Venues of the 1964 Winter Olympics
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For the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, a total of eight sports venues were used. Luge made its debut at these games, but were marred by the death of a British slider two weeks prior to the Games. A second ski jumping event debuted and the best two out of three jumps were used in both events for the only time in the history of the Winter Olympics. All eight venues would be used again when the Winter Games returned to Innsbruck twelve years later though the venues would undergo renovations in time for the 1976 Games.
| Venue | Sports | Capacity | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Axamer Lizum | Alpine skiing (all but men's downhill) | Not listed | [1] |
| Bergiselschanze | Ski jumping (large hill) | 26,000 | [2] |
| Bob und Rodelbahn Igls | Bobsleigh, Luge | Not listed. | [3] |
| Eisschnellaufbahn | Speed skating | 7,000 | [4] |
| Messehalle | Ice hockey | 5,544 | [5] |
| Olympiahalle | Figure skating, Ice hockey | 10,836 | [5] |
| Patscherkofel | Alpine skiing (men's downhill) | Not listed. | [1] |
| Seefeld | Biathlon, Cross-country skiing, Nordic combined, Ski jumping (normal hill) | Not listed. | [6] |
Before the Olympics
Before the 1964 Winter Games, Innsbruck hosted several World and European championships. They hosted the Alpine World Ski Championships both in 1933 and 1936.[7][8] In 1933, Innsbruck served as host to the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships.[9]
Innsbruck hosted its first Bobsleigh World Championships in 1935 in the two-man event, then hosted again in 1963 when the bobsleigh part of the track was used as a test event for the 1964 Games.[10][11] Luge was also completed at the same time though Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypeski of Great Britain was killed in a practice run on the luge part of the track two weeks before the start of the 1964 Games.[12] Igls also served as host of the European Luge Championships in 1951 though the track used was not constructed until 1963.[3][13]
Since 1952-3 ski jumping season, Bergiselschanze has been part of the Four Hills Tournament.[14]
Seefeld hosted the Biathlon World Championships in 1963 which also served as a test event for the 1964 Games.[15]
