 events that will be broadcast around the globe.
The Canadian ice hockey team, the Toronto Granites, score a goal during the final at the inaugural Winter Olympics in 1924, in which they beat the United States in the final 6-1 to take the gold medal
The British Curling team, dressed in plus-fours, ties and hats compete in the first ever Winter Olympics at Chamonix
Charles Jewtraw became the first competitor to win a gold medal in a Winter Olympics when he sped to victory in the 500 meter speedskating event in Chamonix
The British four-man bobsleigh team in action. The team, Ralph Broome, Thomas Arnold, Alexander Richardson and Rodney Soher, took silver in the event
Originally called the International Winter Sports Week and held in association with the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, the inaugural games were organised by the French Olympic Committee.
Between January 25 and February 5, 258 athletes competed in 16 events across only six sports.
Figure skating, bobsled and ice hockey all featured, as well as curling, which was not to be an included again until 1998, and the strangely named Military Patrol, which was to evolve into the modern biathlon.
The most medals almost predictably, went to Norway who at 17 had six more than their closest rivals Finland.
One of the most celebrated competitors was Norwegian ice skater Sonja Henie, who was just 12 years old. She came last, out of eight entrants in the figure skating event, but went on to win gold medals at the next three Winter Olympics.
American ice hockey goalkeeper La Croix during a practice at the rink at Chamonix ahead of their match against France
Little Miss Sonja Henie of Norway was the youngest competitor in the Winter Olympics at Chamonix. The 12-year-old took part in the fancy skating competition
A group of American skaters practising for the 1924 Winter Olympics at Chamonix
Britain and Ireland (as it was then) and the US both took four medals home, with Americans taking the edge in the team rankings with one more silver.
That medal haul is still Britain’s record, although it matched that success in the 2014 Winter Games held in Sochi.
This year GB will hope to improve on that as it has sent its largest ever team to a Winter Olympics, with 59 athletes selected.
Herma Planck-Szabo of Austria on her way to winning the women’s figure skating gold medal at the 1924 Winter Olympics
Left to right: Figure skaters Herma Planck-Szabo of Hungary, Ethel Muckelt of Britain and Beatrix Loughran of the U.S.A. Planck-Szabo won gold, with Loughran and Muckelt taking silver and bronze respectively
The Canadian ice hockey team, the Toronto Granites, who beat the United States in the final 6-1 to take the gold medal