1960 Squaw Valley

Squaw Valley 1960

Alpine Skiing

Biathlon

Cross-Country Skiing

Figure Skating

Ice Hockey

Nordic Combined

Short Track Speed Skating

Ski Jumping

Speed Skating

Austria

Canada

Finland

France

Germany

Norway

Poland

Sweden

Switzerland

United States

Figure skater Carol Heiss opens up about her Olympic experience at the Squaw Valley 1960 Winter Olympic Games

Carol HEISS

Squaw Valley 1960 | Olympic Winter games

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Carol Heiss talks about her Olympic victory | Squaw Valley 1960

When the Olympic men&rsquo;s ice hockey competition got under way at Squaw Valley in 1960, few believed that the home side &ndash; largely made up of young college players from Minnesota and Boston \- had a realistic chance of claiming gold\.&nbsp;

The forgotten "Miracle on ice" at Squaw Valley 

The flag bearers of the participating nations paraded around the arena and were followed by the athletes themselves, who mingled with each other as they greeted the crowd, all to the sound of the Parade des Olympiens\. The flag bearers then formed a circle around the main stage as the

The legacy of Squaw Valley 1960

A former blacksmith and lumberjack from Lima in central Sweden, Jernberg was regarded as the greatest long\-distance skier of his time\. Winning the first of his world titles in the 50km and 4x10km relay in Lahti \(FIN\) in 1958, he was the undisputed leader of the Swedish cross country skiing

Sixten JERNBERG

More Olympic joy for Jernberg

In a bid to increase his speed, the Frenchman then honed his revolutionary &ldquo;egg position&rdquo;, now known as the tuck, a lower stance in which he squatted down with knees bent, arms outstretched and fists clasped together\.

Vuarnet takes downhill skiing to the next level

He caused a sensation when, at the age of 19, he became the first non\-Scandinavian jumper to win the coveted Holmenkollen Festival title in Norway\. During that triumph he showcased his distinctive jumping style, developed in conjunction with his East German team\-mates and which involved him leaning forward with his

Recknagel jumps into Olympic history

Defending champions USSR were one of four favourites for the title\. The other fancied contenders were Sweden, who had pipped the Soviet Union to the world title in 1957; Canada, who snatched world gold from the USSR in 1958 and 1959; and Czechoslovakia, who had claimed two podium finishes at

USA strike first ever ice hockey gold

A student and later a school teacher from Chelyabinsk in the Urals, Skoblikova burst on to the domestic scene at the age of 17, setting national 1,500m and 3,000m records\. Drafted into the USSR team, she starred at the ISU World Championships in 1959 and 1960, winning the 500m and

Skoblikova completes sparkling Olympic debut

Born in 1934 in what was then known as the Free City of Danzig \(now the Polish city of Gdansk\), Helga Obschernitzki started out as a handball player before taking up speed skating at Dynamo Berlin, the East German club where she met her coach Helmut Haase, whom she married

Helga HAASE

Haase blazes the trail for women’s speed skating

The carpenter from Oslo bounced back the very next year to win the world all\-round crown in &Ouml;stersund \(SWE\)\. European gold came his way in Gothenburg \(SWE\) in 1959, and he retained his title in his home town just a month before setting off for Squaw Valley\. Unbeaten in the

Golden record for speed skater Johannesen

Lyubov Baranova had won the 10km title \(competing under her maiden name of Kozyreva\) at those championships before going on to add an Olympic gold at Cortina d&rsquo;Ampezzo 1956 ahead of Radia Yeroshina\. In 1958, in Lahti \(FIN\), a third Soviet athlete, Alevtina Kolchina had taken the world title\. The

Gusakova heads Soviet clean sweep

A sergeant in the Finnish Army and a forest ranger to boot, the 35\-year\-old Hakulinen was one of the greatest champions of his generation, and he further consolidated his status in California by winning another three medals, the highest individual tally of the VIII Olympic Winter Games\.

Hakulinen hits the heights

He won the 500m title and all\-round bronze at the 1954 ISU World Championships in Sapporo \(JPN\), and followed up a year later by breaking two world records in Almaty \(USR\), posting a time of 2:09\.8 in the 1,500m and then eclipsing Finnish skater Clas Thunberg&rsquo;s 25\-year\-old 1,000m mark with

Yevgeny GRISHIN

Grishin strikes double gold again

In total Biebl racked up 30 wins in all disciplines on the international circuit through to 1966 and was also crowned German champion 15 times\.

Biebl writes her name in women’s Alpine history

A precociously talented skier, Anne was just two when she first took to the slopes, and she was winning her first competitions by the age of seven\. Eight years later, in 1954, she became the youngest ever winner of the giant slalom at the Holmenkollen Ski Festival in Norway, and

Heggtveit opens Canada’s Alpine account

&ldquo;We had a choice to make after the Games,&rdquo; recalled Wagner\. &ldquo;We could either go back to high school or carry on skating\. We took our decision\.&rdquo; It turned out to be the right one\.

Wagner and Paul prove the perfect match

Staub was the first of the Arosa duo in action at Squaw Valley, lining up on the slopes of KT\-22 for the men&rsquo;s giant slalom, which was then a one\-run event\. Pepi Stiegler, the third skier down the mountain, set what looked to be an unbeatable time of 1:48\.1, with

Arosa duo score giant slalom double

Four years later, Hinterseer did find himself in among the giant slalom medals , producing a fine run on KT\-22 to claim bronze behind the winner, Switzerland&rsquo;s Roger Staub, and fellow Austrian Josef Stiegler\.

Hinterseer flies the flag for Austria

A month after Cortina 1956,&nbsp; the 16\-year\-old Heiss got the better of Tenley at the World Championships in Garmisch\-Partenkichen, winning gold and prompting her compatriot to call time on her career\.

Heiss skates to glory

A bronze medallist in Cortina at the age of 19, he joined his older brother on the podium at the 1955 and 1956 Worlds, taking the bronze on both occasions\. He then succeeded his brother as world champion in Colorado Springs \(USA\) in 1957, a title he retained in Paris

David JENKINS

Jenkins keeps it in the family

A comfortable winner in the event at Cortina d&rsquo;Ampezzo 1956, Norway&rsquo;s Sverre Stenersen remained a force to be reckoned with in the years that followed, winning the 1959 Holmenkollen Festival, among other titles\.

Thoma claims first Nordic combined gold for Germany

In the years that followed the Second World War, the modern version of military patrol, known as biathlon, grew in popularity, with a set of rules and regulations being drawn up in Macolin \(SUI\) in the mid 1950s and the sport coming under the jurisdiction of the Union Internationale de

Lestander wins first Olympic biathlon gold

Then, in December 1954, Cushing read a newspaper article on the race to host the 1960 Olympic Winter Games\. Despite facing competition from the likes of Reno in Nevada and Anchorage in Alaska , he decided that Squaw Valley should throw its hat into the ring\.

Squaw Valley 1960: How it all began

In just five short years a dream was turned into a reality as a remote site in the mountains of northern California was transformed into an Olympic winter wonderland\.

Relive the Glories of past Olympic Winter Games: Squaw Valley 1960