Venues of the 1964 Winter Olympics
Encyclopedia
For the 1964 Winter Olympics
1964 Winter Olympics
The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 29 to February 9, 1964...

 in Innsbruck
Innsbruck
- Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...

, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

, a total of eight sports venues were used. Luge made its debut at these games, but were marred by the death of a British slider two weeks prior to the Games. A second ski jumping event debuted and the best two out of three jumps were used in both events for the only time in the history of the Winter Olympics. All eight venues would be used again when the Winter Games returned to Innsbruck twelve years later though the venues would undergo renovations in time for the 1976 Games.

Venues

Venue Sports Capacity Ref.
Axamer Lizum
Axamer Lizum
Axamer Lizum is a village located southwest of Innsbruck, Austria. For the 1964 Winter Olympics, it hosted all of the alpine skiing events except for men's downhill which took place in Patscherkofel located southeast of Innsbruck. Twelve years later, it hosted exactly the same alpine skiing...

 
Alpine skiing
Alpine skiing at the 1964 Winter Olympics
Alpine skiing at the 1964 Winter Olympics consisted of six events, held near Innsbruck, Austria, from January 30 to February 7, 1964.The men's downhill was held on Patscherkofel , the other five events at Axamer Lizum....

 (all but men's downhill)
Not listed
Bergiselschanze
Bergiselschanze
Bergiselschanze is a ski jumping hill located in Bergisel in Innsbruck, Austria. It is one of the more important venues in the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup, annually hosting the third competition of the prestigious Four Hills Tournament....

 
Ski jumping
Ski jumping at the 1964 Winter Olympics
-K90 Individual Ski jumping:January 31, 1964-K120 Individual Ski jumping:February 9, 1964-External references:***Wallechinsky, David . Ski Jump, 90-meter Hill, The Complete Book of The Olympics, p.621...

 (large hill)
Not listed.
Bob und Rodelbahn Igls  Bobsleigh
Bobsleigh at the 1964 Winter Olympics
-Two-man:A turn at the St. Moritz, Switzerland course is named in honor of Nash and Dixon, called the Nash-Dixon corner.-Four-man:The Canadian four-man bobsleigh team of Kirby, Anakin, and the Emery brothers upset the heavily favored Austrians.-Medal table:...

, Luge
Luge at the 1964 Winter Olympics
-Men's singles:-Men's doubles:-Women's singles:-Medal table:-References:***...

 
Not listed.
Eisschnellaufbahn
Eisschnellaufbahn
The Olympia Eisschnellaufbahn is a speed skating venue located in Innsbruck, Austria. The outdoor venue hosted the speed skating events both for the 1964 and the 1976 Winter Olympics....

 
Speed skating
Speed skating at the 1964 Winter Olympics
At the 1964 Winter Olympics, eight speed skating events were contested. The competitions were held from Thursday, January 30 to Sunday, February 2, 1964 and from Tuesday, February 4 to Friday, February 7, 1964 ....

 
Not listed.
Messehalle
Messehalle (Innsbruck)
Messehalle is a convention center and sports venue located in Innsbruck, Austria. The venue hosted some of the ice hockey games for both the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics.-References:* pp. 66-7. * pp. 206-8. , , & * &...

 
Ice hockey
Ice hockey at the 1964 Winter Olympics
At the 1964 Winter Olympics held in Innsbruck, Austria, one ice hockey event was held: men's ice hockey. This tournament was also counted as IIHF World Championship and IIHF European Championship. Games were held at the Olympiahalle Innsbruck....

 
5,544
Olympiahalle
Olympiahalle (Innsbruck)
Olympiahalle is an indoor sports venue located in Innsbruck, Austria. During the 1964 Winter Olympics, it hosted the figure skating and ice hockey events. Twelve years later, it hosted those same events....

 
Figure skating
Figure skating at the 1964 Winter Olympics
-Medal table:-Men Singles:Referee:* Henry M. BeattyAssistant Referee:* Oskar MadlJudges: Adolf Walker Gérard Rodrigues Henriques Geoffrey S...

, Ice hockey
10.836
Patscherkofel
Patscherkofel
Patscherkofel is a mountain and ski area in Tyrol in western Austria, 7 km south of Innsbruck. The peak rises to a summit elevation of 7639 feet above sea level...

 
Alpine skiing (men's downhill) Not listed.
Seefeld
Seefeld, Tirol
Seefeld in Tirol is a municipality of the Innsbruck-Land District in the Austrian state of Tyrol, located about northwest of Innsbruck. With more than one million overnight stays each year, it is one of the most popular Tyrolean tourist destinations especially for skiing in winter, but also for...

 
Biathlon
Biathlon at the 1964 Winter Olympics
-20 km:In 1964 as in 1960, there was a two-minute penalty for every missed target in the Individual Event. Since 1968, this penalty has been one minute per missed target.-References:*...

, Cross-country skiing
Cross-country skiing at the 1964 Winter Olympics
The 1964 Winter Olympics cross-country skiing results. Women's 5 km debuted at this Olympics.-15 km:-30 km:-50 km:-4 x 10 km:-5 km:-10 km:-3 x 5 km:-References:*...

, Nordic combined
Nordic combined at the 1964 Winter Olympics
At the 1964 Winter Olympics, the Individual Nordic combined event was contested.-Individual:February 3, 1964Thoma was part of the Unified Team of Germany team that competed from 1956 to 1964.-References:*...

, Ski jumping (normal hill)
Not listed.

Before the Olympics

Before the 1964 Winter Games, Innsbruck hosted several World and European championships. They hosted the Alpine World Ski Championships both in 1933
FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1933
The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1933 in alpine skiing were held in Innsbruck, Austria. They began on February 1, 1933.-Men's events:-Women's events:-Medal table:Key:...

 and 1936
FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1936
The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1936 were held in Innsbruck, Austria in February 1936.-Men's events:-Women's events:-Medal table:Key:...

. In 1933, Innsbruck served as host to the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships have been held in various numbers and types of events since 1925 for men and since 1954 for women. Championship events include nordic skiing's three disciplines: cross-country skiing, ski jumping, and nordic combined...

.

Innsbruck hosted its first Bobsleigh World Championships
FIBT World Championships
The FIBT World Championships, part of the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing , have taken place on an annual basis in non-Winter Olympic years since 1930. A two-man event was included in 1931 with a combined championship occurring in 1947...

 in 1935
FIBT World Championships 1935
The FIBT World Championships 1935 took place in Igls, Austria and in St. Moritz, Switzerland . St. Moritz hosted the four-man event previously in 1931.-Two man bobsleigh:-Four man bobsleigh:-Medal table:-References:**...

 in the two-man event, then hosted again in 1963
FIBT World Championships 1963
The FIBT World Championships 1963 took place in Igls, Austria for the second time after hosting the event previously in 1935 . This event would serve as the test for the Winter Olympics that would take place the following year in neighboring Innsbruck....

 when the bobsleigh part of the track was used as a test event for the 1964 Games. Luge was also completed at the same time though Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypeski
Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypeski
Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypecki was a Polish-born British luge racer.Kay-Skrzypecki was a former pilot in the Royal Air Force. He died during one of the training runs for the first Olympic luge competition at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck. Three days later, on 26 January 1964, Australian...

 of Great Britain was killed in a practice run on the luge part of the track two weeks before the start of the 1964 Games. Igls also served as host of the European Luge Championships in 1951
FIL European Luge Championships 1951
The FIL European Luge Championships 1951 took place in Igls, Austria under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing under their "Section de Luge", a trend that would continue until the International Luge Federation was formed in 1957...

 though the track used was not constructed until 1963.

Since 1952-3 ski jumping season, Bergiselschanze has been part of the Four Hills Tournament
Four Hills Tournament
The Four Hills Tournament is composed of four Ski Jumping World Cup events and has taken place in Germany and Austria each year since 1952.The Four Hills Tournament champion is the one who gets the most points over the four events...

.

Seefeld hosted the Biathlon World Championships
Biathlon World Championships
The first Biathlon World Championships was held in 1958, with individual and team contests for men. The number of events has grown significantly over the years. Beginning in 1984, women biathletes had their own World Championships, and finally, from 1989, both genders have been participating in...

 in 1963
Biathlon World Championships 1963
The 5th Biathlon World Championships were held in 1963 in Seefeld, Austria. The men's 20 km individual and team were the only competitions.-20 km individual:Each shot missing the target gave a penalty of 2 minutes.-20 km team:...

 which also served as a test event for the 1964 Games.

During the Olympics

The ski jumping events were the only one in Winter Olympic history to use the best two out of three jumps for medals. This saved Finland
Finland at the 1964 Winter Olympics
-Medalists:- Alpine skiing:MenMen's slalom- Biathlon:Men1Two minutes added per miss.- Cross-country skiing:MenMen's 4 x 10 km relayWomenWomen's 3 x 5 km relay- Ice hockey:-First Round:...

's Veikko Kankkonen
Veikko Kankkonen
Veikko Kankkonen is a Finnish ski jumper who was active in the 1960's.Kankkonen earned two ski jumping medals at the 1964 Winter Olympics with a gold in the individual normal hill and a silver in the individual large hill...

 in the normal hill event after he followed a disastrous first jump with the longest second and the second-longest third jumps.

After the Olympics

Bergiselschanze continued to play host as one of the hills for the Four Hills Tournament.

Innsbruck would host the Winter Olympics twelve years later
1976 Winter Olympics
The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated February 4–15, 1976 in Innsbruck, Austria...

 following the withdrawal of Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...

 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

for those games in late 1972. All eight venues from the 1964 Games were used for the 1976 Games with some improvements. The bobsleigh and luge tracks were demolished and converted into an artificially refrigerated combination track, the first of its kind in the world. Ski jumps at Bergsiel and Seefeld both had improving judging stations. Two new artificial ice rinks were built, one for figure skating and the other for ice hockey. Eischnellaufen had new refrigeration done on its 400 m lap circuit.
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