The , officially known as the '''IX Olympic Winter Games''', were held in
1964 in
Innsbruck ,
Austria .
On
February 15 ,
1961 , the entire US
Figure Skating team and several family members, coaches, and officials were 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.
Australia n 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 .
(''Host nation in .'')
(¹ Athletes from
East and
West Germany competed together as the "United Team of Germany, " designated as the . This combined team appeared in the 1956, 1960, and 1964 Winter Olympics)
- "Australia and the Olympic Games" by Harry Gordon. ISBN 0702226270
