| United States at the 1960 Winter Olympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| IOC code | USA |
| NOC | United States Olympic Committee |
| in Squaw Valley | |
| Competitors | 79 (61 men, 18 women) in 8 sports |
| Flag bearer | Don McDermott |
| Medals Ranked 3rd |
|
| Winter Olympics appearances (overview) | |
The United States was the host nation for the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California.
The following U.S. competitors won medals at the games. In the by discipline sections below, medalists' names are bolded.
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Men
| Athlete | Event | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | ||
| Gordi Eaton | Downhill | — | 2:14.0 | 17 | |||
| Dave Gorsuch | 2:11.0 | 14 | |||||
| Max Marolt | 2:14.2 | 18 | |||||
| Marvin Melville | 2:15.9 | 22 | |||||
| Jim Barrier | Giant slalom | — | 1:52.7 | 16 | |||
| Tom Corcoran | 1:49.7 | 4 | |||||
| Dave Gorsuch | 1:52.3 | 14 | |||||
| Max Marolt | 1:54.9 | 21 | |||||
| Jim Barrier | Slalom | DNF | |||||
| Frank Brown | 1:58.2 | 52 | 1:03.1 | 12 | 3:01.3 | 37 | |
| Tom Corcoran | 1:12.5 | 13 | 1:02.2 | 9 | 2:14.7 | 9 | |
| Chuck Ferries | 1:16.1 | 16 | DSQ | ||||
Women
| Athlete | Event | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | ||
| Joan Hannah | Downhill | — | 1:47.9 | 21 | |||
| Linda Meyers | 1:53.4 | 33 | |||||
| Penny Pitou | 1:38.6 |  | |||||
| Betsy Snite | DSQ | ||||||
| Beverley Anderson | Giant slalom | — | 1:57.4 | 36 | |||
| Linda Meyers | DSQ | ||||||
| Penny Pitou | 1:40.0 | | |||||
| Betsy Snite | 1:40.4 | 4 | |||||
| Beverley Anderson | Slalom | 1:13.1 | 38 | 1:00.0 | 14 | 2:13.1 | 26 |
| Renie Cox | 59.4 | 18 | 59.8 | 10 | 1:59.2 | 9 | |
| Penny Pitou | 58.5 | 9 | 1:21.3 | 34 | 2:19.8 | 33 | |
| Betsy Snite | 57.4 | 4 | 55.5 | 1 | 1:52.9 | | |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Misses | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Burritt | Individual | 1:46:36.8 | 5 (0+1+3+1) | 14 |
| Larry Damon | 1:59:38.2 | 13 (5+3+3+2) | 24 | |
| Gustav Hanson | 1:58:06.2 | 9 (3+3+2+1) | 23 | |
| Dick Mize | 1:55:56.2 | 11 (3+3+5+0) | 21 |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charlie Akers | Men's 15 km | 1:02:35.7 | 50 |
| Olavi Hirvonen | 1:00:38.6 | 48 | |
| Peter Lahdenpera | 59:13.0 | 46 | |
| Mack Miller | 54:49.0 | 22 | |
| Sven Johanson | Men's 30 km | DNF | |
| Leo Massa | 2:16:47.0 | 42 | |
| Mack Miller | 2:03:05.4 | 27 | |
| Joe Pete Wilson | 2:22:16.2 | 43 | |
| Theodore Farwell | Men's 50 km | 3:49:56.6 | 31 |
| Leo Massa | 3:41:08.2 | 29 | |
| Olavi Hirvonen | 3:36:37.8 | 26 | |
| Mack Miller | 3:17:23.2 | 17 | |
| Karl Bohlin John Dendahl Peter Lahdenpera Mack Miller | Men's 4 × 10 km relay | 2:38:01.8 | 11 |
On February 15, 1961, the entire United States figure skating team and several family members, coaches, and officials were killed when Sabena Flight 548 crashed in Brussels, Belgium, en route to the World Championships in Prague. The accident caused the cancellation of the 1961 World Championships and necessitated the building of a new American skating program. [1] [2]
Individual
| Athlete | Event | CF | FS | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Rank | Points | Places | Rank | ||
| Robert Brewer | Men's singles | 7 | 8 | 1320.3 | 66 | 7 |
| Tim Brown | 5 | 4 | 1374.1 | 43 | 5 | |
| David Jenkins | 2 | 1 | 1440.2 | 10 |  | |
| Carol Heiss | Ladies' singles | 1 | 1 | 1490.1 | 9 | |
| Laurence Owen | 6 | 6 | 1343.0 | 57 | 6 | |
| Barbara Roles | 3 | 2 | 1414.9 | 26 |  | |
Mixed
| Athlete | Event | Points | Places | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ila Ray Hadley Ray Hadley, Jr. | Pairs | 65.7 | 78 | 11 |
| Nancy Ludington Ronald Ludington | 76.2 | 27.5 | | |
| Maribel Owen Dudley Richards | 67.5 | 69 | 10 |
Summary
| Team | Event | First round | Consolation round | Medal round | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Rank | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Rank | ||
| United States men | Men's tournament |  Czechoslovakia W 7–5 |  Australia W 12–1 | 1 Q | Bye |  Sweden W 6–3 |  Germany W 9–1 |  Canada W 2–1 |  Soviet Union W 3–2 | Czechoslovakia W 9–4 | | |
Roster
First round
Top two teams (shaded ones) from each group advanced to the final round and played for 1st-6th places, other teams played in the consolation round.
| Rank | Team | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  United States | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 6 | 4 |
| 2 | Czechoslovakia | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 8 | 2 |
| 3 | Australia | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 30 | 0 |
Medal round
First place team wins gold, second silver and third bronze.
| Rank | Team | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 11 | 10 |
| 2 | Canada | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 12 | 8 |
| 3 | Soviet Union | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 24 | 19 | 5 |
| 4 | Czechoslovakia | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 23 | 4 |
| 5 | Sweden | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 19 | 19 | 3 |
| 6 | Germany | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 45 | 0 |
| Athlete | Event | Ski Jumping | Cross-country | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jump 1 | Jump 2 | Points | Rank | Time | Points | Rank | Points | Rank | ||
| John Cress | Individual | 92.0 | 99.5 | 191.5 | 27 | 1:12:59.7 | 183.806 | 31 | 375.919 | 30 |
| Theodore Farwell | 86.5 | 86.0 | 172.5 | 30 | 1:05:09.4 | 214.194 | 21 | 386.694 | 27 | |
| Craig Lussi | 83.5 | 75.0 | 158.5 | 31 | 1:07:55.7 | 203.419 | 28 | 361.919 | 30 | |
| Alfred Vincelette | 99.0 | 91.5 | 190.5 | 28 | 1:07:35.4 | 204.774 | 26 | 395.274 | 26 | |
| Athlete | Event | Jump 1 | Jump 2 | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Distance | Points | Rank | Distance | Points | Rank | Points | Rank | ||
| Gene Kotlarek | Normal hill | 84.0 | 96.5 | 27 | 77.0 fall | 68.6 | 44 | 165.1 | 42 |
| Ansten Samuelstuen | 90.0 | 107.8 | 5 | 79.0 | 103.7 | 13 | 211.5 | 7 | |
| Jon St. Andre | 81.5 | 92.5 | 34 | 78.5 | 99.8 | 25 | 192.3 | 28 | |
| Butch Wedin | 79.0 | 93.5 | 32 | 72.0 | 93.6 | 36 | 187.1 | 32 | |
Men
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Carow | 500 m | DNF | |
| Bill Disney | 40.3 | | |
| Terry McDermott | 40.9 | 7 | |
| Eddie Rudolph | 41.2 | 10 | |
| Floyd Bedbury | 1500 m | 2:18.9 | 22 |
| Dick Hunt | 2:17.7 | 17 | |
| Keith Meyer | 2:21.7 | 29 | |
| Eddie Rudolph | 2:23.1 | 35 | |
| Floyd Bedbury | 5000 m | 8:39.6 | 30 |
| Dick Hunt | 8:21.3 | 17 | |
| Arnold Uhrlass | 8:18.0 | 14 | |
| Arnold Uhrlass | 10,000 m | 16:49.3 | 15 |
| Ross Zucco | 16:37.6 | 10 | |
Women
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jeanne Ashworth | 500 m | 46.1 | |
| Kathy Mulholland | 47.9 | 10 | |
| Jeanne Omelenchuk | 49.3 | 16 | |
| Jeanne Ashworth | 1000 m | 1:36.5 | 8 |
| Jeanne Omelenchuk | 1:39.8 | 15 | |
| Jeanne Ashworth | 1500 m | 2:33.7 | 11 |
| Barb Lockhart | 2:37.0 | 18 | |
| Jeanne Omelenchuk | 2:36.4 | 15 | |
| Jeanne Ashworth | 3000 m | 5:28.5 | 8 |
| Beverly Buhr | 6:03.1 | 19 | |
| Cornelia Harrington | 5:57.5 | 18 |
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, was 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.
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 1960 Winter Olympics took place at the Blyth Arena in Squaw Valley, California, United States. Three figure skating events were contested: men's singles, ladies' singles and pair skating.
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.
The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan, was the 12th Olympic Championship. Games were held at the Makomanai Ice Arena and at the Tsukisamu Indoor Skating Rink. The Soviet Union won its fourth gold medal. The United States won the silver, while Czechoslovakia won the bronze. Canada did not send a team to the event for the first time since ice hockey was first competed at the Olympics in 1920, instead competing with and defeating the Soviets in a competition later that year known as the Summit Series. Canada would not send a men's hockey team to the Olympics until 1980.
Sabena Flight 548 was a Boeing 707-329 flight operated by Sabena that crashed en route from New York City to Brussels, Belgium, on February 15, 1961. The flight, which had originated at Idlewild International Airport, crashed on approach to Brussels Airport, Brussels, killing all 72 people on board and one person on the ground. The fatalities included the entire United States figure skating team, who were travelling 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 adjusted the tail stabilizer.
The United States sent 204 athletes to the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Chris Witty, a four-time Olympian, who competed in both Summer and Winter games, and won a gold medal in speed skating at the 2002 Games, served as the flag bearer at the opening ceremonies. Speed skater Joey Cheek, who won gold in the 500 m and silver in the 1000 m, was the flag bearer at the closing ceremonies. One athlete, Sarah Konrad, became the first American woman to compete in two different disciplines at the same Winter Olympics – biathlon and cross-country skiing.
Maribel Yerxa Owen was an American figure skater.
The United States competed at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.
The United States competed at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria.
The United States competed at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France.
Dudley "Dud" Shaw Richards was an American figure skater who competed in men's singles and pairs. In singles, he won the bronze medal at the 1953 United States Figure Skating Championships and finished sixth at that year's World Figure Skating Championships. In pairs, he once skated with future Olympic gold medalist Tenley Albright, before later teaming up with Maribel Owen. After winning the bronze medal at Nationals in 1958 and 1959, the pair captured the silver in 1960 and finished tenth at that year's Winter Olympic Games. In 1961, Owen and Richards won the gold medal at the U.S. Championships and finished second at the North American Figure Skating Championships.
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 United States participated in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The U.S. team had a historic Winter Games, winning an unprecedented 37 medals. Team USA's medal haul, which included nine gold, marked the first time since the 1932 Lake Placid Games that the U.S. earned more medals than any other participant.
China participated at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, sending its largest delegation at a Winter Olympics with 94 athletes. China had its best ever Winter Olympics medal finish, winning five gold medals and eleven in total, finishing seventh in the medal standings.
The United States competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, from February 7 to 23, 2014. Team USA consisted of 222 athletes competing in all 15 sports.
The United States competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from February 9 to 25, 2018.
Figure Skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. Although ice skating began in 3,000 BCE in Scandinavia, American Edward Bushnell's 1855 invention of steel blades and Jackson Haines bringing elements of ballet to figure skating were critical to the development of modern-day figure skating. Since then, figure skating in the United States has grown to have 186,038 members as of the 2020–2021 season.
The United States competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, from 4 to 20 February 2022.
The plane crash that killed the 1961 U.S. world championship figure skating team decimated families and the sport, but alongside grief came renewal.