The 1960 Winter Olympics were a winter multi-sport event held from February 18 to 28, 1960, at the Squaw Valley Resort in Squaw Valley, California, United States. The resort was chosen to host the Games at the 1956 meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Squaw Valley was an undeveloped resort in 1955, so the infrastructure and all of the venues were built between 1956 and 1960 at a cost of US$80,000,000. The layout was designed to be intimate, allowing spectators and competitors to reach most of the venues on foot.
The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 29 to February 9, 1964. The city was already an Olympic candidate, unsuccessfully bidding to host the 1960 Games. Innsbruck won the 1964 Games bid, defeating the cities of Calgary in Canada and Lahti in Finland. The sports venues, many of which were built for the Games, were located within a radius of 20 km (12 mi) around Innsbruck. The Games included 1,091 athletes from 36 nations, which was a record for the Winter Games at the time. Athletes participated in six sports and ten disciplines which bring together a total of thirty-four official events, seven more than the 1960 Winter Olympic Games. The luge made its debut on the Olympic program. Three Asian nations made their Winter Games debut: North Korea, India and Mongolia.
Laurence Rochon "Laurie" Owen was an American figure skater. She was the 1961 U.S. National Champion and represented the United States at the 1960 Winter Olympics, where she placed 6th. She was the daughter of Maribel Vinson and Guy Owen and the sister of Maribel Owen. Owen died, along with her mother, sister and the entire United States Figure Skating team, in the crash of Sabena Flight 548 en route to the 1961 World Figure Skating Championships. In 2011, on the 50th anniversary of the crash, Owen and the entire team was inducted to the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame.
Carol Elizabeth Heiss Jenkins is an American former figure skater and actress. Competing in ladies' singles, she became the 1960 Olympic champion, the 1956 Olympic silver medalist, and a five-time World champion (1956–1960).
Maribel Yerxa Vinson-Owen was an American figure skater and coach. She competed in the disciplines of ladies' singles and pair skating. As a single skater, she was the 1932 Olympic bronze medalist, a two-time World medalist, the 1937 North American champion, and a nine-time U.S. national champion. As a pair skater, she was the 1935 North American champion and four-time national champion with George Hill. She also won two national titles with Thornton Coolidge. She was the first female sportswriter at The New York Times, and continued competing and winning medals while working as a full-time reporter.
Figure skating at the 1964 Winter Olympics took place at the Olympiahalle in Innsbruck, Austria. There were three events contested: men's singles, ladies' singles, and pair skating.
Sabena Flight 548 was a Boeing 707-329 flight operated by Sabena that crashed en route from New York City to Brussels, Belgium on 15 February 1961. The flight, which had originated at Idlewild International Airport, crashed on approach to Brussels Airport, killing all 72 people on board and one person on the ground. The fatalities included the entire United States figure skating team, which was traveling to the World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia. The precise cause of the crash remains unknown; the most likely explanation was thought to be a failure of the mechanism that adjusts the tail stabilizer.
Sjoukje Rosalinde Dijkstra was a Dutch competitive figure skater. She was the 1964 Olympic champion in ladies' singles, the 1960 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time World champion (1962–1964), five-time European champion (1960–1964), and the six-time Dutch national champion (1959–1964). She was the first Dutch athlete to win a Winter Olympics gold medal.
Maria Jelinek is a Canadian former pair skater. With her brother Otto, she is the 1962 World champion, the 1961 North American champion, and 1961–1962 Canadian national champion. They represented Canada at the 1960 Winter Olympics, where they placed 4th.
Alain Giletti is a French figure skater. He is the 1960 World champion, the 1955-1957 & 1960-1961 European champion and is a ten-time French national champion. At the age of 12, he represented France at the 1952 Winter Olympics, where he placed 7th. He placed 4th at the 1956 Winter Olympics, and 4th again at the 1960 Winter Olympics.
Maribel Yerxa Owen was an American figure skater.
The United States was the host nation for the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California.
The United States competed at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria.
The United States competed at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France.
Stanislav Alekseyevich Zhuk was a pair skater who represented the Soviet Union. With his wife Nina, he won three silver medals at the European Figure Skating Championships and finished sixth at the 1960 Winter Olympics.
The 1961 U.S. Figure Skating Championships was held at the World Arena in Colorado Springs, Colorado, from January 25 to 29, 1961. Medals were awarded in three colors: gold (first), silver (second), and bronze (third) in four disciplines – men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing – across three levels: senior, junior, and novice.
The broadcasts of the Olympic Games produced by CBS Sports were shown on the CBS television network in the United States. CBS's last Olympics broadcast was the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan.
For the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California, in the United States, a total of five sports venues were used. Except for the Palisades Tahoe, all of the venues had to be constructed. For the first time in Winter Olympic history, a temporary venue was constructed at McKinney Creek for biathlon, cross-country skiing, and Nordic combined. A bobsleigh track was not constructed over the guarantees from the FIBT not being able to field the minimum twelve teams needed to compete, making it the only time bobsleigh has not been included in the Winter Olympics.
The Men's downhill competition of the 1960 Winter Olympics was held at Squaw Valley on Monday, February 22. The race was postponed from February 19, due to heavy snow fall.
David Jenkins 
Barbara Wagner / Robert Paul 
