Alpine skiing at the 1948 Winter Olympics

Alpine Skiing
at the V Olympic Winter Games

St. Moritz sixty years later, in 2008
VenuePiz Nair,
St. Moritz
Graubünden, Switzerland
Dates2–5 February 1948
Competitors174 from 25 nations
Alpine skiing at the
1948 Winter Olympics
Combined men women
Downhill men women
Slalom men women

At the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland, the six alpine skiing events were held on Piz Nair from Monday, 2 February to Thursday, 5 February 1948.[1]

After these games, the giant slalom was added and the combined event was dropped as an Olympic medal event for four decades, until 1988. From 1956 through 1980, the combined continued as an FIS medal event for the concurrent World Championships, using the results from three events, conducted as a "paper race."

Henri Oreiller of France earned a medal in all three events, with two golds and a bronze. Trude Beiser of Austria and Gretchen Fraser of the United States both won two medals, a gold and a silver each.

The first Olympics after World War II did not invite Germany or Japan.

Medal summary

Men's events

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Downhill
  Henri Oreiller
France (FRA) 		2:55.0  Franz Gabl
Austria (AUT)		2:59.1  Rolf Olinger
Switzerland (SUI)
 Karl Molitor
Switzerland (SUI) 		3:00.3
Slalom
  Edy Reinalter
Switzerland (SUI) 		2:10.3  James Couttet
France (FRA) 		2:10.8  Henri Oreiller
France (FRA) 		2:12.8
Combined
  Henri Oreiller
France (FRA) 		3.27  Karl Molitor
Switzerland (SUI) 		6.44  James Couttet
France (FRA) 		6.95

Source:[1]

Women's events

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Downhill
  Hedy Schlunegger
Switzerland (SUI) 		2:28.3  Trude Beiser
Austria (AUT) 		2:29.1  Resi Hammerer
Austria (AUT) 		2:30.2
Slalom
  Gretchen Fraser
United States (USA) 		1:57.2  Antoinette Meyer
Switzerland (SUI) 		1:57.7  Erika Mahringer
Austria (AUT) 		1:58.0
Combined
  Trude Beiser
Austria (AUT) 		6.58  Gretchen Fraser
United States (USA) 		6.95  Erika Mahringer
Austria (AUT) 		7.04

Source:[1]

Medal table

 Rank  Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Switzerland 2 2 2 6
2 France 2 1 2 5
3 Austria 1 2 3 6
4 United States 1 1 0 2

Source:[1]

Course information

Date Race Start
Elevation		 Finish
Elevation		 Vertical
Drop		 Course
Length		 Average
Gradient
Mon 2 Feb  Downhill – men  2,700 m (8,858 ft)  1,870 m (6,135 ft)  830 m (2,723 ft)  3.371 km (2.095 mi) 24.6%
Mon 2 Feb  Downhill – women  2,394 m (7,854 ft)  1,870 m (6,135 ft)  524 m (1,719 ft)  2.135 km (1.327 mi) 24.5%
Thu 5 Feb  Slalom – men 2,090 m (6,857 ft)  1,870 m (6,135 ft)  220 m (722 ft)
Thu 5 Feb  Slalom – women 2,050 m (6,726 ft)  1,870 m (6,135 ft)  180 m (591 ft)
Wed 4 Feb  Slalom – (K) – men 2,090 m (6,857 ft)  1,870 m (6,135 ft)  220 m (722 ft)
Wed 4 Feb  Slalom – (K) – women 2,050 m (6,726 ft)  1,870 m (6,135 ft)  220 m (722 ft)

Participating nations

Twenty-five nations sent alpine skiers to compete. Despite being a part of the Axis until 1943, Italy was invited; Germany and Japan were excluded.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Rapport Général sur les V Jeux Olympiques" (PDF). Comité Olympique Suisse. LA84 Foundation. 1948. pp. 38–46, 49–52. Retrieved February 18, 2014.

External links