1964: Olympic Winter Games

The Olympic games were held in Austria for the first time in 1964. The city of Innsbruck was the host of these IX. Winter Games. In order to ensure that training and competitions could take place despite the prevailing snow shortage, the Austrian Armed Forces had to transport 40,000 cubic meters of snow to the venues. As the flag bearer, the ice dancer Regine Heitzer led Austria’s 83-person delegation at the opening ceremony at the Bergisel Stadium. The competitions broke all visitor records of past Olympic Winter Games. For the first time, the games were internationally broadcast on TV. With a total of 12 medals, the Austrian team finished second in the medal ranking behind the USSR. Christl Haas and Egon Zimmermann won gold medals in the downhill race, the “supreme discipline” of alpine skiing.

The hosting of the Winter Games not only meant a major boost for the image of the country and the region, but investments in road, cable car and residential construction also ensured a lasting push toward modernisation in Tirol. For example, the housing units in the Olympic Village were transformed into social housing after the games.

In 1976, Innsbruck hosted the Winter Games for the second time after Denver, Colorado had returned the mandate to host to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for financial reasons.