# 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, due to heavy snow fall.
The downhill race start was at the top of Squaw Peak at an elevation of 2,707 m (8,881 ft). The course length was 3.095 km (1.923 mi), with a vertical drop of 758 m (2,487 ft).
Austrian Toni Sailer, the defending FIS Downhill World Champion did not compete as he had previously retired.
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 88.429 km/h (54.9 mph), with an average vertical descent rate of 6.016 m/s (19.7 ft/s).

## 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, (UTC −8).
| Rank | Name | Country | Time | Difference |
| | Jean Vuarnet | France | 2:06.0 | — |
| | Hans Peter Lanig | United Team of Germany | 2:06.5 | +0.5 |
| | Guy Périllat | France | 2:06.9 | +0.9 |
| 4 | Willi Forrer | Switzerland | 2:07.8 | +1.8 |
| 5 | Roger Staub | Switzerland | 2:08.9 | +2.9 |
| 6 | Bruno Alberti | Italy | 2:09.1 | +3.1 |
| 7 | Karl Schranz | Austria | 2:09.2 | +3.2 |
| 8 | Charles Bozon | France | 2:09.6 | +3.6 |
| 9 | Willy Bogner | United Team of Germany | 2:09.7 | +3.7 |
| 10 | Egon N. Zimmermann | Austria | 2:09.8 | +3.8 |
| 11 | Luggi Leitner | United Team of Germany | 2:10.2 | +4.2 |
| 12 | Paride Milianti | Italy | 2:10.8 | +4.8 |
| 13 | Jakob Arduser | Switzerland | 2:10.9 | +4.9 |
| 14 | Dave Gorsuch | United States | 2:11.0 | +5.0 |
| 15 | Pepi Stiegler | Austria | 2:13.1 | +7.1 |
| 16 | Eberhard Riedel | United Team of Germany | 2:13.3 | +7.3 |
| 17 | Gordi Eaton | United States | 2:14.0 | +8.0 |
| 18 | Max Marolt | United States | 2:14.2 | +8.2 |
| 19 | Anderl Molterer | Austria | 2:15.1 | +9.1 |
| 20 | Nando Pajarola | Switzerland | 2:15.4 | +9.4 |
| 20 | Oddvar Rønnestad | Norway | 2:15.4 | +9.4 |
| 22 | Marvin Melville | United States | 2:15.9 | +9.9 |
| 22 | Verne Anderson | Canada | 2:15.9 | +9.9 |
| 24 | Italo Pedroncelli | Italy | 2:16.8 | +10.8 |
| 25 | Felice De Nicolo | Italy | 2:18.1 | +12.1 |
| 26 | Jean-Guy Brunet | Canada | 2:18.2 | +12.2 |
| 27 | Frederick Tommy | Canada | 2:18.4 | +12.4 |
| 28 | Don Bruneski | Canada | 2:19.9 | +13.9 |
| 29 | Georgi Varoshkin | Bulgaria | 2:20.0 | +14.0 |
| 30 | Georgi Dimitrov | Bulgaria | 2:20.2 | +14.2 |
| 31 | Francisco Cortes | Chile | 2:20.8 | +14.8 |
| 32 | Vicente Vera | Chile | 2:24.5 | +18.5 |
| 33 | Jóhann Vilbergsson | Iceland | 2:24.6 | +18.6 |
| 34 | Chiharu Igaya | Japan | 2:25.0 | +19.0 |
| 35 | Charlach Mackintosh | Great Britain | 2:25.1 | +19.1 |
| 36 | Kristinn Benediktsson | Iceland | 2:26.0 | +20.0 |
| 37 | Eysteinn Þórðarson | Iceland | 2:26.2 | +20.2 |
| 38 | Hernán Boher | Chile | 2:26.7 | +20.7 |
| 39 | Victor Tagle | Chile | 2:26.9 | +20.9 |
| 40 | Geoff Pitchford | Great Britain | 2:27.3 | +21.3 |
| 41 | Adolf Fehr | Liechtenstein | 2:27.4 | +21.4 |
| 42 | Manuel García-Moran | Spain | 2:27.6 | +21.6 |
| 43 | Robert Skepper | Great Britain | 2:28.1 | +22.1 |
| 44 | Luis Sánchez | Spain | 2:28.3 | +22.3 |
| 45 | Osvaldo Ancinas | Argentina | 2:28.4 | +22.4 |
| 46 | Osamu Tada | Japan | 2:28.5 | +22.5 |
| 47 | Aleksandar Shalamanov | Bulgaria | 2:29.0 | +23.0 |
| 48 | Sam Chaffey | New Zealand | 2:29.3 | +23.3 |
| 49 | Silvan Kindle Hermann Kindle | Liechtenstein | 2:29.4 | +23.4 |
| 51 | Luis Arias | Spain | 2:29.8 | +23.8 |
| 52 | Bill Day | Australia | 2:30.5 | +24.5 |
| 53 | Masayoshi Mitani | Japan | 2:31.3 | +25.3 |
| 54 | Bill Hunt | New Zealand | 2:32.0 | +26.0 |
| 55 | John Oakes | Great Britain | 2:36.0 | +30.0 |
| 56 | Ibrahim Geagea | Lebanon | 2:39.2 | +33.2 |
| 57 | Peter Brockhoff | Australia | 2:39.7 | +33.7 |
| 58 | Zeki Şamiloğlu | Turkey | 2:42.4 | +36.4 |
| 59 | Nazih Geagea | Lebanon | 3:00.3 | +54.3 |
| 60 | Clemente Tellechea | Argentina | 3:20.2 | +1:14.2 |
| 61 | Im Gyeong-sun | South Korea | 3:34.4 | +1:28.4 |
| - | Adrien Duvillard | France | DQ | - |
| - | Muzaffer Demirhan | Turkey | DQ | - |
    Source: