Jump to content

Alpine skiing at the 1960 Winter Olympics – Men's downhill

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Men's Downhill
at the VIII Olympic Winter Games
VenueSquaw Valley
DateFebruary 22, 1960
Competitors63 from 21 nations
Winning time2:06.0
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Jean Vuarnet  France
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Hans Peter Lanig  United Team of Germany
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Guy Périllat  France
← 1956
1964 →
Men's Downhill
LocationSquaw Valley
Squaw Peak
Vertical   758 m (2,487 ft)
Top elevation2,707 m (8,881 ft)  
Base elevation1,949 m (6,394 ft)

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.[1][2][3][4]

The downhill race start was at the top of Squaw Peak at an elevation of 2,707 m (8,881 ft). The course length was 3.095 km (1.923 mi), with a vertical drop of 758 m (2,487 ft).[2]

Austrian Toni Sailer, the defending FIS Downhill World Champion did not compete as he had previously 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

[edit]

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

[edit]

Monday, February 22, 1960
The race was started at 10:00 local time, (UTC −8).

Rank Name Country Time Difference
1st place, gold medalist(s) Jean Vuarnet  France 2:06.0
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Hans Peter Lanig  United Team of Germany 2:06.5 +0.5
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Guy Périllat  France 2:06.9 +0.9
4 Willi Forrer  Switzerland 2:07.8 +1.8
5 Roger Staub  Switzerland 2:08.9 +2.9
6 Bruno Alberti  Italy 2:09.1 +3.1
7 Karl Schranz  Austria 2:09.2 +3.2
8 Charles Bozon  France 2:09.6 +3.6
9 Willy Bogner  United Team of Germany 2:09.7 +3.7
10 Egon N. Zimmermann  Austria 2:09.8 +3.8
11 Luggi Leitner  United Team of Germany 2:10.2 +4.2
12 Paride Milianti  Italy 2:10.8 +4.8
13 Jakob Arduser  Switzerland 2:10.9 +4.9
14 Dave Gorsuch  United States 2:11.0 +5.0
15 Pepi Stiegler  Austria 2:13.1 +7.1
16 Eberhard Riedel  United Team of Germany 2:13.3 +7.3
17 Gordi Eaton  United States 2:14.0 +8.0
18 Max Marolt  United States 2:14.2 +8.2
19 Anderl Molterer  Austria 2:15.1 +9.1
20 Nando Pajarola  Switzerland 2:15.4 +9.4
Oddvar Rønnestad  Norway
22 Marvin Melville  United States 2:15.9 +9.9
Verne Anderson  Canada
24 Italo Pedroncelli  Italy 2:16.8 +10.8
25 Felice De Nicolo  Italy 2:18.1 +12.1
26 Jean-Guy Brunet  Canada 2:18.2 +12.2
27 Frederick Tommy  Canada 2:18.4 +12.4
28 Don Bruneski  Canada 2:19.9 +13.9
29 Georgi Varoshkin  Bulgaria 2:20.0 +14.0
30 Georgi Dimitrov  Bulgaria 2:20.2 +14.2
31 Francisco Cortes  Chile 2:20.8 +14.8
32 Vicente Vera  Chile 2:24.5 +18.5
33 Jóhann Vilbergsson  Iceland 2:24.6 +18.6
34 Chiharu Igaya  Japan 2:25.0 +19.0
35 Charlach Mackintosh  Great Britain 2:25.1 +19.1
36 Kristinn Benediktsson  Iceland 2:26.0 +20.0
37 Eysteinn Þórðarson  Iceland 2:26.2 +20.2
38 Hernán Boher  Chile 2:26.7 +20.7
39 Victor Tagle  Chile 2:26.9 +20.9
40 Geoff Pitchford  Great Britain 2:27.3 +21.3
41 Adolf Fehr  Liechtenstein 2:27.4 +21.4
42 Manuel García-Moran  Spain 2:27.6 +21.6
43 Robert Skepper  Great Britain 2:28.1 +22.1
44 Luis Sánchez  Spain 2:28.3 +22.3
45 Osvaldo Ancinas  Argentina 2:28.4 +22.4
46 Osamu Tada  Japan 2:28.5 +22.5
47 Aleksandar Shalamanov  Bulgaria 2:29.0 +23.0
48 Sam Chaffey  New Zealand 2:29.3 +23.3
49 Silvan Kindle
Hermann Kindle
 Liechtenstein 2:29.4 +23.4
51 Luis Arias  Spain 2:29.8 +23.8
52 Bill Day  Australia 2:30.5 +24.5
53 Masayoshi Mitani  Japan 2:31.3 +25.3
54 Bill Hunt  New Zealand 2:32.0 +26.0
55 John Oakes  Great Britain 2:36.0 +30.0
56 Ibrahim Geagea  Lebanon 2:39.2 +33.2
57 Peter Brockhoff  Australia 2:39.7 +33.7
58 Zeki Şamiloğlu  Turkey 2:42.4 +36.4
59 Nazih Geagea  Lebanon 3:00.3 +54.3
60 Clemente Tellechea  Argentina 3:20.2 +1:14.2
61 Im Gyeong-sun  South Korea 3:34.4 +1:28.4
- Adrien Duvillard  France DQ -
- Muzaffer Demirhan  Turkey DQ -
Source:[2]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Girls to precede men in ski event". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. February 19, 1960. p. 16. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "VIII Olympic Winter Games Squaw Valley, California 1960 - Final Report". California Olympic Commission. California State Printing Office. 1960. pp. 95–96. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  3. ^ "Alpine Skiing at the 1960 Squaw Valley Winter Games: Men's Downhill". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  4. ^ "Russia clinches team title". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. February 23, 1960. p. 20. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  5. ^ "1958 World Championships results". FIS. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  6. ^ Terrell, Roy (February 29, 1960). "Heroes of Squaw Valley". Sports Illustrated. p. 20.
  7. ^ Uhrhammer, Jerry (February 23, 1960). "Metal skis, wax key items in men's downhill". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). p. 1D.
  8. ^ "Ski-ing medal won by Frenchman". Glasgow Herald. February 23, 1960. p. 9.
  9. ^ "Russ sew up title at Winter Olympics". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. February 23, 1960. p. 15.
  10. ^ "Top downhill skiers". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). (AP photo). February 22, 1960. p. 15.
  11. ^ a b c Masia, Seth. "Ski helmets: how we got here". International Skiing History Association. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
  12. ^ "Tragedy mars Canadian ski triumph". Montreal Gazette. Canadian Press. February 9, 1959. p. 17.
  13. ^ "Ski crash kills Canadian youth". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. February 8, 1959. p. 4, sports.
  14. ^ "Crash helmets for U.S. ski squad". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. (Florida). Associated Press. January 25, 1956. p. 11.
  15. ^ "Skiers cut loose at high speeds in tests". Ocala Star-Banner. (Florida). Associated Press. February 15, 1960. p. 7.
[edit]