Ice hockey at the Olympic Games Ice hockey at the Olympic Games Ice hockey tournaments have been staged at the Olympic Games since 1920. The men's tournament was introduced at the 1920 Summer Olympics and was transferred permanently to the Winter Olympic Games program in 1924, in France. The women's tournament was first held at the 1998 Winter Olympics. The Olympic Games were originally intended for amateur athletes. However, the advent of the state-sponsored "full-time amateur athlete" of the Eastern Bloc countries further eroded the ideology of the pure amateur, as it put the self-financed amateurs of the Western countries at a disadvantage. The Soviet Union
Winter Olympic Games cities for the 2022 Winter Olympics were in dictatorship countries, and a number of European countries declined due to political doubt over costs. Both the 2006 and 2010 Games, which were hosted in countries where large cities are located close to suitable mountain regions, had lower costs since more venues, hotels and transport infrastructure already existed. In contrast the 2014 games had large cost due to most installations had to be built. The IOC has enacted several initiatives to mitigate these concerns. Firstly, the commission has agreed to fund part of the host city's budget for staging the Games. Secondly,