Alpine skiing at the 1964 Winter Olympics – Men's downhill

Men's downhill
at the IX Olympic Winter Games
Alpine skiing
VenuePatscherkofel
Tyrol, Austria
Date30 January 1964
Competitors84 from 27 nations
Winning time2:18.16
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Egon Zimmermann  Austria
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Léo Lacroix  France
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Wolfgang Bartels  United Team of Germany
← 1960
1968 →
Alpine skiing at the
1964 Winter Olympics
Downhillmenwomen
Giant slalommenwomen
Slalommenwomen
Men's Downhill
LocationPatscherkofel
Vertical   867 m (2,844 ft)
Top elevation1,952 m (6,404 ft)  
Base elevation1,085 m (3,560 ft)

The Men's downhill competition of the 1964 Winter Olympics at Innsbruck, Austria, was held at Patscherkofel on Thursday, 30 January.[1] The defending world champion was Karl Schranz of Austria,[2] and defending Olympic champion Jean Vuarnet of France had retired from competition.[3]

The race course had a number of casualties during training runs, including the death of Ross Milne of Australia,[4][5] which led to a label of "Course of Fear."[6] Zimmermann was favored by many to win the downhill and to the delight of the Austrian fans he won by 0.74 seconds.[6][7]

The starting gate was at an elevation of 1,952 m (6,404 ft), and the vertical drop was 867 m (2,844 ft).[1] The course length was 3.120 km (1.94 mi) and Zimmerman's winning run resulted in an average speed of 81.297 km/h (50.5 mph), with an average vertical descent rate of 6.275 m/s (20.6 ft/s). Following the victory, Zimmerman was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated in the United States.[7]

A dozen years later in 1976, Franz Klammer raced on a slightly shorter course (by 100 meters (110 yards)) and shaved more than 32 seconds off of Zimmerman's time to famously win the Olympic downhill.[8]

Results

Rank Bib Name Country Time Difference
1st place, gold medalist(s) 7 Egon Zimmermann  Austria 2:18.16 —
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 4 Léo Lacroix  France 2:18.90 +0.74
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 11 Wolfgang Bartels  United Team of Germany 2:19.48 +1.32
4 10 Jos Minsch  Switzerland 2:19.54 +1.38
5 3 Luggi Leitner  United Team of Germany 2:19.67 +1.51
6 6 Guy Périllat  France 2:19.79 +1.63
7 15 Gerhard Nenning  Austria 2:19.98 +1.82
8 24 Willy Favre  Switzerland 2:20.23 +2.07
9 14 Willy Bogner  United Team of Germany 2:20.72 +2.56
10 12 Heini Messner  Austria 2:20.74 +2.58
11 13 Karl Schranz  Austria 2:20.98 +2.82
12 5 Fritz Wagnerberger  United Team of Germany 2:21.03 +2.87
13 16 Dumeng Giovanoli  Switzerland 2:21.16 +3.00
14 20 Ni Orsi Jr.  United States 2:21.59 +3.43
15 27 François Bonlieu  France 2:21.71 +3.55
16 1 Billy Kidd  United States 2:21.82 +3.66
17 8 Buddy Werner  United States 2:22.05 +3.89
18 22 Georg Grünenfelder  Switzerland 2:22.69 +4.53
19 2 Ivo Mahlknecht  Italy 2:22.72 +4.56
20 21 Chuck Ferries  United States 2:23.00 +4.84
21 25 Paride Milianti  Italy 2:23.01 +4.85
22 30 Raimo Manninen  Finland 2:23.94 +5.78
23 19 Bruno Alberti  Italy 2:25.30 +7.14
24 63 Jerzy Woyna Orlewicz  Poland 2:25.88 +7.72
25 23 Jean-Guy Brunet  Canada 2:26.59 +8.43
26 49 Ulf Ekstam  Finland 2:27.31 +9.15
27 34 Martino Fill  Italy 2:27.33 +9.17
28 29 Gary Battistella  Canada 2:27.74 +9.58
29 32 Peter Lakota  Yugoslavia 2:27.82 +9.66
30 35 Rod Hebron  Canada 2:27.90 +9.74
31 46 Bengt-Erik Grahn  Sweden 2:29.29 +11.13
32 61 Jon Terje Øverland  Norway 2:29.74 +11.58
33 70 Hajime Tomii  Japan 2:30.02 +11.86
34 48 Peter Duncan  Canada 2:30.06 +11.90
35 40 Luis Viu  Spain 2:30.35 +12.19
36 76 Vasily Melnikov  Soviet Union 2:30.83 +12.67
37 45 Olle Rolén  Sweden 2:31.14 +12.98
38 43 Arild Holm  Norway 2:31.32 +13.16
39 37 Radim Koloušek  Czechoslovakia 2:31.34 +13.18
40 41 Bronisław Trzebunia  Poland 2:32.29 +14.13
41 60 Juan Garriga  Spain 2:32.85 +14.69
42 9 Jean-Claude Killy  France 2:32.96 +14.80
43 51 Javier Masana  Spain 2:33.52 +15.36
44 39 John Rigby  Great Britain 2:34.32 +16.16
45 62 Yoshiharu Fukuhara  Japan 2:34.55 +16.39
46 72 Tsuneo Noto  Japan 2:34.76 +16.60
47 75 Tally Monastyryov  Soviet Union 2:35.27 +17.11
48 55 Hans-Walter Schädler  Liechtenstein 2:35.84 +17.68
49 44 Andrzej Dereziński  Poland 2:35.89 +17.73
50 54 Charles Westenholz  Great Britain 2:36.12 +17.96
51 42 Fric Detiček  Yugoslavia 2:36.54 +18.38
52 38 August Wolfinger  Liechtenstein 2:37.25 +19.09
53 65 Josef Gassner  Liechtenstein 2:37.38 +19.22
54 69 Valery Shein  Soviet Union 2:38.13 +19.97
55 74 Andrej Klinar  Yugoslavia 2:39.79 +21.63
56 77 Charles Palmer-Tomkinson  Great Britain 2:39.97 +21.81
57 67 Yoshihiro Ohira  Japan 2:40.82 +22.66
58 53 Hernán Boher  Chile 2:41.67 +23.51
59 52 Prince Karim Aga Khan  Iran 2:42.59 +24.43
60 81 Petar Angelov  Bulgaria 2:43.32 +25.16
61 73 Simon Brown  Australia 2:44.07 +25.91
62 78 Oto Pustoslemšek  Yugoslavia 2:44.77 +26.61
63 86 Muzaffer Demirhan  Turkey 2:45.63 +27.47
64 83 Pedro Klempa  Argentina 2:47.07 +28.91
65 58 Lotfollah Kia Shemshaki  Iran 2:50.70 +32.54
66 68 Fayzollah Band Ali  Iran 2:52.44 +34.28
67 79 Nazih Geagea  Lebanon 2:55.34 +37.18
68 80 Peter Wenzel  Australia 2:55.58 +37.42
69 71 Ovaness Meguerdonian  Iran 2:57.10 +38.94
70 82 Osman Yüce  Turkey 3:03.66 +45.50
71 84 Zeki Şamiloğlu  Turkey 3:05.71 +47.55
72 87 Abdurrahman Küçük  Turkey 3:09.99 +51.83
73 89 Konstantinos Karydas  Greece 3:10.09 +51.93
74 90 Jean Keyrouz  Lebanon 3:40.44 +82.28
75 85 Michel Rahme  Lebanon 3:55.15 +96.99
76 88 Jorge Abelardo Eiras  Argentina 4:34.51 +136.35
77 64 Juan Holz  Chile 4:51.18 +153.02
- 47 Claudio Wernli  Chile DQ -
- 31 Rune Lindström  Sweden DNF -
- 33 Jeremy Bujakowski  India DNF -
- 50 Lars Olsson  Sweden DNF -
- 56 Jorge Rodríguez  Spain DNF -
- 57 Jonathan Taylor  Great Britain DNF -
- 91 Sami Beyroun  Lebanon DNF -
Source:[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Offizieller Bericht der IX. Olympischen Winterspiele Innsbruck 1964" (PDF). Austrian Federal Publishing House for Instruction, Science and Art, Vienna and Munich. LA84 Foundation. 1964. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  2. ^ "1962 World Championships results". FIS. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  3. ^ "Alpine Skiing at the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Games: Men's Downhill". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  4. ^ "Australian skier killed in Olympic drill". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. (Florida). Associated Press. January 26, 1964. p. 41.
  5. ^ "Aussie's Milne dies of injuries". Bend Bulletin. (Oregon). UPI. January 25, 1964. p. 5.
  6. ^ a b Ress, Paul (January 27, 1964). "A fight for life by the home team". Sports Illustrated. p. 32. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013.
  7. ^ a b Jenkins, Dan (February 10, 1964). "Russian blades and fast French skis". Sports Illustrated. p. 14. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012.
  8. ^ Johnson, William Oscar (16 February 1976). "On came the heroes". Sports Illustrated. p. 10. Archived from the original on August 26, 2009.