The Winter Olympic Games are one of the most spectacular sporting events, and there is always a serious struggle for the right to host them. Sometimes the winner is determined by a few votes. However, Austria's Innsbruck, the capital of the 1964 Winter Games, beat its competitors with a clear advantage.
The IX Winter Olympic Games were held in the Austrian city of Innsbruck from January 29 to February 9, 1964. The decision to hold the Olympics in Austria was made at the 55th session of the International Olympic Committee, held on May 26, 1959 in Munich.
Representatives of the Austrian Olympic Committee announced their desire to hold the Winter Games in Innsbruck during their correspondence with the IOC leadership, which took place from August 1950 to April 1951. Austria's intention to host the Winter Olympics was met quite well-wishingly, delegates of the International Olympic Committee visited the cities of Badgastein and Innsbruck during the 45th session of the IOC in Vienna in May 1951. The purpose of the visit was to assess the possibility of these cities to host the Winter Games.
The results of the visit were quite satisfactory to the delegates of the committee, and in 1952 the representatives of Innsbruck applied to consider their city as the capital of one of the future Winter Olympics. At the beginning of 1954, Austrian government circles confirmed their readiness to support and finance the Olympics, which undoubtedly influenced the rise of Innsbruck's rating.
On May 26, 1959, the 55th session of the IOC took place in Munich, at which the venue for the IX Winter Olympic Games of 1964 was to be chosen. Innsbruck's rivals were the Canadian Calgary and the Finnish Lahti. As a result of the vote, Innsbruck won a landslide victory, gaining 49 votes to 9 for Calgary. Lahti did not receive a single vote at all.
The Austrians kept all their promises, Innsbruck prepared excellently for the Olympics. Old sports facilities were reconstructed, new ones were created. Even the unusually warm weather could not interfere with the holding of the Games; with the help of the military, the delivery of snow to the competition tracks was organized. In total, more than 15 thousand cubic meters had to be brought.
A record number of athletes took part in the competition - 1,111 Olympians from 36 countries. In the overall team competition, the USSR team confidently took the first place, having won 11 gold, 8 silver and 6 bronze medals. The hosts of the Olympiad were able to take the third place, the Austrian team received 4 gold, 5 silver and 3 bronze medals. The third place went to the Norwegians - 3 gold, 6 silver and 6 bronze medals.
