Alpine skiing at the 1948 Winter Olympics

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][2]

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
← 1936
1952 →

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

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Men's events

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

Source:[1]

Women's events

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

Source:[1]

Medal table

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St. Moritz
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  Switzerland2226
2  France2125
3  Austria1236
4  United States1102
Totals (4 entries)66719

Source:[1]

Course information

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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

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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

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  1. ^ a b c d "Rapport Général sur les V Jeux Olympiques" (PDF). Comité Olympique Suisse. LA84 Foundation. 1948. pp. 38–46, 49–52. Retrieved February 18, 2014.
  2. ^ "Alpine Skiing at the 1948 St. Moritz Winter Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
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