The VIII Winter Olympic Games were held from February 18 to February 28, 1960 in the American ski resort Squaw Valley, which at the time of his nomination for the right to host the games was not even a city. Nevertheless, the choice of the IOC fell on him.
Squaw Valley from the very beginning was not well suited for the Winter Olympics. The preparation stage was also delayed, the International Olympic Committee even thought about postponing the Olympics. As a result, the games were nevertheless held, but many facilities did not have time to be built, so the competition in some sports had to be canceled. In particular, the bobsledders did not start, as there was not enough money and time for the construction of the track.
The number of participants who came to the Olympics also left much to be desired, they were significantly less than at the previous games - 665 athletes from 30 countries. In eight sports disciplines, 27 sets of awards were played.
The IOC-approved anthem was played for the first time at the Squaw Valley Olympics. One of the features of these competitions was also the height of the terrain - Squaw Valley is located at an altitude of 1889 meters above sea level, which created additional difficulties for the athletes.
The competition program included biathlon, the Swede Claes Lestanden won the individual 20 km race. In terms of speed, he lost to fourteen rivals, but was able to win due to accurate shooting. Silver was won by Finn Antti Tyrväinen, bronze by Soviet athlete Alexander Privalov.
The USSR Olympians performed very well in speed skating, having won 6 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze medals. In ski jumping, there was no equal to the athlete from the GDR Helmut Recknagel. In men's and women's figure skating, both gold went to the Americans - David Jenkins and Carol Hayes. In pair skating, the victory was won by Canadians Barbara Wagner and Robert Paul.
In hockey, the Americans celebrated the victory, the second place went to Canada. Soviet hockey players took third place, losing to the US team with a score of 2: 3, and Canada 5: 8. Cross-country skiing was not very successful for athletes from the USSR, Maria Gusakova won the only gold medal in the 10 km race. Silver and bronze also went to Soviet skiers Lyubov Kozyreva and Radya Eroshina. The same athletes won another silver medal in the team relay.
According to the results of the competition, Soviet athletes took the first place in the team competition, having won 7 gold, 5 silver and 9 bronze medals, the main contribution to the victory was made by skaters. The second place was taken by the united team of Germany, which included the Olympians from Germany, the German Democratic Republic and West Berlin, they won 4 gold medals, 3 silver and 1 bronze medals. The third place went to athletes from the USA - 3 gold medals, 4 silver and 3 bronze medals.
