Best Moments of Alpine Skiing in the Olympic Winter Games. St. Moritz 1948

The Olympic Winter Games were awarded to St. Moritz in 1946, during the 40th IOC Session held in Lausanne, following the recommendation of the IOC’s Executive Board. There were very few viable alternatives; Switzerland’s neutral stance during the Second World War had ensured that the country escaped the damage suffered by others, and therefore, St. Moritz had the necessary infrastructure and facilities to host the Games.

The St. Moritz Winter Olympics, officially known as the Vth Olympic Winter Games, were held from 30 January to 8 February 1948, attracting 669 participants (592 Men and 77 Women) representing 28 countries (Chile, Denmark, Iceland, Lebanon, and South Korea celebrated their first appearances at the Winter Olympics). The program consisted of four sports, 9 disciplines, and 22 separate events.

After a 12-year break caused by World War II, the St. Moritz 1948 Games were named the "Games of Renewal”. Switzerland's neutrality had protected the Alpine city in the Engadine Valley during World War II, and most of the venues were used in the 1928 games, which made this a logical choice. St. Moritz became the first city to host the Winter Olympics twice.

In 1936, the IOC made the controversial decision to ban ski instructors from competing in the alpine skiing events, and as a result of the Swiss and Austrian boycott in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, skiing was eliminated from the program at future Winter Games. The matter was finally resolved on October 1, 1946, when a compromise was reached between the two warring parties, and alpine skiing was again incorporated into the 1948 Games calendar.

The opening ceremony took place on the morning of January 30th at the Badrutts Park Olympic Ice Stadium.

After Marcel Henninger, President of the Swiss Olympic Committee (SOC), briefly addressed the importance of the event, Federal President Enrico Celio opened the Games.

Alpine skiing was included in the Olympic program for the second time. The expansion to six Olympic alpine competitions put Alpine Skiing in the spotlight (the program was expanded to include Downhill and Slalom for Men and Women).

The Alpine Ski races proved extremely popular, with a total of 16,784 spectators.

Frenchman Henri Oreiller was the most successful skier, winning two gold medals in the Downhill and Combined events, and a bronze in the Slalom. He was the first French Olympic ski champion.

The six alpine ski races also counted as the 10th Alpine World Ski Championships. The top three finishers received World Championship medals in addition to their Olympic medals. In these disciplines, the Alpine countries of France, Austria, and Switzerland clearly dominated. They won 17 of the 19 medals awarded. Marc Hodler, who was elected FIS President three years later and remained in office for 47 years, was responsible for the alpine competitions.

The Corviglia ski area hosted the alpine skiing disciplines. The slopes above the Suvretta Haus, which had already proven successful in the "White Ribbon," were chosen for the Slalom. The elevation gain was 220 meters for the Men and 180 meters for the Women. The Downhill course began at Piz Nair at an altitude of 2,700 meters and led to Ruinatsch. The Men had to overcome an elevation gain of 830 meters over a distance of 3,500 meters. For the Women, the course was shortened to 2,000 meters with an elevation gain of 524 meters. A ski stadium was built in Salet.

The Downhill took place on February 2. The race was considered the highlight of the Winter Games in Switzerland. It also counted towards the Alpine Combined event. The 3.5 km long Men's Downhill course placed high demands on the participants.

The Swiss Karl Molitor, six-time and still the record winner of the Lauberhorn Downhill, was one of the favorites. Before the most difficult section, the bumps in the large steep slope, he executed three intermediate turns and rode a technically secure race. In contrast, the Frenchman Henri Oreiller, nicknamed the "Parisian of Val d'Isère" or the ‘crazy downhiller’, mastered the difficulties of the steep slope without significant braking and was already leading by five seconds, which he held until the finish. The Austrian Franz Gabl managed to move up to second place, and Ralph Olinger won a second bronze medal for Switzerland at the same time as Molitor.

The Women's Downhill followed immediately after the Men's race on the same course. However, the numerous difficulties had been mitigated by 15 mandatory gates, so that it was essentially a Giant Slalom. Hedy Schlunegger, who started as an outsider, achieved the best time despite a fall at the entrance to the Kanonenrohr, thus securing Switzerland's first major alpine success. Close behind her were the two Austrians, Trude Beiser and Resi Hammerer.

In the Men's Combined Slalom, the big question was whether Karl Molitor would be able to make up his five-second deficit to the Downhill winner Oreiller. However, he was unable to produce an exceptional performance. So Oreiller, whose special skis had been stolen overnight, was able to win his second gold medal with two safe runs despite this handicap. The Frenchman James Couttet, fastest in the Combined Slalom, came third in the Alpine combined.

The situation was different for the women. The lead achieved by Hedy Schlunegger in the Downhill and her skill in the Slalom were too small to make a combined victory seem possible. After the big favorite in the Slalom, the Italian Celina Seghi, did not perform as well as she usually did and came in fourth. The Austrians, Trude Beiser and Erika Mahringer, took the gold and bronze medals. Second place unexpectedly went to the American Gretchen Fraser.

As on the previous day, two parallel courses were prepared for the Women's and Men's Slalom, allowing the spectators to take turns watching the performances of the respective favorites. The Frenchmen Couttet and Oreiller once again skied very strongly, followed by Silvio Alverà, who achieved the best time in the first run. Karl Molitor, for once, was well above the best times and ultimately finished eighth. However, Edy Reinalter, who was born in St. Moritz, caused a pleasant surprise. With the best time in the second run, he relegated the two Frenchmen to second and third place and won another gold medal for Switzerland.

The 1948 Winter Games gave the first Gold Medal to an American Skier. Competing in the Slalom, Gretchen Fraser recorded the fastest time in the first run, just ahead of Erika Mahringer from Austria, to everyone's surprise. As she prepared to lead off the second run, a problem developed in the telephone timing system. Despite a 17-minute delay at such a critical time, she skied fast enough to earn the gold medal. Fraser achieved a technically clean run with a time of 57.5 seconds. This time was only beaten by Antoinette Meyer with 57.0 seconds, which earned the Swiss second place ahead of Erika Mahringer. "I never thought I could beat the Europeans," she said modestly afterward.

Fraser also won the silver medal in Alpine Combined.

Source: Olympedia