1968 Winter Olympics 1968 Winter Olympics The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games (), were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1968 in Grenoble, France, and opened on 6 February. Thirty-seven countries participated. Frenchman Jean-Claude Killy won three gold medals in all the alpine skiing events. In women's figure skating, Peggy Fleming won the only United States gold medal. The games have been credited with making the Winter Olympics more popular in the United States, not least of which because of ABC's extensive coverage of Fleming and Killy, who became overnight sensations among teenage girls. The
Alpine skiing at the 2006 Winter Olympics – Men's downhill Alpine skiing at the 2006 Winter Olympics – Men's downhill The men's downhill competition is one of the marquee events of the Winter Olympics, and is the first alpine event on the schedule. It consists of a single high-speed run down a challenging slope, with a vertical drop exceeding 2624 feet (800 m). The defending Olympic champion was Fritz Strobl of Austria, and the reigning world champion was Bode Miller of the U.S., who won the downhill at the 2005 World Championships. Austrian Michael Walchhofer led the downhill World Cup entering the Olympics, ahead of Strobl and American Daron Rahlves.