Vintage Visit to the Winter Olympics 1964

The excitement is well underway for the upcoming XXI Olympic Winter Games in February 12-28, 2010. I've never been to this year's hosting city, Vancouver, Canada, but British Columbia will be a worthy trip in my future. The 1964 IX Olympic Winter Games was hosted by Innsbruck, Austria. The first of two times (the other in 1976) for the Austrian city. During one of my parent's ski adventures, they visited Innsbruck and the Olympic Winter Games site prior to the Games sequel there in 1976.

The winter sporting disciplines have changed over the years (Snowboarding added in 1998), but the memories are strong. I used to where my brother's old 1980 Lake Placid Olympic Winter Games shirt around the house. Like Innsbruck, Lake Placid, NY, USA was a host city twice. In 2002, Lake Placid celebrated their 70th anniversary for their first hosting while the winter Olympic athletes where receiving medals in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. This year the acclaimed, Squaw Valley, Olympic Valley, USA celebrates their 50th hosting year anniversary!

A picture is worth a thousand words, or perhaps more. Below are pictures of my parents in front of the dedication plaque for the 1964 Games in Innsbruck, Austria and the Couldron, which was lit by alpine skier Joseph Rieder who carried the ceremonial Olympic torch.