
Figure skater Peggy
Fleming wins
America's only gold at
the Grenoble Games. |
For the first time since the end of World War II,
East and West German athletes competed on
separate teams. And the International Olympic
Committee set a precedent by ordering the first
drug and gender testing of Olympic athletes. Highlights
The 1968 Games were dubbed the
"Killympics," after French skier Jean-Claude
Killy enthralled his fellow countrymen with a
stunning three gold-medal sweep of all of the
men's Alpine skiing events. Peggy Fleming of the United States won the
gold in women's figure skating. Her victory
was the only gold medal to be won by an
American competitor at the 1968 Winter
Games.
Forty-year-old Eugenio Monti of Italy had spent 12 years trying to win a gold
medal in Olympic bobsledding. At the
Grenoble Games, his dream came true, as he
not only won the gold in the two-man
bobsled, but also scored a second gold as a
member of the victorious Italian four-man
bobsled team.
Norweigian speedskater Fred Anton
Maier, a bronze medalist in the 5,000m at
the 1964 Innsbruck Games, shattered the
world record in the event at Grenoble,
finishing almost four seconds ahead of the
previous record, with a gold medal winning
time of 7:22.4.
Three American women speedskaters
Mary Meyers, Dianne Holum and
Jennifer Fish all tied for the silver medal
in the 500m, with an identical time in the
event of 46.3 seconds.
| Attendance | Male Athletes | Female Athletes | Most-Medaled | U.S. Rank | | 37 nations | 1,081 | 212 | Norway (14) | 7th (tied) |
Source: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
© Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company
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