# Alpine skiing at the 1964 Winter Olympics – Men's downhill

The Men's downhill competition of the 1964 Winter Olympics at Innsbruck, Austria, was held at Patscherkofel on Thursday, 30 January. The defending world champion was Karl Schranz of Austria, and defending Olympic champion Jean Vuarnet of France had retired from competition.
The race course had a number of casualties during training runs, including the death of Ross Milne of Australia, which led to a label of "Course of Fear." Zimmermann was favored by many to win the downhill and to the delight of the Austrian fans he won by 0.74 seconds.
The starting gate was at an elevation of 1,952 m (6,404 ft), and the vertical drop was 867 m (2,844 ft). The course length was 3.120 km (1.94 mi) and Zimmerman's winning run resulted in an average speed of 81.297 km/h (50.5 mph), with an average vertical descent rate of 6.275 m/s (20.6 ft/s). Following the victory, Zimmerman was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated in the United States.
A dozen years later in 1976, Franz Klammer raced on a slightly shorter course (by 100 meters (110 yards)) and shaved more than 32 seconds off of Zimmerman's time to famously win the Olympic downhill.

## Results

| Rank | Bib | Name | Country | Time | Difference |
| | 7 | Egon Zimmermann | Austria | 2:18.16 | — |
| | 4 | Léo Lacroix | France | 2:18.90 | +0.74 |
| | 11 | Wolfgang Bartels | United Team of Germany | 2:19.48 | +1.32 |
| 4 | 10 | Jos Minsch | Switzerland | 2:19.54 | +1.38 |
| 5 | 3 | Luggi Leitner | United Team of Germany | 2:19.67 | +1.51 |
| 6 | 6 | Guy Périllat | France | 2:19.79 | +1.63 |
| 7 | 15 | Gerhard Nenning | Austria | 2:19.98 | +1.82 |
| 8 | 24 | Willy Favre | Switzerland | 2:20.23 | +2.07 |
| 9 | 14 | Willy Bogner | United Team of Germany | 2:20.72 | +2.56 |
| 10 | 12 | Heini Messner | Austria | 2:20.74 | +2.58 |
| 11 | 13 | Karl Schranz | Austria | 2:20.98 | +2.82 |
| 12 | 5 | Fritz Wagnerberger | United Team of Germany | 2:21.03 | +2.87 |
| 13 | 16 | Dumeng Giovanoli | Switzerland | 2:21.16 | +3.00 |
| 14 | 20 | Ni Orsi Jr. | United States | 2:21.59 | +3.43 |
| 15 | 27 | François Bonlieu | France | 2:21.71 | +3.55 |
| 16 | 1 | Billy Kidd | United States | 2:21.82 | +3.66 |
| 17 | 8 | Buddy Werner | United States | 2:22.05 | +3.89 |
| 18 | 22 | Georg Grünenfelder | Switzerland | 2:22.69 | +4.53 |
| 19 | 2 | Ivo Mahlknecht | Italy | 2:22.72 | +4.56 |
| 20 | 21 | Chuck Ferries | United States | 2:23.00 | +4.84 |
| 21 | 25 | Paride Milianti | Italy | 2:23.01 | +4.85 |
| 22 | 30 | Raimo Manninen | Finland | 2:23.94 | +5.78 |
| 23 | 19 | Bruno Alberti | Italy | 2:25.30 | +7.14 |
| 24 | 63 | Jerzy Woyna Orlewicz | Poland | 2:25.88 | +7.72 |
| 25 | 23 | Jean-Guy Brunet | Canada | 2:26.59 | +8.43 |
| 26 | 49 | Ulf Ekstam | Finland | 2:27.31 | +9.15 |
| 27 | 34 | Martino Fill | Italy | 2:27.33 | +9.17 |
| 28 | 29 | Gary Battistella | Canada | 2:27.74 | +9.58 |
| 29 | 32 | Peter Lakota | Yugoslavia | 2:27.82 | +9.66 |
| 30 | 35 | Rod Hebron | Canada | 2:27.90 | +9.74 |
| 31 | 46 | Bengt-Erik Grahn | Sweden | 2:29.29 | +11.13 |
| 32 | 61 | Jon Terje Øverland | Norway | 2:29.74 | +11.58 |
| 33 | 70 | Hajime Tomii | Japan | 2:30.02 | +11.86 |
| 34 | 48 | Peter Duncan | Canada | 2:30.06 | +11.90 |
| 35 | 40 | Luis Viu | Spain | 2:30.35 | +12.19 |
| 36 | 76 | Vasily Melnikov | Soviet Union | 2:30.83 | +12.67 |
| 37 | 45 | Olle Rolén | Sweden | 2:31.14 | +12.98 |
| 38 | 43 | Arild Holm | Norway | 2:31.32 | +13.16 |
| 39 | 37 | Radim Koloušek | Czechoslovakia | 2:31.34 | +13.18 |
| 40 | 41 | Bronisław Trzebunia | Poland | 2:32.29 | +14.13 |
| 41 | 60 | Juan Garriga | Spain | 2:32.85 | +14.69 |
| 42 | 9 | Jean-Claude Killy | France | 2:32.96 | +14.80 |
| 43 | 51 | Javier Masana | Spain | 2:33.52 | +15.36 |
| 44 | 39 | John Rigby | Great Britain | 2:34.32 | +16.16 |
| 45 | 62 | Yoshiharu Fukuhara | Japan | 2:34.55 | +16.39 |
| 46 | 72 | Tsuneo Noto | Japan | 2:34.76 | +16.60 |
| 47 | 75 | Tally Monastyryov | Soviet Union | 2:35.27 | +17.11 |
| 48 | 55 | Hans-Walter Schädler | Liechtenstein | 2:35.84 | +17.68 |
| 49 | 44 | Andrzej Dereziński | Poland | 2:35.89 | +17.73 |
| 50 | 54 | Charles Westenholz | Great Britain | 2:36.12 | +17.96 |
| 51 | 42 | Fric Detiček | Yugoslavia | 2:36.54 | +18.38 |
| 52 | 38 | August Wolfinger | Liechtenstein | 2:37.25 | +19.09 |
| 53 | 65 | Josef Gassner | Liechtenstein | 2:37.38 | +19.22 |
| 54 | 69 | Valery Shein | Soviet Union | 2:38.13 | +19.97 |
| 55 | 74 | Andrej Klinar | Yugoslavia | 2:39.79 | +21.63 |
| 56 | 77 | Charles Palmer-Tomkinson | Great Britain | 2:39.97 | +21.81 |
| 57 | 67 | Yoshihiro Ohira | Japan | 2:40.82 | +22.66 |
| 58 | 53 | Hernán Boher | Chile | 2:41.67 | +23.51 |
| 59 | 52 | Prince Karim Aga Khan | Iran | 2:42.59 | +24.43 |
| 60 | 81 | Petar Angelov | Bulgaria | 2:43.32 | +25.16 |
| 61 | 73 | Simon Brown | Australia | 2:44.07 | +25.91 |
| 62 | 78 | Oto Pustoslemšek | Yugoslavia | 2:44.77 | +26.61 |
| 63 | 86 | Muzaffer Demirhan | Turkey | 2:45.63 | +27.47 |
| 64 | 83 | Pedro Klempa | Argentina | 2:47.07 | +28.91 |
| 65 | 58 | Lotfollah Kia Shemshaki | Iran | 2:50.70 | +32.54 |
| 66 | 68 | Fayzollah Band Ali | Iran | 2:52.44 | +34.28 |
| 67 | 79 | Nazih Geagea | Lebanon | 2:55.34 | +37.18 |
| 68 | 80 | Peter Wenzel | Australia | 2:55.58 | +37.42 |
| 69 | 71 | Ovaness Meguerdonian | Iran | 2:57.10 | +38.94 |
| 70 | 82 | Osman Yüce | Turkey | 3:03.66 | +45.50 |
| 71 | 84 | Zeki Şamiloğlu | Turkey | 3:05.71 | +47.55 |
| 72 | 87 | Abdurrahman Küçük | Turkey | 3:09.99 | +51.83 |
| 73 | 89 | Konstantinos Karydas | Greece | 3:10.09 | +51.93 |
| 74 | 90 | Jean Keyrouz | Lebanon | 3:40.44 | +82.28 |
| 75 | 85 | Michel Rahme | Lebanon | 3:55.15 | +96.99 |
| 76 | 88 | Jorge Abelardo Eiras | Argentina | 4:34.51 | +136.35 |
| 77 | 64 | Juan Holz | Chile | 4:51.18 | +153.02 |
| - | 47 | Claudio Wernli | Chile | DQ | - |
| - | 31 | Rune Lindström | Sweden | DNF | - |
| - | 33 | Jeremy Bujakowski | India | DNF | - |
| - | 50 | Lars Olsson | Sweden | DNF | - |
| - | 56 | Jorge Rodríguez | Spain | DNF | - |
| - | 57 | Jonathan Taylor | Great Britain | DNF | - |
| - | 91 | Sami Beyroun | Lebanon | DNF | - |
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