Alpine skiing at the 1960 Winter Olympics – Men's downhill


The Men's downhill competition of the 1960 Winter Olympics was held at Squaw Valley on Monday, February 22. The race was postponed from February 19 because of heavy snow fall.
The race was run on Squaw Peak, with a starting elevation of above sea level; the course length was, with a vertical drop of.
The defending world champion was Toni Sailer of Austria, who did not compete.
Jean Vuarnet, the bronze medalist at the world championships two years earlier, won by a half-second in the only Olympic event of his career. It was the first time an Olympic race was won on metal skis. Vuarnet's winning time of 126.0 seconds yielded an average speed of, with an average vertical descent rate of.

Helmets

This was the first Olympic downhill in which crash helmets were mandatory, following the race death in 1959 of Canadian John Semmelink at Garmisch, West Germany. During his final race, Semmelink wore a leather helmet, which was more protection than many racers used at the time. The U.S. Ski Team first wore crash helmets at the 1956 Winter Olympics, but most of the Europeans went without.

Results

Monday, February 22, 1960
The race was started at 10:00 local time,.
RankNameCountryTimeDifference
Jean Vuarnet2:06.0—
Hans Peter Lanig2:06.5+0.5
Guy Périllat2:06.9+0.9
4Willi Forrer2:07.8+1.8
5Roger Staub2:08.9+2.9
6Bruno Alberti2:09.1+3.1
7Karl Schranz2:09.2+3.2
8Charles Bozon2:09.6+3.6
9Willy Bogner2:09.7+3.7
10Egon N. Zimmermann2:09.8+3.8
11Luggi Leitner2:10.2+4.2
12Paride Milianti2:10.8+4.8
13Jakob Arduser2:10.9+4.9
14Dave Gorsuch2:11.0+5.0
15Pepi Stiegler2:13.1+7.1
16Eberhard Riedel2:13.3+7.3
17Gordi Eaton2:14.0+8.0
18Max Marolt2:14.2+8.2
19Anderl Molterer2:15.1+9.1
20Nando Pajarola2:15.4+9.4
20Oddvar Rønnestad2:15.4+9.4
22Marvin Melville2:15.9+9.9
22Verne Anderson2:15.9+9.9
24Italo Pedroncelli2:16.8+10.8
25Felice De Nicolo2:18.1+12.1
26Jean-Guy Brunet2:18.2+12.2
27Frederick Tommy2:18.4+12.4
28Don Bruneski2:19.9+13.9
29Georgi Varoshkin2:20.0+14.0
30Georgi Dimitrov2:20.2+14.2
31Francisco Cortes2:20.8+14.8
32Vicente Vera2:24.5+18.5
33Jóhann Vilbergsson2:24.6+18.6
34Chiharu Igaya2:25.0+19.0
35Charlach Mackintosh2:25.1+19.1
36Kristinn Benediktsson2:26.0+20.0
37Eysteinn Þórðarson2:26.2+20.2
38Hernán Boher2:26.7+20.7
39Victor Tagle2:26.9+20.9
40Geoff Pitchford2:27.3+21.3
41Adolf Fehr2:27.4+21.4
42Manuel García-Moran2:27.6+21.6
43Robert Skepper2:28.1+22.1
44Luis Sánchez2:28.3+22.3
45Osvaldo Ancinas2:28.4+22.4
46Osamu Tada2:28.5+22.5
47Aleksandar Shalamanov2:29.0+23.0
48Sam Chaffey2:29.3+23.3
49Silvan Kindle
Hermann Kindle		2:29.4+23.4
51Luis Arias2:29.8+23.8
52Bill Day2:30.5+24.5
53Masayoshi Mitani2:31.3+25.3
54Bill Hunt2:32.0+26.0
55John Oakes2:36.0+30.0
56Ibrahim Geagea2:39.2+33.2
57Peter Brockhoff2:39.7+33.7
58Zeki Şamiloğlu2:42.4+36.4
59Nazih Geagea3:00.3+54.3
60Clemente Tellechea3:20.2+1:14.2
61Im Gyeong-sun3:34.4+1:28.4
-Adrien DuvillardDQ-
-Muzaffer DemirhanDQ-