The , officially known as the '''IX Olympic Winter Games''', were celebrated 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,
"Olympic Winter Games Innsbruck 1964" (history), kiat.net, webpage:
KIAT-Innsbruck .
a former
Alpine Skier who had participated in the
1956 Winter Olympics .
The games were affected by the deaths of '', below).
- Lidia Skoblikova takes a full clean sweep in the women's speed skating events, an achievement not matched 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.
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.
Main article:
1964 Winter Olympics Medal Count
These are the top ten nations that won medals at these Games:
Tragedies, immediately prior to the 1964 Winter Olympics, affected the outcome and mood of the games:
- 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 .
- 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.
- "Australia and the Olympic Games" by Harry Gordon. ISBN 0-7022-2627-0
