Alpine skiing at the 1964 Winter Olympics

Alpine skiing at the 1964 Winter Olympics consisted of six events, held near Innsbruck, Austria, from January 30 to February 8, 1964.[1][2]

Alpine skiing
at the IX Olympic Winter Games
Patscherkofel
VenuePatscherkofel (men's downhill),
Axamer Lizum,
Tyrol, Austria
Dates30 January – 8 February 1964 (1964-02-08)
No. of events6
Competitors174 from 31 nations
Alpine skiing at the
1964 Winter Olympics
Downhillmenwomen
Giant slalommenwomen
Slalommenwomen

The men's downhill was held on Patscherkofel (above Igls), the other five events at Axamer Lizum.[3][4]

This was the first Olympics in which the finishing times were recorded in hundredths of a second, rather than tenths. It was the third and final Winter Olympics in which East and West Germany competed as the United Team of Germany. Mild weather led to a lack of snow, which was trucked in and packed down by the Austrian army.[5]

During a training run for the men's downhill at Patscherkofel on January 25, Ross Milne of Australia lost control and left the course; he hit a tree and later died of a head injury.[6][7]

The Winter Olympics returned to Innsbruck just 12 years later in 1976, after Denver returned its winning bid in November 1972 (Innsbruck was awarded the 1976 games in February 1973).

Medal summary

Four nations won medals in alpine skiing, with Austria leading the total medals with seven (three gold, two silver, and two bronze). France also had three gold, with three silver medals. France's Marielle and Christine Goitschel led the individual medal table, each with one gold and one silver. The top men's medalist was Austria's Pepi Stiegler, who won gold and bronze.

Medal table
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 France (FRA)3306
2 Austria (AUT)3227
3 United States (USA)0224
4 United Team of Germany (EUA)0011
Totals (4 nations)67518

Source:[1]

Men's events
Event Gold Silver Bronze
Downhill
 Egon Zimmermann
 Austria		2:18.16 Léo Lacroix
 France		2:18.90 Wolfgang Bartels
 United Team of Germany		2:19.48
Giant slalom
 François Bonlieu
 France		1:46.71 Karl Schranz
 Austria		1:47.09 Pepi Stiegler
 Austria		1:48.05
Slalom
 Pepi Stiegler
 Austria		2:11.13 Billy Kidd
 United States		2:11.27 Jimmy Heuga
 United States		2:11.52

Source:[1]

Women's events
Event Gold Silver Bronze
Downhill
 Christl Haas
 Austria		1:55.39 Edith Zimmermann
 Austria		1:56.42 Traudl Hecher
 Austria		1:56.66
Giant slalom
 Marielle Goitschel
 France		1:52.24 Christine Goitschel
 France
Jean Saubert
 United States		1:53.11 Not awarded
Slalom
 Christine Goitschel
 France		1:29.86 Marielle Goitschel
 France		1:30.77 Jean Saubert
 United States		1:31.36

Source:[1]

Course information
Date Race Start
Elevation		 Finish
Elevation		 Vertical
Drop		 Course
Length		 Average
Gradient
Thu 30-Jan  Downhill - men  1,952 m (6,404 ft)  1,085 m (3,560 ft)  867 m (2,844 ft)  3.120 km (1.939 mi) 27.8%
Thu 06-Feb  Downhill - women  2,310 m (7,580 ft)  1,605 m (5,266 ft)  705 m (2,313 ft)  2.510 km (1.560 mi) 28.1%
Sun 02-Feb  Giant Slalom - men  2,100 m (6,890 ft)  1,570 m (5,151 ft)  530 m (1,739 ft)  1.250 km (0.777 mi) 42.4%
Mon 03-Feb  Giant Slalom - women  2,050 m (6,726 ft)  1,550 m (5,085 ft)  500 m (1,640 ft)  1.250 km (0.777 mi) 40.0%
Sat 08-Feb  Slalom - men  (2 runs)  1,770 m (5,807 ft)  1,570 m (5,151 ft)  200 m (656 ft)  0.470 km (0.292 mi) 42.6%
Fri 07-Feb  Slalom - men  (qualifying)  1,730 m (5,676 ft)  1,600 m (5,249 ft)  130 m (427 ft)  0.350 km (0.217 mi) 37.1%
Sat 01-Feb  Slalom - women  (2 runs)  1,730 m (5,676 ft)  1,600 m (5,249 ft)  130 m (427 ft)  0.350 km (0.217 mi) 37.1%

Participating nations

Thirty-one nations sent alpine skiers to compete in the events in Innsbruck. India made its Olympic alpine skiing debut. Below is a list of the competing nations; in parentheses are the number of national competitors.[1]

World championships

From 1948 through 1980, the alpine skiing events at the Winter Olympics also served as the World Championships, held every two years. With the addition of the giant slalom, the combined event was dropped for 1950 and 1952, but returned as a World Championship event in 1954 as a "paper race" which used the results from the three events. During the Olympics from 1956 through 1980, World Championship medals were awarded by the FIS for the combined event. The combined returned as a separate event at the World Championships in 1982 and at the Olympics in 1988.

Combined

Footnotes
  1. 1a Athletes from East and West Germany competed together as the United Team of Germany," designated as the EUA. This combined team appeared in the 1956, 1960, and 1964 Winter Olympics

References
  1. "Offizieller Bericht der IX. Olympischen Winterspiele Innsbruck 1964" (PDF). Austrian Federal Publishing House for Instruction, Science and Art, Vienna and Munich. LA84 Foundation. 1964. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  2. "Alpine Skiing at the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  3. de.wikipedia.org - Olympische Winterspiele 1964/Ski Alpin - (in German)
  4. "Artist's sketch of site of Winter Olympics at Innsbruck, Austria". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. January 28, 1964. p. 4B.
  5. "1964 Winter Olympics" (PDF). Colorado Ski Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 30, 2015. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  6. "Australian skier killed in Olympic drill". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. (Florida). Associated Press. January 26, 1964. p. 41.
  7. "Aussie's Milne dies of injuries". Bend Bulletin. (Oregon). UPI. January 25, 1964. p. 5.
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