| Host city | Grenoble, France |
|---|---|
| Nations participating | 37 |
| Athletes participating | 1158 (947 men, 211 women) |
| Events | 35 in 6 sports |
| Opening ceremony | February 6 |
| Closing ceremony | February 18 |
| Officially opened by | President Charles de Gaulle |
| Athlete's Oath | Léo Lacroix (alpine skiing) |
| Olympic Torch | Alain Calmat (figure skating) |
| Stadium | Stade Lesdiguières |
The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1968 in Grenoble, France and opened on 6 February. 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.
Contents |
Grenoble went against five other candidate cities for the 1968 Winter Olympics. Here was the resulting vote count that occurred at the 61st IOC Session in Innsbruck, Austria, on 28 January 1964.[1]
| 1968 Winter Olympics bidding results[2] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City | Country | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | ||
| Grenoble | France | 15 | 18 | 27 | ||
| Calgary | Canada | 12 | 19 | 24 | ||
| Lahti | Finland | 11 | 14 | — | ||
| Sapporo | Japan | 6 | — | — | ||
| Oslo | Norway | 4 | — | — | ||
| Lake Placid | United States | 3 | — | — | ||
|
|
A total of 37 nations sent athletes to compete at these Games. Morocco competed at the Winter Games for the first time in Grenoble. East Germany and West Germany sent independent teams to the Games for the first time.
These are the top ten nations that won medals at the 1968 Winter Games.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Norway | 6 | 6 | 2 | 14 |
| 2 | Soviet Union | 5 | 5 | 3 | 13 |
| 3 | France (host nation) | 4 | 3 | 2 | 9 |
| 4 | Italy | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 5 | Austria | 3 | 4 | 4 | 11 |
| 6 | Netherlands | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| 7 | Sweden | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| 8 | West Germany | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| 9 | United States | 1 | 5 | 1 | 7 |
| 10 | East Germany | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Finland | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Preceded by Innsbruck |
Winter Olympics Grenoble X Olympic Winter Games (1968) |
Succeeded by Sapporo |
|
||||||||||||||
|
|||||
|
|||||