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THE 1960 SQUAW VALLEY OLYMPICS
The first Olympics after leaving Argentina in 1955 and coming to the USA, were the Winter Olympics in Cortina D'Ampezzo from January 26 to February 5, 1956, near the Dolomites and the Austro-Italian border, where my father spent four years fighting from 1914 to 1918 in World War I. The two weeks I spent in Cortina D'Ampezzo were like all Olympics I attended, wonderful with some new Olympic records being made. Ten months later I attended the Summer Olympics in Melbourne, in Down Under Australia, under very hot conditions, while the USA was freezing in midst of winter. As always, with Argentine Accreditation, the eleven days of the games were most enjoyable and when I find more time on my hands, I will try to write more about them and all the others, but for now I will mainly concentrate on the Olympics I participated in and the ones that I attended in the United States, since I was living there. SQUAW VALLEY VIII. OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES,18 February to 28 February,1960 My first Olympics in the United States were the ones in Squaw Valley, California near Lake Tahoe from 18 to 28 February 1960, where I spent ten most enjoyable days. Squaw Valley was only a few hours away from San Francisco, in a very intimate environment and the last day, the Closing Ceremony, I invited a girlfriend to join me. Most venues were only within a few minutes walk from the Ice Hockey Stadium, where one could see some of the events that were going on and at the same time watch the Ice Hockey game or Speed Skating, which was right next to it. A Bobsled Track has not been constructed and there were no races, but the Ski Jumping, Downhill, Slalom, Giant Slalom, was most conveniently only ten minutes walk away from the Ice Hockey Stadium and could also be seen directly from the Stadium. Olympic pins, not yet popular in the USA, could be bought for one dollar and also easily be gotten free, or traded mainly from all the foreign Athletes, Coaches and Officials. The Open and Closing Ceremonies were arranged by Walt Disney, with involvement of all the Participants and were very nice. After the Athletes entered the Stadium and the Orchestra played the National Anthem, IOC President Avery Brundage welcomed the Participants and invited Vice President Richard Nixon to open the Olympic Games, which he did with the following words: " In behalf of the President of the United States Dwight David Eisenhower, I declare the VIIIth Olympic Winter Games of Squaw Valley as open." While the Chorus sang and the Orchestra was playing the Olympic Hymn, Ken Henry, the 1952 Olympic Champion, entered the Stadium with the Olympic Flame and walked to the the large Cauldron and raising the Olympic torch high above his head, facing the spectators and the Honor Tribune, lit the Olympic Cauldron among a huge ovation. Olympic Gold Figure Skater Carol Heiss took the Olympic Oath with these words: " We swear that we will take part in the Olympic Games in loyal competition, respecting the regulations which govern them and the desire of participating in them in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the honor of our Country and the Glory of Sport ", followed by the release of 800 pigeons, which ended the Opening Ceremony, among songs, dances and other festivities that were arranged by Walt Disney personally. It was a wonderful Opening Ceremony still in the old tradition and honor of the true Olympic spirit and ideal, as it was honored by men like Pierre de Coubertain, Henri de Baillet-Latour, J.Sigfrid Eckstrom and Avery Brundage, who sincerely believed in it and made sure that money and professionalism would not destroy the Olympic Movement for greed of money, arrogance and pomp, as it has turned out to be. As mentioned above, the venues were so close together that it was possible to watch Hockey, Speed skating and Alpine events right from inside the Hockey Stadium, which were within ten minutes walk of them. In the evenings one could watch either Hockey, Figure Skating, or Speed Skating and after the games, there was always good entertainment in the Olympic Village until late into the night. Something was going on all the time from morning until night. On The US Hockey Team beat the Czech Team 9:4 in a Quarter final match, which was amazing and the last day started with two great Ice Hockey Semifinal games with the USA beating Canada 2:1 and the USSR beating the Czech team, but the final match in the afternoon was extremely exciting. Both semifinal matches, while next door, the finals for Speed Skating were going on. At noon I saw the Ski Jump Finals and after that, there were two more unforgettable Ice Hockey games between Canada and Czechoslovakia for third place and the Gold Medal game between USA and Russia, which the USA won 3 to 2 in an unexpected and unbelievable upset and the most exciting event of the week, as these young American Students came back from behind and won against that great Russian team and I was so hoarse, that I could not talk for days. Roger Christian may have made the difference with his goal for Gold. The Squaw Valley Olympics remain one of my preferred, by enjoying eleven great days, free with Argentine Accreditation. There was no Bobsled run but instead, for the first time, Biathlon, which is skiing and target shooting with a special 22 caliber gun was introduced and was won by Klas Lestander of Sweden. Outstanding Olympians of the 1960 Winter Olympics were Carol Heiss, USA, Figure Skating Gold., Helmut Recknagel, GER, Ski Jump Gold, first time a non Scandinavian winning. Lidiva Skoblikova, USSR, Speed Skating two Gold, Adrien Duvillard, FRA, Downhill Gold, Knut Johannesen, NOR, Gold in the 10,000 m Speed Skating, Veikko Hakulinen, FIN, a 4 time Olympian, 3 Gold, 2 Silver, 2 Bronze and 4x10 km Anker, with Alatalo, Huhtala and Mantyranta, at Mc Kinney Creek, in the most dramatic finish ever. Yeogeny Grishhin USSR, 2 Gold for the 500 and 1500 m Speed Skating, the same as in 1956 Cortina D'Ampezzo. Harold Groeningen NOR won 2 Gold after 4 consecutive Silver! It was fully dark when IOC President Avery Brundage, thanked the Athletes for participation and declared the Squaw Valley Olympics of 1960 as closed, The Closing Ceremony, like the Opening Ceremony was staged by Walt Disney. E-mail checked daily at: enash327@yahoo.com or weekly at: museum@olympicsource.org Telephone: Summer: 541-765-2923 Winter: 702-346-1776 |
