The
1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the
IX Olympic Winter Games, were a
winterWinter is the coldest season of the year in temperate climates, between autumn and spring. At the winter solstice, the days are shortest and the nights are longest, with days lengthening as the season progresses after the solstice.-Meteorology:...
multi-sport eventA multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports between organized teams of athletes from nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of international significance was the modern Olympic Games.Many...
which was celebrated in
Innsbruck- Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...
,
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, from January 29 to February 9, 1964. The games included 1091 athletes from 36 nations, and the
Olympic TorchThe Olympic Flame or Olympic Torch is a symbol of the Olympic Games. Commemorating the theft of fire from the Greek god Zeus by Prometheus, its origins lie in ancient Greece, where a fire was kept burning throughout the celebration of the ancient Olympics. The fire was reintroduced at the 1928...
was carried by Joseph Rieder, a former alpine skier who had participated in the
1956 Winter OlympicsThe 1956 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. This celebration of the Games was held from 26 January to 5 February 1956. Cortina, which had originally been awarded the 1944 Winter Olympics, beat out...
.
The games were affected by the deaths of
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n alpine skier
Ross MilneRoss Milne was an Australian Olympic downhill skier who died when he struck a tree during a practice run three days before the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria....
and
BritishGreat Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
lugeA Luge is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds supine and feet-first. Steering is done by flexing the sled's runners with the calf of each leg or exerting opposite shoulder pressure to the seat. Racing sleds weigh 21-25 kilograms for singles and 25-30 kilograms for doubles. Luge...
slider
Kazimierz Kay-SkrzypeskiKazimierz Kay-Skrzypecki was a Polish-born British luge racer.Kay-Skrzypecki was a former pilot in the Royal Air Force. He died during one of the training runs for the first Olympic luge competition at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck. Three days later, on 26 January 1964, Australian...
, during training, and by the deaths, three years earlier, of the entire US
figure skatingFigure skating is an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice skates. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level , and at local, national, and international competitions...
team and family members (see Prior tragedies below).
Host city selection
Innsbruck had two other candidate cities to go against for the 1964 Winter Olympics. Here are the resulting vote count that occurred at the 55th IOC Session in
MunichMunich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
,
West GermanyWest Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
, on May 26, 1959, compliments of
the International Olympic Committee Vote History web page.
| 1964 Winter Olympics bidding result |
| City |
Country |
Round 1 |
| Innsbruck - Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...
|
 Austria |
49 |
CalgaryCalgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
|
 Canada |
9 |
LahtiLahti is a city and municipality in Finland.Lahti is the capital of the Päijänne Tavastia region. It is situated on a bay at the southern end of lake Vesijärvi about north-east of the capital Helsinki...
|
 Finland |
0 |
Games highlights
- Normally snowy Innsbruck was threatened by a lack of snow. The Austrian army carved out 20,000 ice bricks from a mountain top and transported them to the bobsled and luge runs. They also carried 40,000 cubic meters of snow to the Alpine skiing courses. The army packed down the slopes by hand and foot.
- Lidia Skoblikova
Lidiya Pavlovna Skoblikova is a Russia former speed skater. Representing the USSR Olympic team during the Olympic Winter Games in 1960 and 1964, she won a total of six gold medals, still a record number for a speed skater. She also won 25 gold medals at the World Championships and 15 gold medals...
achieved a "clean sweep" in the women's speed skating events, an achievement not matched by a man until Eric HeidenEric Arthur Heiden, M.D. is an American former long track speed skater and road cyclist who won all the men's speed skating races, and thus an unprecedented five individual gold medals, and set four Olympic records and one world record at the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, New York,...
in the 1980 Lake Placid GamesThe 1980 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIII Olympic Winter Games, was a multi-sport event which was celebrated from 13 February through 24 February 1980 in Lake Placid, New York, United States of America. This was the second time the Upstate New York village hosted the Games, after 1932...
.
- Italian bobsleigh pilot Eugenio Monti
Eugenio Monti was an Italian bobsledder. He is one of the most successful athletes in the history of this sport, with ten World championship medals and 6 Olympic medals, but is known also for an act of sportsmanship during the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria that made him the first...
distinguished himself by helping Britain's Tony Nash and Robin Dixon to win the gold medals when he loaned them an axle bolt to replace one that was broken. The Italians took bronze, but Monti was honored as the first recipient of the Pierre de Coubertin medalThe Pierre de Coubertin medal is a special medal given by the International Olympic Committee to those athletes who demonstrate the spirit of sportsmanship in Olympic events.The medal was inaugurated in 1964 and named in honour of Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the International Olympic...
for sportsmanship.
- Egon Zimmermann
Egon Zimmermann , often referred to as Egon Zimmermann II, is a former alpine skier from Austria...
of AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
took the gold medal in the men's downhill alpine skiing event.
- In the 4 man bobsled, the Canadian team won the gold medal with a total winning time of 4:14.46.
- Norway's Knut Johannesen
Knut Johannesen is a former speed skater from Norway.-Biography:Born in Oslo and representing the skating club ASK there, Johannesen won the World Allround Championships in 1957 and 1964, the European Allround Championships in 1959 and 1960, and won the Norwegian...
won the men's 5,000m speed skating event in an Olympic record time of 7:38.40.
- Klavdiya Boyarskikh of the USSR earned three gold medals in cross-country skiing and, on the men’s side, Finnish Eero Mäntyranta
Eero Antero Mäntyranta is a former Finnish skier and multiple Olympic Champion. With his seven medals from four Winter Olympics, he is one of the most successful skiers Finland has ever produced....
won two and earned the nickname "Mr. Seefeld" after the venue because of his domination.
- In alpine skiing, French sisters Christine
Christine Béranger-Goitschel is a former French alpine skier. Christine is the older sister of fellow champion skier of the time, Marielle Goitschel and the aunt of former speed skier Philippe Goitschel....
and Marielle GoitschelMarielle Goitschel is a former French alpine skier. Marielle is the younger sister of Christine Goitschel, another champion skier of the time, and the aunt of current speed skier Philippe Goitschel....
finished first and second in both the slalom and the giant slalom.
- Ski jumping gained a second event, and the sport of luge
A Luge is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds supine and feet-first. Steering is done by flexing the sled's runners with the calf of each leg or exerting opposite shoulder pressure to the seat. Racing sleds weigh 21-25 kilograms for singles and 25-30 kilograms for doubles. Luge...
made its Olympic debut.
- Politically, the Games were notable because East and West Germany entered a combined team.
- The USSR won the most medals and the most gold medals at the Games.
- For the first time the Closing Ceremonies were held at a different place than the Opening Ceremonies.
Medal winners
- Alpine skiing
Alpine skiing at the 1964 Winter Olympics consisted of six events, held near Innsbruck, Austria, from January 30 to February 7, 1964.The men's downhill was held on Patscherkofel , the other five events at Axamer Lizum....
- Biathlon
-20 km:In 1964 as in 1960, there was a two-minute penalty for every missed target in the Individual Event. Since 1968, this penalty has been one minute per missed target.-References:*...
- Bobsleigh
-Two-man:A turn at the St. Moritz, Switzerland course is named in honor of Nash and Dixon, called the Nash-Dixon corner.-Four-man:The Canadian four-man bobsleigh team of Kirby, Anakin, and the Emery brothers upset the heavily favored Austrians.-Medal table:...
- Figure skating
-Medal table:-Men Singles:Referee:* Henry M. BeattyAssistant Referee:* Oskar MadlJudges: Adolf Walker Gérard Rodrigues Henriques Geoffrey S...
- Ice hockey
At the 1964 Winter Olympics held in Innsbruck, Austria, one ice hockey event was held: men's ice hockey. This tournament was also counted as IIHF World Championship and IIHF European Championship. Games were held at the Olympiahalle Innsbruck....
- Luge
-Men's singles:-Men's doubles:-Women's singles:-Medal table:-References:***...
- Nordic skiing
At the 1964 Winter Olympics, ten Nordic skiing events were contested – seven cross-country skiing events, two ski jumping events, and one nordic combined event....
- Cross-country skiing
The 1964 Winter Olympics cross-country skiing results. Women's 5 km debuted at this Olympics.-15 km:-30 km:-50 km:-4 x 10 km:-5 km:-10 km:-3 x 5 km:-References:*...
- Nordic combined
At the 1964 Winter Olympics, the Individual Nordic combined event was contested.-Individual:February 3, 1964Thoma was part of the Unified Team of Germany team that competed from 1956 to 1964.-References:*...
- Ski jumping
-K90 Individual Ski jumping:January 31, 1964-K120 Individual Ski jumping:February 9, 1964-External references:***Wallechinsky, David . Ski Jump, 90-meter Hill, The Complete Book of The Olympics, p.621...
- Speed skating
At the 1964 Winter Olympics, eight speed skating events were contested. The competitions were held from Thursday, January 30 to Sunday, February 2, 1964 and from Tuesday, February 4 to Friday, February 7, 1964 ....
Venues
- Axamer Lizum
Axamer Lizum is a village located southwest of Innsbruck, Austria. For the 1964 Winter Olympics, it hosted all of the alpine skiing events except for men's downhill which took place in Patscherkofel located southeast of Innsbruck. Twelve years later, it hosted exactly the same alpine skiing...
- Alpine skiing (all but men's downhill)
- Bergiselschanze
Bergiselschanze is a ski jumping hill located in Bergisel in Innsbruck, Austria. It is one of the more important venues in the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup, annually hosting the third competition of the prestigious Four Hills Tournament....
- Ski jumping (large hill)
- Bob und Rodelbahn Igls - Bobsleigh, luge
- Eisschnellaufbahn
The Olympia Eisschnellaufbahn is a speed skating venue located in Innsbruck, Austria. The outdoor venue hosted the speed skating events both for the 1964 and the 1976 Winter Olympics....
- Speed skating
- Messehalle
Messehalle is a convention center and sports venue located in Innsbruck, Austria. The venue hosted some of the ice hockey games for both the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics.-References:* pp. 66-7. * pp. 206-8. , , & * &...
- Ice hockey
- Olympiahalle
Olympiahalle is an indoor sports venue located in Innsbruck, Austria. During the 1964 Winter Olympics, it hosted the figure skating and ice hockey events. Twelve years later, it hosted those same events....
- Figure skating, ice hockey
- Patscherkofel
Patscherkofel is a mountain and ski area in Tyrol in western Austria, 7 km south of Innsbruck. The peak rises to a summit elevation of 7639 feet above sea level...
- Alpine skiing (men's downhill)
- Seefeld
Seefeld in Tirol is a municipality of the Innsbruck-Land District in the Austrian state of Tyrol, located about northwest of Innsbruck. With more than one million overnight stays each year, it is one of the most popular Tyrolean tourist destinations especially for skiing in winter, but also for...
- Biathlon, cross-county skiing, Nordic combined, ski jumping (normal hill)
Participating nations
36 nations sent athletes to compete in Innsbruck.
IndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
,
MongoliaMongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
, and
North KoreaThe Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
participated in the Winter Games for the first time. Athletes from
West GermanyWest Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
(FRG) and
East GermanyThe German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
(GDR) competed together as the
United Team of GermanyThe Unified Team of Germany , competed in the 1956, 1960, and 1964 Winter and Summer Olympic Games as a united team of athletes from the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic...
from 1956 to 1964.
Medal count
These are the top ten nations that won medals at these Games:
| 1 |
|
11 |
8 |
6 |
25 |
| 2 |
|
4 |
5 |
3 |
12 |
| 3 |
|
3 |
6 |
6 |
15 |
| 4 |
|
3 |
4 |
3 |
10 |
| 5 |
|
3 |
4 |
0 |
7 |
| 6 |
|
3 |
3 |
3 |
9 |
| 7 |
|
3 |
3 |
1 |
7 |
| 8 |
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
6 |
| 9 |
|
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
| 10 |
|
1 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
Prior tragedies
Two tragedies prior to the 1964 Winter Olympics affected the outcome and mood of the Games:
- Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n alpine skier Ross MilneRoss Milne was an Australian Olympic downhill skier who died when he struck a tree during a practice run three days before the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria....
and BritishGreat Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
luge slider Kazimierz Kay-SkrzypeskiKazimierz Kay-Skrzypecki was a Polish-born British luge racer.Kay-Skrzypecki was a former pilot in the Royal Air Force. He died during one of the training runs for the first Olympic luge competition at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck. Three days later, on 26 January 1964, Australian...
died during training shortly before the Games started. The organising committee said that Ross caught an edge and subsequently crashed into a tree. The IOCThe International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
suggested that inexperience may have played a role in Ross's death, whereas Australian manager John Wagner suggested that overcrowding played a role, saying that he tried to slow down "on a spot which was not prepared for stopping or swinging" to avoid a crowd of contestants. His brother Malcolm MilneMalcolm Milne is a former Australian Olympic skier.In 1968, at the age of 19, Malcolm competed in his first Olympics at Grenoble, France. In an era dominated by Jean-Claude Killy, Malcolm finished twenty-fourth of eighty-six starters, with a time only 5.51 seconds behind Killy...
competed at the 1968The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1968 in Grenoble, France and opened on 6 February. Thirty-seven countries participated...
and 1972 Winter OlympicsThe 1972 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XI Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated from February 3 to February 13, 1972 in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan...
.
- On February 15, 1961, the entire US Figure Skating
Figure skating is an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice skates. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level , and at local, national, and international competitions...
team and several family members, coaches, and officials were killed when Sabena Flight 548Sabena Flight 548, registration OO-SJB, was a Boeing 707 aircraft that crashed en route to Brussels, Belgium, from New York City on February 15, 1961, killing the entire United States Figure Skating team on its way to the 1961 World Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia.The flight, which...
crashed in BrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Belgium en route to the World Championships in PraguePrague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
. This tragedy sent the US skating program into a period of rebuilding. The loss of the U.S. team was considered so catastrophic for the sport that the 1961 World Championships were cancelled, and impacted later Winter Olympics.
External links