United States at the 1960 Winter Olympics

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.

Alpine skiing

Biathlon

Cross-country skiing

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.

Figure skating

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.

Final round

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

Nordic combined

Events:

Speed skating