The 1960 Winter Olympics, the fifth in a row, were held from 18 to 28 February in Squaw Valley (USA). Awards were played in 29 competitions in 5 sports. A total of 655 athletes participated, including 144 women, from 31 countries. How Alexander Kushing persuaded the leadership of the winter sports federations to host the Games in Squaw Valley remains a mystery to many. However, it is known that on this occasion he made and presented to the IOC a gigantic model of the city, which cost him $ 5,800.
For the first time, the Olympic Games were conducted at such an altitude - 1889 m above sea level. Bobsleigh competitions, due to the fact that there was no track in Squaw Valley and only 9 out of 31 teams wished to participate in this sport, were not held. Therefore, they refused to build a track specifically "for the Olympics". But at this Olympics, for the first time, biathlon and ice skating competitions (among women) were held. It is also worth noting that athletes from all 5 continents participated in the history of the OWG this time.
The organizers of the Squaw Valley Game prepared for such an event by building an indoor winter stadium with a capacity of 11,000 people, as well as other sports facilities. The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games took place on February 18 at the Ice Stadium. 15,000 spectators attended. It is worth noting that the show for this ceremony was prepared by Walt Disney, the world famous Hollywood film producer. The oath on behalf of all athletes participating in the Games was made by figure skater Carol Hayes.
In Squaw Valley, a computer-based information system was introduced for the first time, greatly facilitating the conduct of competitions.
In a new discipline - biathlon - Swede Claes Lestander became the winner. It is worth noting that biathletes from the USSR then received bronze, and also took 4-6 places. In skiing 3 "gold" was won by the team of Germany, 2 each - Switzerland, Sweden and Finland, 1 each - France, Austria, Canada, Norway and the USSR.
In speed skating, Soviet athletes were the best for outstanding superiority. They received gold medals in 6 out of 8 types of competition. In addition, they earned 3 "silver" and 2 "bronze". The remaining 2 highest awards were taken to their homeland by the Norwegians. On the closing day of the OWG in Squaw Valley, speed skating starts were organized to break records. Then the four-time winner of the Olympic Games E. Grishin set a world record. Moreover, it “came out” of 40 seconds, for the first time in history (39, 6). In single skating, both "gold" were won by athletes from the United States, as in the previous Games.
Perhaps the main surprise in Squaw Valley was the victory of the US hockey team. The favorites - Canada, the USSR and Czechoslovakia - were out of work. Our athletes then took 3rd place.
Veikko Hakulinen, a veteran skier from Finland, won the full set of awards. The Olympic gold medal was his third in a row.
As in 1956, this time in the unofficial team competition the athletes from the USSR were head and shoulders above all, earning 146.5 points and 21 medals (7-6-8). This was a record number of awards for that time. The second and third places were shared by Swedes and athletes from the USA - 62 points and 3 golds each.
