1964 Winter Olympics

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IX Olympic Winter Games
The emblem represents the coat of arms of Innsbruck, which shows the bridge on the Inn River that connects the old town and the Hötting district.
Host city	Innsbruck, Austria
Nations participating	36
Athletes participating	1091 (892 men, 199 women)
Events	34 in 6 sports
Opening ceremony	January 29, 1964
Closing ceremony	February 9, 1964
Officially opened by	Adolf Schärf
Athlete's Oath	Paul Aste
Olympic Torch	Joseph Rieder
Stadium	Bergisel

The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games, were held in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 29 to February 9, 1964. The games included 1091 athletes from 36 nations, and the Olympic Torch was carried by Joseph Rieder, ^[1] a former alpine skier who had participated in the 1956 Winter Olympics.

The games were affected by the deaths of Australian alpine skier Ross Milne and a British luge slider, during training, and by the deaths, 3 years earlier, of the entire US figure skating team and family members (see: Prior tragedies, below).

Contents 1 Games Highlights 2 Medal winners 2.1 Demonstration sport 3 Participating nations 4 Medal count 5 Prior tragedies 6 References 7 See also

[edit] Games Highlights

• Lydia Skoblikova takes a full clean sweep in the womens speed skating events, an achievement not mached by a man until Eric Heiden in the 1980 Lake Placid Games.
• Egon Zimmermann of Austria takes the gold medal in the mens downhill alpine skiing event.
• In the 4 man bobsled the Canadian team take the gold medal with a total winning time of 4:14.46.
• Knut Johannesen wins the mens 5,000m in an Olympic record time of 7:38.40.
• The USSR win the games with a total of 11 medals.

[edit] Medal winners

• Alpine skiing
• Biathlon
• Bobsleigh
• Figure skating
• Ice hockey
• Luge
• Nordic skiing
  • Cross-country skiing
  • Nordic combined
  • Ski jumping
• Speed skating

[edit] Demonstration sport

• Ice stock sport

[edit] Participating nations

36 nations sent athletes to compete in Innsbruck. India, Mongolia, and North Korea participated in the Winter Games for the first time. Athletes from West Germany (FRG) and East Germany (GDR) competed together as the United Team of Germany from 1956 to 1964.

Argentina Australia Austria Belgium Bulgaria Canada Chile Czechoslovakia Denmark Finland France Great Britain

Greece Hungary Iceland India Iran Italy Japan South Korea North Korea Lebanon Liechtenstein Mongolia

Netherlands Norway Poland Romania Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey United States United Team of Germany Soviet Union Yugoslavia

[edit] Medal count

Main article: 1964 Winter Olympics medal count

These are the top ten nations that won medals at these Games:

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Soviet Union	11	8	6	25
2	Austria (host nation)	4	5	3	12
3	Norway	3	6	6	15
4	Finland	3	4	3	10
5	France	3	4	0	7
6	United Team of Germany	3	3	3	9
7	Sweden	3	3	1	7
8	United States	1	2	3	6
9	Netherlands	1	1	0	2
10	Canada	1	0	2	3

[edit] Prior tragedies

Tragedies, immediately prior to the 1964 Winter Olympics, affected the outcome and mood of the games:

• Australian alpine skier Ross Milne and a British luge slider died during training. The organising committee said that Ross caught an edge and subsequently crashed into a tree. The IOC 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 Milne competed at the 1968 and 1972 Winter Olympics.

• On February 15, 1961, the entire US Figure Skating team and several family members, coaches, and officials had been killed in the crash of Sabena Flight 548 in Brussels, Belgium en route to the World Championships in Prague. 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.

[edit] References

• "Australia and the Olympic Games" by Harry Gordon. ISBN 0-7022-2627-0

[edit] See also

• Olympic Games
• Summer Olympic Games
• International Olympic Committee

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Sports • Medal counts • NOCs Medalists • Symbols
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