Alpine skiing at the 1960 Winter Olympics – Men's downhill
The Men's downhill competition of the 1960 Winter Olympics was held at Squaw Valley on Monday, February 22.[1] The race was postponed from February 19 because of heavy snow fall.[2][3][4]
Men's downhill at the VIII Olympic Winter Games | |||||||||||||
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Venue | Squaw Valley | ||||||||||||
Date | February 22 | ||||||||||||
Competitors | 63 from 21 nations | ||||||||||||
Winning time | 2:06.0 | ||||||||||||
Medalists | |||||||||||||
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Alpine skiing at the 1960 Winter Olympics | ||
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Downhill | men | women |
Giant slalom | men | women |
Slalom | men | women |
Men's Downhill | |
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Location | Squaw Valley Squaw Peak |
Vertical | 758 m (2,487 ft) |
Top elevation | 2,707 m (8,881 ft) |
Base elevation | 1,949 m (6,394 ft) |
The race was run on Squaw Peak, with a starting elevation of 2,707 m (8,881 ft) above sea level; the course length was 3.095 km (1.923 mi), with a vertical drop of 758 m (2,487 ft).[3]
The defending world champion was Toni Sailer of Austria, who did not compete (retired).[5]
Jean Vuarnet, the bronze medalist at the world championships two years earlier, won by a half-second in the only Olympic event of his career. It was the first time an Olympic race was won on metal skis.[6][7][8][9][10] Vuarnet's winning time of 126.0 seconds yielded an average speed of 88.429 km/h (54.9 mph), with an average vertical descent rate of 6.016 m/s (19.7 ft/s).
Helmets
This was the first Olympic downhill in which crash helmets were mandatory,[11] following the race death in 1959 of Canadian John Semmelink at Garmisch, West Germany.[12][13] During his final race, Semmelink wore a leather helmet, which was more protection than many racers used at the time.[11] The U.S. Ski Team first wore crash helmets at the 1956 Winter Olympics,[14] but most of the Europeans went without.[11][15]
Results
Monday, February 22, 1960
The race was started at 10:00 local time, (UTC −8).
- Source:[3]
References
- "Russia clinches team title". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. February 23, 1960. p. 20.
- "Girls to precede men in ski event". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. February 19, 1960. p. 16.
- "VIII Olympic Winter Games Squaw Valley, California 1960 - Final Report". California Olympic Commission. LA84 Foundation. 1960. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
- "Alpine Skiing at the 1960 Squaw Valley Winter Games: Men's Downhill". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
- "1958 World Championships results". FIS. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
- Terrell, Roy (February 29, 1960). "Heroes of Squaw Valley". Sports Illustrated. p. 20.
- Uhrhammer, Jerry (February 23, 1960). "Metal skis, wax key items in men's downhill". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1D.
- "Ski-ing medal won by Frenchman". Glasgow Herald. February 23, 1960. p. 9.
- "Russ sew up title at Winter Olympics". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. February 23, 1960. p. 15.
- "Top downhill skiers". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). (AP photo). February 22, 1960. p. 15.
- Masia, Seth. "Ski helmets: how we got here". International Skiing History Association. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
- "Tragedy mars Canadian ski triumph". Montreal Gazette. Canadian Press. February 9, 1959. p. 17.
- "Ski crash kills Canadian youth". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. February 8, 1959. p. 4, sports.
- "Crash helmets for U.S. ski squad". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. (Florida). Associated Press. January 25, 1956. p. 11.
- "Skiers cut loose at high speeds in tests". Ocala Star-Banner. (Florida). Associated Press. February 15, 1960. p. 7.
External links
- YouTube: Flame in the Snow – an official film of the VIII Olympic Winter Games (1960) – Men's downhill (8:50 to 11:34)