United States at the 1960 Winter Olympics

United States at the Olympic Games
Flag of the United States IOC code  USA NOC United States Olympic Committee
At the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley
Competitors	79 (61 men, 18 women) in 8 sports
Flag bearer	Donald McDermott
Medals Rank: 3	Gold 3	Silver 4	Bronze 3	Total 10
Olympic history (summary)
Summer Games
1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016
Winter Games
1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014
Intercalated Games
1906

The United States was the host nation for the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California.

History

In 1955, Alexander Cushing put forth a bid for Squaw Valley to host the Olympic games. However, at the time, the resort did not even exist. In fact, Cushing was the only inhabitant and homeowner in the area. 1960 was a landmark year for the Winter Olympic games, with many new additions including:

- The addition of men's Biathlon and women's Speed Skating to the games
- The adoption of the official Olympic anthem, composed in 1958 by Spiros Samara, with words by Kostis Palamas.
- The use of instant replay (in the men's Slalom event)
- Metal skis for downhill competitions (all previous races had been won using wooden skis).

Notably missing from the program was the Bobsleigh event, which organizers refused to construct a track for. This was the first time that Bobsleigh was not part of the Winter Olympics.

On February 18, 1960, Vice-President Richard Nixon officially opened the Squaw Valley Olympic games. The Olympic torch was ignited by Kenneth Charles Henry, gold-medalist 500 meter speed skating in the 1952 Winter Olympics.

Medalists

Medal	Name	Sport	Event
Gold	David Jenkins	Figure skating	Men's singles
Gold	Carol Heiss	Figure skating	Ladies' singles
Gold	United States men's national ice hockey team Bill Christian   Jack Kirrane   Edwyn Owen Roger Christian   John Mayasich   Rodney Paavola Bill Cleary   Jack McCartan   Lawrence Palmer Bob Cleary   Robert McVey   Richard Rodenheiser Eugene Grazia   Richard Meredith   Tom Williams Paul Johnson   Weldon Olson	Ice hockey	Men's competition
Silver	Penny Pitou	Alpine skiing	Women's downhill
Silver	Penny Pitou	Alpine skiing	Women's giant slalom
Silver	Betsy Snite	Alpine skiing	Women's slalom
Silver	Bill Disney	Speed skating	Men's 500 metres
Bronze	Barbara Roles	Figure skating	Ladies' singles
Bronze	Nancy Ludington Ronald Ludington	Figure skating	Pairs
Bronze	Jeanne Ashworth	Speed skating	Women's 500 metres

Alpine skiing

Main article: Alpine skiing at the 1960 Winter Olympics

Men

Athlete	Event	Race 1		Race 2		Total
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Marvin Melville	Downhill					2:15.9	22
Max Marolt						2:14.2	18
Gordi Eaton						2:14.0	17
Dave Gorsuch						2:11.0	14
Max Marolt	Giant Slalom					1:54.9	21
Jim Barrier						1:52.7	16
Dave Gorsuch						1:52.3	14
Tom Corcoran						1:49.7	4
Jim Barrier	Slalom	DNF	–	–	–	DNF	–
Frank Brown		1:58.2	52	1:03.1	12	3:01.3	37
Chuck Ferries		1:16.1	16	DSQ	–	DSQ	–
Tom Corcoran		1:12.5	13	1:02.2	9	2:14.7	9

Women

Athlete	Event	Race 1		Race 2		Total
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Betsy Snite	Downhill					DSQ	–
Linda Meyers						1:53.4	33
Joan Hannah						1:47.9	21
Penny Pitou						1:38.6
Linda Meyers	Giant Slalom					DSQ	–
Beverley Anderson						1:57.4	36
Betsy Snite						1:40.4	4
Penny Pitou						1:40.0
Bevery Anderson	Slalom	1:13.1	38	1:00.0	14	2:13.1	26
Renie Cox		59.4	18	59.8	10	1:59.2	9
Penny Pitou		58.5	9	1:21.3	34	2:19.8	33
Betsy Snite		57.4	4	55.5	1	1:52.9

Biathlon

Main article: Biathlon at the 1960 Winter Olympics

Men

Event	Athlete	Time	Missed targets	Adjusted time 1	Rank
20 km	Larry Damon	1'33:38.2	13	1'59:38.2	24
	Gustav Hanson	1'40:06.2	9	1'58:06.2	23
	Dick Mize	1'33:56.2	11	1'55:56.2	21
	John Burritt	1'36:36.8	5	1'46:36.8	14

¹ Two minutes added per missed target.

Cross-country skiing

Main article: Cross-country skiing at the 1960 Winter Olympics

The United States had a large squad of male cross-country skiers at the 1960 Winter Olympics. Charlie Akers, Karl Bohlin, John Dendahl, Theodore Farwell, Olavi Hirvonen, Sven Johanson, Peter Lahdenpera, Leo Massa, Mack Miller, and Joseph Wilson represented the US. None of them ended in the individual top ten rankings. The Men's 4×10 Kilometer Relay, with Bohlin, Dendahl, Lahdenpera, and Miller ended 11th, but this was the last place among the national teams.

Men

Event	Athlete	Race
		Time	Rank
15 km	Charlie Akers	1'02:35.7	50
	Olavi Hirvonen	1'00:38.6	48
	Peter Lahdenpera	59:13.0	46
	Mack Miller	54:49.0	22
30 km	Sven Johanson	DNF	–
	Joe Pete Wilson	2'22:16.2	43
	Leo Massa	2'16:47.0	42
	Mack Miller	2'03:05.4	27
50 km	Theodore Farwell	3'49:56.6	31
	Leo Massa	3'41:08.2	29
	Olavi Hirvonen	3'36:37.8	26
	Mack Miller	3'17:23.2	17

Men's 4 x 10 km relay

Athletes	Race
	Time	Rank
Mack Miller Karl Bohlin John Dendahl Peter Lahdenpera	2'38:01.8	11

Figure skating

Main article: Figure skating at the 1960 Winter Olympics

Men

Athlete	CF	FS	Points	Places	Rank
Robert Brewer	7	8	1320.3	66	7
Tim Brown	5	4	1374.1	43	5
David Jenkins	2	1	1440.2	10

Women

Athlete	CF	FS	Points	Places	Rank
Laurence Owen	6	6	1343.0	57	6
Barbara Roles	3	2	1414.9	26
Carol Heiss	1	1	1490.1	9

Pairs

Athletes	Points	Places	Rank
Ila Ray Hadley Ray Hadley, Jr.	65.7	78	11
Maribel Owen Dudley Richards	67.5	69	10
Nancy Ludington Ronald Ludington	76.2	27.5

Ice hockey

Main article: Ice hockey at the 1960 Winter Olympics

Group C

Top two teams (shaded ones) from each group advanced to the final round and played for 1st-6th places, other teams played in the consolation round.

Rank	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	United States	2	2	0	0	19	6	4
2	Czechoslovakia	2	1	1	0	23	8	2
3	Australia	2	0	2	0	2	30	0

• USA 7-5 Czechoslovakia
• USA 12-1 Australia

Final round

First place team wins gold, second silver and third bronze.

Rank	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	United States	5	5	0	0	29	11	10
2	Canada	5	4	1	0	31	12	8
3	Soviet Union	5	2	2	1	24	19	5
4	Czechoslovakia	5	2	3	0	21	23	4
5	Sweden	5	1	3	1	19	19	3
6	Germany	5	0	5	0	5	45	0

• USA 6-3 Sweden
• USA 9-1 Germany (UTG)
• USA 2-1 Canada
• USA 3-2 USSR
• USA 9-4 Czechoslovakia

Leading scorers

Rk	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
3rd	Bill Cleary	7	7	7	14
4th	Bill Christian	7	2	11	13
7th	John Mayasich	7	7	5	12

Gold:

Bill Christian Roger Christian Bill Cleary Bob Cleary Eugene Grazia Paul Johnson Jack Kirrane John Mayasich Jack McCartan Robert McVey Richard Meredith Weldon Olson Edwyn Owen Rodney Paavola Lawrence Palmer Richard Rodenheiser Tom Williams

Nordic combined

Main article: Nordic combined at the 1960 Winter Olympics

Events:

• normal hill ski jumping (Three jumps, best two counted and shown here.)
• 15 km cross-country skiing

Athlete	Event	Ski Jumping				Cross-country			Total
		Distance 1	Distance 2	Points	Rank	Time	Points	Rank	Points	Rank
Craig Lussi	Individual	52.5	51.5	158.5	31	1'07:55.7	203.419	28	361.919	30
Alfred Vincelette		58.0	56.5	190.5	28	1'07:35.4	204.774	26	395.274	26
Theodore Farwell		55.5	55.0	172.5	30	1'05:09.4	214.194	21	386.694	27
John Cress		58.0	62.0	191.5	27	1'12:59.7	183.806	31	375.919	30

Ski jumping

Main article: Ski jumping at the 1960 Winter Olympics

Athlete	Event	Jump 1			Jump 2			Total
		Distance	Points	Rank	Distance	Points	Rank	Points	Rank
Jon St. Andre	Normal hill	81.5	92.5	34	78.5	99.8	25	192.3	28
Butch Wedin		79.0	93.5	32	72.0	93.6	36	187.1	32
Gene Kotlarek		84.0	96.5	27	77.0 fall	68.6	44	165.1	42
Ansten Samuelstuen		90.0	107.8	5	79.0	103.7	13	211.5	7

Speed skating

Main article: Speed skating at the 1960 Winter Olympics

Men

Event	Athlete	Race
		Time	Rank
500 m	Bill Carow	DNF	–
	Eddie Rudolph	41.2	10
	Terry McDermott	40.9	7
	Bill Disney	40.3
1500 m	Eddie Rudolph	2:23.1	35
	Keith Meyer	2:21.7	29
	Floyd Bedbury	2:18.9	22
	Dick Hunt	2:17.7	17
5000 m	Floyd Bedbury	8:39.6	30
	Dick Hunt	8:21.3	17
	Arnold Uhrlass	8:18.0	14
10,000 m	Arnold Uhrlass	16:49.3	15
	Ross Zuco	16:37.6	10

Women

Event	Athlete	Race
		Time	Rank
500 m	Jeanne Omelenchuk	49.3	16
	Kathy Mulholland	47.9	10
	Jeanne Ashworth	46.1
1000 m	Jeanne Omelenchuk	1:39.8	15
	Jeanne Ashworth	1:36.5	8
1500 m	Barb Lockhart	2:37.0	18
	Jeanne Omelenchuk	2:36.4	15
	Jeanne Ashworth	2:33.7	11
3000 m	Beverly Buhr	6:03.1	19
	Cornelia Harrington	5:57.5	18
	Jeanne Ashworth	5:28.5	8

References

• Official Olympic Reports
• Olympic Winter Games 1960, full results by sports-reference.com