The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, Germany. Germany also hosted the Summer Olympics the same year in Berlin. 1936 is the last year in which the Summer and Winter Games were both held in the same country (the cancelled 1940 games would have been held in Japan, with that country likewise hosting the Winter and Summer games).

The 1936 Winter Olympics were organized on behalf of the Sports Office of the Third Reich (DRL) by Karl Ritter von Halt. Von Halt had been named President of the Committee for the organization of the Fourth Winter Olympics in Garmisch by Reichssportführer Hans von Tschammer und Osten.

Medals were awarded in 17 events in 6 sports (8 disciplines).

28 nations sent athletes to compete in Germany. Australia, Bulgaria, Greece, Liechtenstein, Spain, and Turkey all made their Winter Olympic debut in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and Estonia, Latvia, the Netherlands, and Yugoslavia all returned to the Games after having missed the 1932 Winter Olympics.

The Winter Olympic Games is a sporting event, which occurs every four years. The first celebration of the Winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The original sports were alpine and cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping and speed skating. The Games were held every four years from 1924 until 1936 when they were interrupted by World War II. The Olympics resumed in 1948 and were celebrated every four years. The Winter and Summer Olympic Games were held in the same years until 1992, when the governing body for the Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), decided to place the Summer and Winter Games on separate four-year cycles in alternating even-numbered years.

The Winter Games have evolved since their inception. Sports have been added and some of them, such as luge, short track speed skating and freestyle skiing, have earned a permanent spot on the Olympic programme. Others, such as speed skiing, bandy and skijoring, were demonstration sports but never incorporated as Olympic sports. The rise of television as a global medium for communication enhanced the profile of the Games. It created an income stream, via the sale of broadcast rights and advertising, which has become lucrative for the IOC. This allowed outside interests, such as television companies and corporate sponsors, to exert influence. The IOC has had to address several criticisms, internal scandals, the use of performance enhancing drugs by Winter Olympians, as well as a political boycott of the Winter Olympics. Nations have used the Winter Games to showcase the claimed superiority of their political systems.

Magdelena Cecilia Colledge (28 November 1920 – 12 April 2008) was a British figure skater. She was the 1936 Olympic silver medalist, the 1937 World Champion, the 1937–1939 European Champion, and a six-time (1935–1938, 1946) British national champion.

Colledge is credited as being the first female skater to perform a double jump, as well as being the inventor of both of the camel spin and the layback spin.

Cecilia Colledge grew up in London. Her father, Lionel, was a throat surgeon. Her brother Maule was in the Royal Air Force and died during World War II.

Colledge began skating after watching the 1928 World Figure Skating Championships, which were held in London. Reports differ on her influence to begin skating; some state that she was inspired by Sonja Henie, others that Colledge's mother, Margaret, met the mother of Maribel Vinson, who also competed at those World Championships, and this meeting between the mothers inspired Colledge's mother to begin Cecilia in figure skating.

She was coached by Eva Keats and Jacques Gerschwiler.

Ivar Eugen Ballangrud (7 March 1904, Lunner, Oppland – 1 June 1969) was a Norwegian speed skater, a four-time Olympic champion in Speed Skating. As the only triple gold medalists at the 1936 Winter Olympics, Ballangrud was the most successful athlete there.

Ivar Ballangrud was one of the best speed skaters in the world for a period of 15 years, from 1924 to 1939. Coming from the small place Lunner on Hadeland, he was a member of the famous "Hadeland Trio", consisting of himself, Michael Staksrud and Hans Engnestangen.^{[citation needed]} He represented the club Trondhjems Skøiteklub.

Ballangrud was four times World Allround Champion, four times European Allround Champion, five times Norwegian Allround Champion, and four times Olympic Champion. He won three Olympic titles at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen: 500 m (quite surprisingly), 5000 m, and 10000 m. On the 1500 m during those Winter Olympics, he won silver – his teammate Charles Mathiesen being the only one to keep him from winning gold in all four speed skating events. Ballangrud had won his first Olympic gold 8 years earlier on the 5000 m at the 1928 Winter Olympics. In addition, he won a bronze medal (1500 m) in 1928 and a silver medal (10000 m) at the 1932 Winter Olympics. He would have been the favourite for winning more Olympic gold in 1932 if the races had been held in the normal European way, not the American packstyle way where all competitors are on the ice at the same time.

Sonja Henie (April 8, 1912 – October 12, 1969) was a Norwegian figure skater and film star. She was a three-time Olympic Champion (1928, 1932, 1936) in Ladies Singles, a ten-time World Champion (1927–1936) and a six-time European Champion (1931–1936). Henie won more Olympic and World titles than any other ladies figure skater. At the height of her acting career she was one of the highest paid stars in Hollywood.

Sonja Henie was born in Kristiania, current Oslo, the only daughter of Wilhelm Henie (1872–1937), a prosperous Norwegian furrier and his wife Selma Lochmann-Nielsen (1888–1961). In addition to the income from the fur business, both of Henie's parents had inherited wealth. Wilhelm Henie had been a one-time World Cycling Champion and the Henie children were encouraged to take up a variety of sports at a young age. Henie initially showed talent at skiing, and then followed her older brother Leif to take up figure skating. As a girl, Henie was also a nationally ranked tennis player and a skilled swimmer and equestrienne. Once Henie began serious training as a figure skater, her formal schooling ended. She was educated by tutors, and her father hired the best experts in the world, including the famous Russian ballerina Tamara Karsavina, to transform his daughter into a sporting celebrity.