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VIII Olympic Winter Games
VIII Olympic Winter Games

The emblem is made up of three red,
white, and blue triangles, which represent a
star or snowflake, and the Olympic rings.

Host city Squaw Valley, California, USA
Nations participating 30
Athletes participating 665
(521 men, 144 women)
Events 27 in 4 sports
Opening ceremony February 18
Closing ceremony February 28
Officially opened by Richard Nixon
Athlete's Oath Carol Heiss
Olympic Torch Ken Henry
Stadium Blyth Arena

The 1960 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VIII Olympic Winter Games, were celebrated between February 18 and February 28, 1960 in Squaw Valley, California, United States (located near the Lake Tahoe basin). Olympic Valley (commonly known as Squaw Valley) in the US state of California is an unincorporated community located in Placer County California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Olympic sports comprise all the Sports contested in the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. Events 3102 BC - Epoch (origin of the Kali Yuga. 1229 - The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II Holy Events 202 BC - coronation ceremony of Liu Bang as Emperor Gaozu of Han takes place initiating four centuries of the Han Dynasty 's rule The Olympic Oath is taken by one athlete and one judge at the opening ceremonies of each Olympic Games. Carol Elizabeth Heiss Jenkins (born January 20, 1940 in New York City) is an American figure skater. The Olympic Flame or Olympic Torch is a Symbol of the Olympic Games. This article is about the American speedskater For the Secretary of the Australian Department of the Treasury, see Ken Henry (Australian public servant. The Olympic Stadium is the name usually given to the big centrepiece Stadium of the Summer Olympic Games. Blyth Arena was an Ice hockey Arena in Squaw Valley California. The Winter Olympic Games are a winter Multi-sport event held every four years Events 3102 BC - Epoch (origin of the Kali Yuga. 1229 - The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II Holy Events 202 BC - coronation ceremony of Liu Bang as Emperor Gaozu of Han takes place initiating four centuries of the Han Dynasty 's rule Athletics Marathon December 4 &mdash Fukuoka Marathon, Japan Men's Winner Barry Olympic Valley (commonly known as Squaw Valley) in the US state of California is an unincorporated community located in Placer County California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater Lake in the Sierra Nevada mountains of the United States. Squaw Valley won the bid in 1955. Year 1955 ( MCMLV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar) It was the first return of the Olympic Games to North America in 28 years.

Sign outside Olympic Village at Squaw Valley
Sign outside Olympic Village at Squaw Valley

Contents

Host selection

Alexander Cushing, the creator of the resort was initially inspired to submit Squaw Valley when he noticed a newspaper article mentioning Reno, Nevada and Anchorage, Alaska had expressed interest in the Games. The Squaw Valley Ski Resort in Olympic Valley California, is one of the largest and most high-concept ski areas in the United States, and was A resort is a place used for Relaxation or Recreation, attracting visitors for Holidays or Vacations Resorts are places towns or sometimes Squaw Valley was a town with no mayor, and claimed one ski resort with only one chairlift, two rope tows, and a fifty-room lodge. In fact, Cushing was the only inhabitant and homeowner in the whole area. [1] To this day, many wonder how he convinced the International Olympic Committee to select the little known resort. Nevertheless, the bid captured the imagination of the International Olympic Committee, although IOC head Avery Brundage stated "the USOC obviously has taken leave of their senses. Avery Brundage ( September 28 1887 &ndash May 8 1975) was an American athlete sports official art collector and philanthropist " Cushing campaigned vigorously to win the Games and networked to gain many allies, particularly from South American Olympic Committees, who normally cared little for the Winter Games. South America is a Continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a Stressing simplicity and "the World's Games" (as opposed to dominant Europe), the tiny resort beat out previous hosts St. Moritz, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and favorite Innsbruck, Austria, which would go on to host the 1964 Winter Olympics. The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games, were a Winter Multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1948 The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games, were a Winter Multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1936 Innsbruck is the capital city of the federal state of Tyrol in western Austria. The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games, were a Winter Multi-sport event which was celebrated in Innsbruck [2]

The games were awarded in June 1955 to "shock and disbelief" over Innsbruck, and a four and a half year rush to construct roads, hotels, restaurants, and bridges, as well as the ice arena, the speed skating track, ski lifts, and ski jumping hill began. A road is an identifiable route, way or path between two or more places. A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging usually on a short-term basis A restaurant is a retail establishment that serves prepared Food to Customers. A bridge is a Structure built to span a Gorge, Valley, Road, railroad track, River, Body of water Speed skating or speedskating is a competitive form of Skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance The term ski lift can refer to many different types of uphill transport in three main classes Lift systems and networks The network lifts at a Ski Ski jumping is a Sport in which skiers go down an "inrun" with a take-off ramp (the jump attempting to go as far as possible Criticism of the high altitude, remote location, and lack of facilities were shown to be only partly justified when the contests were over. [3] Olympic course designer Willy Schaeffler walked the mountain for four days before appearing in declaring the site worthy. His valuable credits (the 1936 Games and the 1952 World Championships in Aspen) led him to tirelessly design the courses for the Games. [4] In fact, the alpine and cross-country courses were so difficult that they garnered quite a bit of controversy. [3]

The chart's information below comes from the International Olympic Committee Vote History web page.

1960 Winter Olympics Bidding Results
City NOC Name Round 1 Round 2
Squaw Valley, California Flag of the United States United States 30 32
Innsbruck Flag of Austria Austria 24 30
Garmisch-Partenkirchen Flag of Germany Germany 5
St. Moritz Flag of Switzerland Switzerland 3

Venues and celebrations

The Games were the largest ever held up to that date, with 30 nations competing in 15 alpine and ski jumping events, 8 speed skiing contests, 3 figure skating competitions and 28 hockey matches. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Innsbruck is the capital city of the federal state of Tyrol in western Austria. Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich Garmisch-Partenkirchen is a Market town in Bavaria, southern Germany. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. St Moritz ( German: Sankt Moritz, Romansh: San Murezzan) is an exclusive resort town in the Engadine valley in Switzerland Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation [5]

Prior to the Games, Squaw Valley had a typical 20 feet of snowpack. but a massive rain washed most of it away, including a temporary parking lot which was built on the frozen flood plain of a nearby stream. Parking lot (called a car park in Australia and the UK) is a cleared area that is more or less level and is intended for Parking vehicles For freezing as a method of food preservation see Frozen food. ||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||}A floodplain, or flood plain, is flat or nearly flat land adjacent to a Stream or River that experiences occasional or periodic A stream is a body of Water with a current, confined within a bed and stream-banks The U.S. military was called in to repair the damage to the packed-snow and ice lot before the Games began. The United States Armed Forces are the overall unified military forces of the United States "Snowfall" redirects here For other uses see Snow (disambiguation or Snowfall (disambiguation. Ice is a Solid phase, usually crystalline, of a Non-metalic substance that is liquid or gas at Room temperature, such as Ammonia Fortunately, 12 feet of snow fell before the Games started. [5]

Official flagpole
Official flagpole

For the first time, an Olympic Village was built to house all the athletes. Frequently an Olympic Village is built within an Olympic Park or elsewhere in a host city A sportsperson ( British and American English) or athlete (principally American English is any person who participates regularly in a Sport. It would house up to 750 participants. Also prominent was the Tower of Nations, now located at the entrance of the valley, which stands 79 feet tall and 29 feet wide. It is crowned with the five Olympic rings, each eight feet in diameter, and displays the crests of all the competing nations. There were also 30 flagpoles for the flags of the participating nations. Each flagpole came with a plaque signed by Walt Disney [1]. Walter Elias Disney (December 5 1901 – December 15 1966 was a multiple Academy Award -winning American Film producer, director, Screenwriter After the Games the flagpoles ended up, among others, at the following places:

Another first for the Games was Disney artist John Hench's Olympic torch design, upon which all further torches would be based. Marceline, character of Pierre Beaumarchais ' play The Marriage of Figaro. Missouri ( or) is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee The United States of America —commonly referred to as the California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Copenhagen (ˌkəʊpənˈheɪgən ˌkəʊpənˈhɑːgən ˈkəʊpənˌheɪgən ˈkəʊpənˌhɑːgən kʰøb̥ənˈhɑʊ̯ˀn kʰøb̥m̩ˈhɑʊ̯ˀn is the capital and largest city The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe John Hench ( June 29, 1908 – February 5, 2004) was an employee of The Walt Disney Company for more than sixty five years an exceptionally The Olympic Flame or Olympic Torch is a Symbol of the Olympic Games. Design is used both as a Noun and a Verb. The term is often tied to the various Applied arts and Engineering (See design disciplines The Olympic flame was lit in the cottage of Sondre Norheim in Morgedal, Norway, and was brought to Los Angeles by plane from Oslo. The Olympic Flame or Olympic Torch is a Symbol of the Olympic Games. In modern usage a cottage is a dwelling typically in a rural or semi-rural location (although there are cottage-style dwellings in cities Sondre Norheim, born Sondre Auverson, ( June 10, 1825 &ndash March 9, 1897) was a Norwegian skier and pioneer of modern Skiing Morgedal, of the municipality of Kviteseid in the county of Telemark Norway, is called the cradle of skiing. Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West (called Christiania from 1624 to 1878 and Kristiania from 1878 to 1924 is the Capital and largest city of Norway. The proverbial torch is metaphorically still burning in Squaw Valley.

Walt Disney was the Head of Pageantry for the Games. Walter Elias Disney (December 5 1901 – December 15 1966 was a multiple Academy Award -winning American Film producer, director, Screenwriter He organized 5,000 participants, including 1285 instruments and 2,645 voices from nearby schools in California and Nevada. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. Nevada ( is a state located in the western region of the United States of America. [5] 2,000 doves were also released in the pagentry. [2] CBS paid $50,000 for the right to broadcast the Games in the United States, and this marked the first time the Olympic Games were televised. CBS Broadcasting Inc ( CBS) is an American radio and Television network. [8] Also, officials unsure if a skier had missed a gate in the men's slalom, asked CBS if they could review a videotape of the race. This inspired CBS to invent "instant replay. "[1]

Highlights

Events

There were 15 alpine and ski jumping events, eight speed skiing events, and three figure skating events. However, there was no bobsleigh run, as the organizing committee found it too expensive and only nine nations would take part, so the sport was not contested at these Games (The bobsleigh world championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy would be held later that same year to replace the Olympic competition. The FIBT World Championships 1960 took place in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy for the fifth time Cortina d'Ampezzo (Hayden is a town and municipality in the Province of Belluno, Veneto, northern Italy. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest ).

1960 was the first year for women's speed skating and the men's biathlon. Speed skating or speedskating is a competitive form of Skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance Biathlon (not to be confused with Duathlon) is a term used to describe any sporting event made up of two disciplines

Also for the first time, artificial refrigeration was installed for speed skating events. [5]

Medal winners

Participating nations

A total of 30 nations sent athletes to Squaw Valley. Blyth Arena was an Ice hockey Arena in Squaw Valley California. The 1960 Winter Olympics Alpine skiing results in Squaw Valley California, United States. The 1960 Winter Olympic Games Biathlon results Men's event 20 km The Figure skating 1960 Winter Olympics results in Squaw Valley California, United States. At the 1960 Winter Olympics held in Squaw Valley California, United States, one Ice Hockey event was held men's Ice Hockey At the 1960 Winter Olympics, eight Nordic skiing events were contested &ndash six Cross-country skiing events one Ski The 1960 Winter Olympics Cross country skiing results Men's events 15 km 30 km 50 km 4 x At the 1960 Winter Olympics, the Individual Nordic combined event was contested A single event was contested in Ski jumping at the 1960 Winter Olympics. At the 1960 Winter Olympics, eight Speed skating events were contested South Africa competed at the Winter Games for the first time. The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa (It was also its last for many years, as Apartheid policies prevented further participation until 1994. )[3] Athletes from West Germany (FRG) and East Germany (GDR) competed together as the United Team of Germany from 1956 to 1964. West Germany ( Inf German: Westdeutschland or West-Deutschland) was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany ( The German Democratic Republic ( GDR; Deutsche Demokratische Republik DDR; commonly known in English as East Germany) was a Socialist state The Unified Team of Germany (Équipe unifiée d'Allemagne Gesamtdeutsche Mannschaft competed in the 1956 1960 and 1964 Winter and Summer Olympic Games

Medal count

Main article: 1960 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 Soviet Union 7 5 9 21
2 Germany Germany 4 3 1 8
3 United States United States (host nation) 3 4 3 10
4 Norway Norway 3 3 0 6
5 Sweden Sweden 3 2 2 7
6 Finland Finland 2 3 3 8
7 Canada Canada 2 1 1 4
8 Switzerland Switzerland 2 0 0 2
9 Austria Austria 1 2 3 6
10 France France 1 0 2 3

References

  1. ^ a b c Olympic.org
  2. ^ a b c d Squaw Valley USA: A History
  3. ^ a b c Kiat.net
  4. ^ a b Infoplease
  5. ^ a b c d Olympic Valley
  6. ^ Started by a Mouse
  7. ^ Jim Hill Media
  8. ^ Museum of Broadcast Communications

External links

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