For the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, 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 Alpine skiing (all but men's downhill) Not listed [1]
Bergiselschanze Ski jumping (large hill) 26,000 [2]
Bob und Rodelbahn Igls Bobsleigh, Luge Not listed. [3]
Eisschnellaufbahn Speed skating 7,000 [4]
Messehalle Ice hockey 5,544 [5]
Olympiahalle Figure skating, Ice hockey 10,836 [5]
Patscherkofel Alpine skiing (men's downhill) Not listed. [1]
Seefeld Biathlon, Cross-country skiing, Nordic combined, Ski jumping (normal hill) Not listed. [6]

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 and 1936.[7][8] In 1933, Innsbruck served as host to the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships.[9]

Innsbruck hosted its first Bobsleigh World Championships in 1935 in the two-man event, then hosted again in 1963 when the bobsleigh part of the track was used as a test event for the 1964 Games.[10][11] Luge was also completed at the same time though Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypeski 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.[12] Igls also served as host of the European Luge Championships in 1951 though the track used was not constructed until 1963.[3][13]

Since 1952-3 ski jumping season, Bergiselschanze has been part of the Four Hills Tournament.[14]

Seefeld hosted the Biathlon World Championships in 1963 which also served as a test event for the 1964 Games.[15]

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.[16] This saved Finland's Veikko Kankkonen in the normal hill event after he followed a disastrous first jump with the longest second and the second-longest third jumps.[17]

After the Olympics

Bergiselschanze continued to play host as one of the hills for the Four Hills Tournament.[14]

Innsbruck would host the Winter Olympics twelve years later following the withdrawal of Denver, Colorado in the United States 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.[18]

References

  1. ^ a b 1964 Winter Olympics official report. Archived 2012-02-07 at the Wayback Machine pp. 78, 82-85. Accessed 30 October 2010.(in German)
  2. ^ 1964 Winter Olympics official report. Archived 2012-02-07 at the Wayback Machine p. 112. Accessed 30 October 2010. (in German)
  3. ^ a b 1964 Winter Olympic Games Official report. Archived 2012-02-07 at the Wayback Machine pp. 40, 65, 69, 165, 178, 180. Accessed 30 October 2010. (in German)
  4. ^ 1964 Winter Olympics official report. Archived 2012-02-07 at the Wayback Machine p. 142. Accessed 30 October 2010. (in German)
  5. ^ a b 1964 Winter Olympics official report. Archived 2012-02-07 at the Wayback Machine pp. 46, 66-7. Accessed 30 October 2010. (in German)
  6. ^ 1964 Winter Olympics official report. Archived 2012-02-07 at the Wayback Machine pp. 95-103. Accessed 30 October 2010. (in German)
  7. ^ FIS Alpine World Ski Championships Innsbruck 1 February 1933 results. Accessed 30 October 2010.
  8. ^ FIS Alpine World Ski Championships Innsbruck 1 February 1936. Accessed 30 October 2010.
  9. ^ FIS Nordic World Ski Championships Innsbruck 8-13 February 1933 results. Accessed 30 October 2010.
  10. ^ FIBT men's bobsleigh World Champion results: 1924-2007. Accessed 30 October 2010.
  11. ^ Time magazine 15 February 1963 article on the 1964 bobsleigh track competition that lead to safety changes on the track. Accessed 30 October 2010.
  12. ^ Wallechinsky, David and Jaime Loucky (2009). "Luge (Toboggan): Men". In The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics: 2010 Edition. London: Aurum Press Limited. p. 168.
  13. ^ FIL-Luge.org European championship medalists. Accessed 30 October 2010. (in English and German)
  14. ^ a b History of the Four Hills tournament. Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 30 October 2010. (in German)
  15. ^ IBU World Championships Seefeld 1963 results. Accessed 30 October 2010.
  16. ^ 1964 Winter Olympics official report. Archived 2012-02-07 at the Wayback Machine pp. 111-23. (in German) Accessed 31 October 2010.
  17. ^ 1964 Winter Olympics official report. Archived 2012-02-07 at the Wayback Machine p. 117. (in German) Accessed 31 October 2010.
  18. ^ 1976 Winter Olympics official report. Archived 2008-02-26 at the Wayback Machine pp. 186-90 ,318. Accessed 30 October 2010. (in English, French, and German)
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