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Grenoble 1968
Tuesday, 19 June 2007
The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games, were celebrated in 1968 Grenoble, France and opened on February 6. Thirty-seven countries participated. Norway won the most medals, the first time a country other than the USSR had done so since the USSR first entered the Winter Games in 1956.

Frenchman Jean-Claude Killy won three gold medals in all the alpine skiing events. In women's figure skating, Peggy Fleming won the only United States gold medal. The games have been credited with making the Winter Olympics more popular in the United States, not least of which because of ABC's extensive coverage of Fleming and Killy, who became overnight sensations among teenage girls.

The year 1968 marked the first time the IOC first permitted East and West Germany to enter separately, and the first time the IOC ever ordered drug and gender testing of competitors.

Highlights

  • Grenoble 1968 is the first Olympiad to adopt a mascot, although unofficially. Schuss, the mascot, is a styled skier.
  • Norway came away from the games with the highest amount of medals with 6 gold 6 silver and 2 bronze.
  • In the downhill skiing event Jean-Claude Killy won the gold medal with a time of 1:59.85.
  • This Olympics was the first to use Bugler's Dream by Leo Arnaud as the theme for Olympic television coverage by ABC.

Venues

  • City venues
    • Opening Stadium (Stade Inaugural) - opening ceremonies
    • Speed Circuit¹ (L'Anneau de Vitesse) - speed skating
    • Ice Stadium¹ (Le Stade de Glace) - ice hockey, figure skating, closing ceremonies
    • Municipal Skating Rink² (La Patinoire Municipale) - ice hockey
  • Mountain venues
    • Casserousse - men's alpine skiing
    • Recoin de Chamrousse - women's alpine skiing
    • Autrans - cross-country skiing, biathlon
    • Bobsleigh Run¹ (Piste de Bobsleigh), Alpe-d'Huez - bobsleigh
    • Toboggan Run¹ (Piste de Luge), Villard-de-Lans - luge
    • 70-meter Ski Jump¹ (Tremplin de 70 Mètres), Autrans - ski jumping
    • 90-meter Ski Jump¹ (Tremplin de 90 Mètres), Saint-Nizier - ski jumping

Medal count

Rank  Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Norway Norway 6 6 2 14
2 Soviet Union Soviet Union 5 5 3 13
3 France France (host nation) 4 3 2 9
4 Italy Italy 4 0 0 4
5 Austria Austria 3 4 4 11
6 Netherlands Netherlands 3 3 3 9
7 Sweden Sweden 3 2 3 8
8 West Germany West Germany 2 2 3 7
9 United States United States 1 5 1 7
10 East Germany East Germany 1 2 2 5
Finland Finland 1 2 2 5
 
 
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