1960 Winter Olympics / Alpine skiing - Downhill (men)

sport	Alpine skiing
discipline	Departure
gender	Men
Attendees	63 athletes from 21 countries
Competition location	Squaw Valley Ski Resort
Competition phase	February 22, 1960
Winning time	2: 06.0 min
Medalist  Jean Vuarnet ( FRA )  Hans-Peter Lanig ( EUA )  Guy Périllat ( FRA )
← 1956 1964 →

Alpine skiing competitions at the 1960 Winter Olympics
Departure	Women	Men
Giant slalom	Women	Men
slalom	Women	Men

The men's alpine skiing downhill at the 1960 Winter Olympics was postponed from February 19th to February 22nd due to heavy snowfall.

The race was the first in which crash helmets were required after the Canadian John Semmelink had a fatal accident in Garmisch in 1959 .

Before the race there was a conflict over the formation of the all-German team: the performance principle based on the current FIS world rankings should apply. All runners from the west were better placed there. In the current winter, however, the East German Eberhard Riedel was better than Fritz Wagnerberger , so that the "Chef de mission" Herbert Kunze reported because of a protest by the GDR officials Riedel.

The Squaw Peak stretch began with a traverse, followed by a “big shot”; in the transition to the next off-road landing, fast skis and good gliding were required. The next steep section with a wave running diagonally through the direction of travel should not be underestimated. This ended the technical difficulties, in the final section stamina and gliding ability were required. The route made enormous demands on technical skills. The top drivers were determined after the first practice session on February 13th. While these mastered the key points, weaker competitors struggled. In total, the route was 3,095 meters long and a height difference of 758 meters had to be covered.

Jean Vuarnet's victory was not entirely unexpected, but it was still surprising, especially since he had not done well in training. As a good glider, he ensured his success especially in the lower flat section. The second-placed Hans-Peter Lanig had been one of the best downhill specialists in the world for years. He had the lead from the start and was only beaten in the last section. As expected, Willy Bogner was also among the best. Although the Swiss did not get a medal this time, they were even better overall than in the giant slalom. The best Austrian was Karl Schranz in eighth place and like the other ÖSV runners far from a medal. Trainer Othmar Schneider had obviously used the wax that had brought the medals in the giant slalom the day before, but the snow conditions had changed and it had become colder. In contrast to the French, Swiss and Germans, they had not made any wax samples before the race.

Adrien Duvillard fell when he hit the "camel hump" with the ends of his ski and fell on his back; he was brought down unconscious, but his injuries weren't too severe. It was the first time that an Olympic race on metal skis had been won. Sport Zürich asked to what extent “developments with brand wars like in professional cycling can occur; In any case, it is high time that the FIS finally dealt very energetically with certain unpleasant phenomena in this area ”.

Results

rank	athlete	nation	Time (min)	Deficit (min)
1	Jean Vuarnet	France	2: 06.0
2	Hans-Peter Lanig	Germany	2: 06.5	+0: ​​00.5
3	Guy Périllat	France	2: 06.9	+0: ​​00.9
4th	Willi Forrer	Switzerland	2: 07.8	+0: ​​01.8
5	Roger dust	Switzerland	2: 08.9	+0: ​​02.9
6th	Bruno Alberti	Italy	2: 09.1	+0: ​​03.1
7th	Karl Schranz	Austria	2: 09.2	+0: ​​03.2
8th	Charles Bozon	France	2: 09.6	+0: ​​03.6
9	Willy Bogner junior	Germany	2: 09.7	+0: ​​03.7
10	Egon Zimmermann	Austria	2: 09.8	+0: ​​03.8
11	Ludwig Leitner	Germany	2: 10.2	+0: ​​04.2
12	Paride Milianti	Italy	2: 10.8	+0: ​​04.8
13	Jakob Arduser	Switzerland	2: 10.9	+0: ​​04.9
14th	Dave Gorsuch	United States	2: 11.0	+0: ​​05.0
15th	Josef Stiegler	Austria	2: 13.1	+0: ​​07.1
16	Eberhard Riedel	Germany	2: 13.3	+0: ​​07.3
17th	Gordi Eaton	United States	2: 14.0	+0: ​​08.0
18th	Max Marolt	United States	2: 14.2	+0: ​​08.2
19th	Andreas Molterer	Austria	2: 15.1	+0: ​​09.1
20th	Nando Pajarola	Switzerland	2: 15.4	+0: ​​09.4
	Oddvar Rønnestad	Norway
22nd	Marvin Melville	United States	2: 15.9	+0: ​​09.9
	Verne Anderson	Canada
24	Italo Pedroncelli	Italy	2: 16.8	+0: ​​10.8
25th	Felice De Nicolo	Italy	2: 18.1	+0: ​​12.1
26th	Jean-Guy Brunet	Canada	2: 18.2	+0: ​​12.2
27	Frederick Tommy	Canada	2: 18.4	+0: ​​12.4
28	Don Bruneski	Canada	2: 19.9	+0: ​​13.9
29	Georgi Varoshkin	Bulgaria	2: 20.0	+0: ​​14.0
30th	Georgi Dimitrov	Bulgaria	2: 20.2	+0: ​​14.2
31	Francisco Cortes	Chile	2: 20.8	+0: ​​14.8
32	Vicente Vera	Chile	2: 24.5	+0: ​​18.5
33	Jóhann Vilbergsson	Iceland	2: 24.6	+0: ​​18.6
34	Chiharu Igaya	Japan	2: 25.0	+0: ​​19.0
35	Charlach Mackintosh	Great Britain	2: 25.1	+0: ​​19.1
36	Kristinn Benediktsson	Iceland	2: 26.0	+0: ​​20.0
37	Eysteinn Þórðarson	Iceland	2: 26.2	+0: ​​20.2
38	Hernan Boher	Chile	2: 26.7	+0: ​​20.7
39	Victor Tagle	Chile	2: 26.9	+0: ​​20.9
40	Geoff Pitchford	Great Britain	2: 27.3	+0: ​​21.3
41	Adolf Fehr	Liechtenstein	2: 27.4	+0: ​​21.4
42	Manuel García-Moran	Spain	2: 27.6	+0: ​​21.6
43	Robert Skepper	Great Britain	2: 28.1	+0: ​​22.1
44	Luis Sánchez	Spain	2: 28.3	+0: ​​22.3
45	Osvaldo Ancinas	Argentina	2: 28.4	+0: ​​22.4
46	Osamu Tada	Japan	2: 28.5	+0: ​​22.5
47	Aleksandar Shalamanov	Bulgaria	2: 29.0	+0: ​​23.0
48	Sam Chaffey	New Zealand	2: 29.3	+0: ​​23.3
49	Hermann Kindle	Liechtenstein	2: 29.4	+0: ​​23.4
	Silvan Kindle	Liechtenstein	2: 29.4	+0: ​​23.4
51	Luis Arias	Spain	2: 29.8	+0: ​​23.8
52	Bill Day	Australia	2: 30.5	+0: ​​24.5
53	Masayoshi Mitani	Japan	2: 31.3	+0: ​​25.3
54	Bill Hunt	New Zealand	2: 32.0	+0: ​​26.0
55	John Oakes	Great Britain	2: 36.0	+0: ​​30.0
56	Ibrahim Geagea	Lebanon	2: 39.2	+0: ​​33.2
57	Peter Brockhoff	Australia	2: 39.7	+0: ​​33.7
58	Zeki Şamiloğlu	Turkey	2: 42.4	+0: ​​36.4
59	Nazih Geagea	Lebanon	3: 00.3	+0: ​​54.3
60	Clemente Tellechea	Argentina	3: 20.2	+1: 14.2
61	In the Gyeong-sun	South Korea	3: 34.4	+1: 28.4
	Adrien Duvillard	France	DSQ
	Muzaffer Demirhan	Turkey	DSQ

Web links

• Results

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Der Spiegel , edition 9/1960, February 24, 1960.
2. ↑ "The truth about the men's Olympic downhill course". Sport Zurich, February 17, 1960, p. 1.
3. ^ «Outsider Jean Vuarnet (France) winner in the men's downhill». Sport Zurich, February 24, 1960, p. 6.
4. ↑ Column 4: «Errors and omissions» . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 25, 1960, p. 10 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
5. ↑ «Alarm call to ski manufacturing». Sport Zurich, February 24, 1960, p. 1.
6. ↑ «The worst defeat in years» . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna February 23, 1960, p. 12 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).