The , officially known as the '''VIII Olympic Winter Games''', were celebrated in
1960 in
Squaw Valley ,
California ,
United States (located in the
Lake Tahoe basin). Squaw Valley won the bid in
1955 .
Alexander Cushing , the creator of the
Resort , campaigned vigorously to win the Games. After being awarded the Games, there was a rush to construct
Road s,
Hotel s,
Restaurant s, and
Bridge s, as well as the ice arena, the
Speed Skating track,
Ski Lift s, and the
Ski Jumping Hill .
The temporary
Parking Lot was built on the
Frozen Flood Plain of a nearby
Stream , but was destroyed when unseasonable
Rain s washed it out. The
U.S. Military was called in to repair the damage to the packed-
Snow and
Ice lot before the Games began.
Walt Disney was the Head of Pageantry for the Games.
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.
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The
Olympic Village housed all the
Athlete s.
An early
IBM Computer was used to
Calculate the results.
This
Winter Olympics introduced
Disney artist
John Hench 's
Olympic Torch Design , upon which all further torches would be based. The
Olympic Flame was lit in the
Cottage of
Sondre Norheim in
Morgedal ,
Norway , and was brought to
Los Angeles by plane from
Oslo . It is still burning in Squaw Valley.
There were 30 flagpoles for the flags of the participating nations. Each flagpole came with a plaque signed by
Walt Disney {Link without Title} . After the Games the flagpoles ended up, among others, at the following places:
