Alpine skiing at the 1968 Winter Olympics – Women's downhill

Women's downhill
at the X Olympic Winter Games
VenueChamrousse
DateFebruary 10
Competitors39 from 14 nations
Winning time1:40.87
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Olga Pall  Austria
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Isabelle Mir  France
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Christl Haas  Austria
← 1964
1972 →
Women's Downhill
LocationChamrousse
Vertical   602 m (1,975 ft)
Top elevation2,252 m (7,388 ft)  
Base elevation1,650 m (5,413 ft)

The Women's Downhill competition of the Grenoble 1968 Olympics was held at Chamrousse on Saturday, 10 February.[1][2]

The defending world champion was Marielle Goitschel of France, who was also the defending World Cup downhill champion and Austria's Olga Pall led the current season.[3][4] Christl Haas of Austria was the defending Olympic champion.

Pall won the gold medal, Isabelle Mir of France took the silver, and Haas was the bronze medalist.[5][6]

The starting gate was at an elevation of 2,252 m (7,388 ft), and the vertical drop was 602 m (1,975 ft).[1] The course length was 2.160 km (1.34 mi) and Pall's winning time of 100.87 seconds resulted in an average speed of 77.089 km/h (47.9 mph), with an average vertical descent rate of 5.968 m/s (19.6 ft/s).

About an hour before the race, eighteen-year-old American Karen Budge was testing her wax on the practice course and narrowly avoided a full collision with a member of the Moroccan men's team, Said Housni, who had been warned once before to stay off the hill. She fell, suffered a dislocated shoulder, and did not start.[5][7]

Results

[edit]

Saturday, 10 February 1968

Rank Bib Name Country Time Difference
1st place, gold medalist(s) 15 Olga Pall  Austria 1:40.87
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 13 Isabelle Mir  France 1:41.33 +0.46
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 7 Christl Haas  Austria 1:41.41 +0.54
4 8 Brigitte Seiwald  Austria 1:41.82 +0.95
5 14 Annie Famose  France 1:42.15 +1.28
6 21 Felicity Field  Great Britain 1:42.79 +1.92
7 18 Fernande Bochatay  Switzerland 1:42.87 +2.00
8 11 Marielle Goitschel  France 1:42.95 +2.08
9 3 Florence Steurer  France 1:43.00 +2.13
10 5 Nancy Greene  Canada 1:43.12 +2.25
11 10 Annerösli Zryd  Switzerland 1:43.76 +2.89
12 30 Gertrud Gabl  Austria 1:43.97 +3.10
13 6 Giustina Demetz  Italy 1:44.22 +3.35
14 2 Burgl Färbinger  West Germany 1:44.29 +3.42
15 31 Gina Hathorn  Great Britain 1:44.36 +3.49
16 32 Madeleine Wuilloud  Switzerland 1:44.49 +3.62
17 25 Kiki Cutter  United States 1:44.94 +4.07
18 28 Vreni Inäbnit  Switzerland 1:45.16 +4.29
19 1 Margret Hafen  West Germany 1:45.33 +4.46
20 38 Judi Leinweber  Canada 1:45.60 +4.73
21 29 Sandy Shellworth  United States 1:46.53 +5.66
22 20 Karen Dokka  Canada 1:47.55 +6.68
23 27 Betsy Clifford  Canada 1:47.60 +6.73
24 24 Christine Laprell  West Germany 1:47.62 +6.75
25 19 Rosi Mittermaier  West Germany 1:47.73 +6.86
26 37 Helen Jamieson  Great Britain 1:48.03 +7.16
27 36 Nina Merkulova  Soviet Union 1:48.04 +7.17
28 9 Suzy Chaffee  United States 1:48.50 +7.63
29 46 Alfina Sukhanova  Soviet Union 1:48.74 +7.87
30 39 Clotilde Fasolis  Italy 1:48.90 +8.03
31 22 Glorianda Cipolla  Italy 1:49.02 +8.15
32 12 Divina Galica  Great Britain 1:49.39 +8.52
33 23 Anna Mohrová  Czechoslovakia 1:50.22 +9.35
34 48 Mihoko Otsue  Japan 1:51.60 +10.73
35 34 Galina Sidorova  Soviet Union 1:51.74 +10.87
36 35 Majda Ankele  Yugoslavia 1:52.13 +11.26
37 44 Anne Reid  New Zealand 1:53.12 +12.25
38 47 Marta Bühler  Liechtenstein 1:53.53 +12.66
- 26 Lotte Nogler  Italy DNF -
- 4 Karen Budge  United States DNS -
- 45 Irina Touroundaevsk  Soviet Union DNS -
Source[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "Rapport Officiel Xes Jeux Olympiques D'Hiver 1968 Grenoble". Comité d'organisation des Xemes jeux olympiques d'hiver. LA84 Foundation. 1968. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  2. ^ "Alpine Skiing at the 1968 Grenoble Winter Games: Women's Downhill". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  3. ^ "1967 World Cup standings". FIS. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  4. ^ "1966 World Championships results". FIS. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  5. ^ a b "Finn skater is speediest". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. February 10, 1968. p. 10.
  6. ^ "The rewards of an Olympic championship". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). (AP photo). February 11, 1968. p. 1, sports.
  7. ^ Jenkins, Dan (February 19, 1968). "Breakneck time in France: over the scattered bones came Jean-Claude". Sports Illustrated. p. 12.