1968w

Grenoble 1968

Alpine Skiing

Biathlon

Bobsleigh

Cross-Country Skiing

Curling

Figure Skating

Freestyle Skiing

Ice Hockey

Luge

Ski Jumping

Speed Skating

Austria

Canada

Denmark

France

Italy

Netherlands

Norway

Romania

Sweden

United States

USSR

Uzbekistan

Speed skater Fred Anton Maier won four medals in two editions of the Olympic Games.

Fred Anton MAIER

Fred Anton Maier Living the dream_thumbnail.jpg

Fred Anton Maier: Living the dream

February 17, 1968
French hopes for the Olympic Winter Games Grenoble 1968 were high when Jean-Claude Killy won 12 of 16 World Cup races during the 1966-67 season.
There was growing conjecture that a clean sweep of the three alpine skiing disciplines was on the cards.
His first Olympic foray

Grenoble 1968 | Olympic Winter games

Jean-Claude Killy

Throwback: When Killy embraced pressure to deliver title treble at Grenoble Games

The first five matches came and went for the USSR, each with the widely predictable victories\. Finland, East Germany, West Germany and the United States were all thrashed with some ease\. The Soviet Union won each match by a margin of either eight or nine goals and Firsov scored in

Anatoli FIRSOV

Fire on ice from Firsov in the ice hockey

In Grenoble, she entered all three of the Alpine skiing events, buoyed by her World Cup triumphs, but she could finish only tenth in the downhill, the first of them\.

Nancy GREENE

Tigerish Greene claims giant slalom gold

Geijssen had won the Dutch All\-round Championship in 1966\. But others had taken the world championship titles, although she had finished third in the world earlier in 1968\. Ahead of her, though, had been two compatriots\. She may have been third in the world, but she was also third in

Carolina GEIJSSEN

Geijssen launches golden age for Dutch speed skating

On 8 February 1968, standing at the start of the two\-man bobsleigh event held on the Alpe d&rsquo;Huez ice track, Eugenio Monti was about to achieve his greatest success\. At the age of 40, he had seen it all and won everything, having achieved seven world titles in the two\-man

On 8 February 1968 in Grenoble, Eugenio Monti’s great dream started to become a reality!

She had been born in Finland but evacuated to Sweden during World War II and came to live in a village near the Norwegian border\. She later married a Swede, changed her name from Karvonen to Gustafsson and took Swedish citizenship\. And then began her Olympic odyssey\.

Toini GUSTAFSSON

Gustafsson at the double in the cross country

Killy had grown up in the French Alpine village of Val d'Is&egrave;re, skiing since his youngest days, and had competed in the 1964 Games, without winning a medal\. In the intervening years, though, he had blossomed &ndash; in the 1966\-67 season, for instance, he won 12 of 16 world cup

Jean-Claude KILLY

Killy instinct delivers triple gold on the slopes

The 4 x 7\.5km relay was a new event for the Olympics\. The Norwegians had won world championship titles in both 1966 and 1967 but the Soviet Union were considered just as strong, if not better, thanks to a line\-up of athletes that appeared intimidatingly strong– including Tikhonov\.

Biathlete Tikhonov turns disappointment into gold

Maier was also a keen cyclist and had won a bronze medal in the national Norwegian time trial championships in 1957, when he was just 18 years old\. Ten years later, and less than a year before his return to the Olympic arena in search of his first gold medal,

Speed skater Maier makes his mark over 5,000m

Standing on the third step of the podium, with bronze medals round their necks, were Ion Panţuru and Nicolae Neagoe\. It was &ndash; and still is &ndash; the only medal won by Romanian athletes at the Olympic Winter Games\.

Panţuru and Neagoe make Winter Games history for Romania

Schmid was entered in both the singles and doubles events, and in both he faced formidable competition from East Germany\. Thomas K&ouml;hler was the reigning champion in the singles, while his compatriot Klaus Bonsack was also hotly tipped\. The two would unite forces in the doubles event\.

Manfred SCHMID

Schmid comes of age in the luge

In Grenoble, he continued to focus on both competitions\. His first Olympic Games had been at Cortina d’Ampezzo in 1956, when he left with two silvers, and now, at the age of 40, he knew his career was in its final stages\. His Olympic medal collection now comprised two bronzes

Eugenio MONTI

Monti's Olympic spirit rewarded with double gold

Belousova was now 32, while her husband was 35\. By the demanding standards of their sport, they were indeed old – but they were also outstanding athletes who had only started skating in their teens\. Perhaps the absence of childhood skating injuries helped to prolong their careers – certainly they

Belousova and Protopopov prove a marriage made in heaven

One of the great characters of these Games was Norway&rsquo;s Ole Ellefs&aelig;ter\. He was clearly an outstanding skier, but was also an exceptionally good track athlete\. Ellefs&aelig;ter had been Norwegian steeplechase champion six years in a row and represented his country in international athletic competition\.

Endurance man Ellefsæter prevails over 50km

She had been a world champion at the age of just 16\. Like Jean\-Claude Killy, Marielle came from a village near Val d'Isère and was already accustomed to Olympic success\. What made her unusual was that her greatest competition often came from her own sister\.

World beater Goitschel finishes with a golden flourish

The unpredictability came from two angles &ndash; the winner and the weather\. Indeed, the two were probably related, with one of the favourites being affected by rain while the winner competed under clear skies in perfect conditions\.

Johanna SCHUT

Glory for Schut in 3,000m speed skating 

The Norwegians had a strong crop of athletes to choose from\. Olav Jardet, who won bronze in 1964, had gone on to become world champion in 1965, followed by another Norwegian, Jon Istad, the following year\. Compared to them, 31\-year\-old policeman Magnar Solberg was relatively unheralded but he was chosen

Magnificent Magnar powers to biathlon gold 

Firs Håkon Mjön of Norway took the lead, but was disqualified for missing two gates\. Then came Karl Schranz who was to be involved in one of the greatests mysteries of these – or any other – Games\. Schranz said he was blocked by an official during his run, appealed,

Schranz kicks up a snowstorm

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Fleming's golden flourish gives USA rare moment of cheer

The event was the final of the women's 500m speed skating\. Victory had been predicted for the Soviet skater Tatyana Sidorova, who had broken the world record just a week before\. And yet, this was not to be her day as she finished a startling two seconds slower than her

American trio share silver lining in 500m speed skating

The first contest was the normal hill\. Raska had said, before the Olympic Games started, that he would be happy with fifth place, but the form guide suggested he would be a contender for a medal, even if most people were expecting victory to go to the Norwegian Bjorn Wirkola\.

Raska and Belousov take ski jumping to new heights

Grenoble 1968 - Stories Mosaic

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Uzbek skier Lina Cheryazova after winning the gold medal in the women's freestyle aerials at the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, 24th February 1994. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Uzbek skier Lina Cheryazova after winning the gold medal in the women's freestyle aerials at the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, 24th February 1994.

Look to the past: The three nations with a single Olympic Winter Games medal

Martin Stokken's first major sporting victory came in 1946 when he became the Norwegian cross-country champion. Stokken had only recently returned from Sweden, where he had fought in World War II on the side of the Norwegian Resistance.
The 23-year-old didn’t want to return to his previous job as a

Solberg makes biathlon history

Look to the past: Magnar Solberg and the art of shooting on an anthill

Little Josephine Becker was nervous as she took to the ice for her first ever figure skating competition. No matter how the youngster performed at the outdoor rink in New York, however, she was always going to look the part. Her mother is fashion designer and former figure skater, Vera

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Olympic Winter Games Grenoble 1968

Grenoble 1968Stories

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On 8 February 1968 in Grenoble, Eugenio Monti’s great dream started to become a reality!