Written By: Liz Ronk
Much has changed about the Olympics since 1964. Only 38 countries participated back then, compared to 92 at the 2018 in South Korea. The country that was the big medal winner in the 1964 Games, the USSR, has long since been broken up. Snowboarding and other more modern sports that highlight today’s Games had yet to be added to the competition.
And yet — some elemental things about the Olympics remain the same. Here, in photos made by LIFE’s Ralph Crane, George Silk and Paul Schutzer, we see the same intensity in the athlete’s faces, the same striving for excellence, that we see every four years in both the summer and winter Olympiads. We see the same spirit of togetherness that seems to win out—however briefly—over the constant drumbeat of nationalism. In short, we see many of the same familiar, comforting scenes that greet us every time the Olympics, however modernized, roll around. And maybe that’s why, in the end, we like the Games so much: because in the midst of all the drama about who will win what event, and by what margin, so much about the Games remains the same.
A ski jumper soared at the 1964 Winter Olympics
Ralph Crane/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
At the opening ceremonies for the Innsbruck Games, before 55,000 onlookers, athletes took the Olympic oath in the arena below the ski jump.
Ralph Crane/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Opening ceremonies at the 1964 Winter Olympics, Innsbruck, Austria.
George Silk/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Opening ceremonies at the 1964 Winter Olympics, Innsbruck, Austria.
George Silk/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Austrian alpine skier Josl Rieder lit the Olympic flame during the opening ceremonies of the 1964 Winter Olympics, Innsbruck, Austria.
Ralph Crane/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
A scene from the 1964 Winter Olympics, Innsbruck, Austria.
George Silk/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
A parking lot at the 1964 Winter Olympics, Innsbruck, Austria.
Ralph Crane/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Figure skaters at the 1964 Winter Olympics, Innsbruck, Austria.
Ralph Crane/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
The 1964 Winter Olympics at Innsbruck, Austria.
Ralph Crane/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
1964 Winter Olympics, Innsbruck, Austria.
Ralph Crane/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Happy fans and autograph-seekers at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria.
Paul Schutzer/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
Medal ceremony, 1964 Winter Olympics, Innsbruck, Austria.
Ralph Crane/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
1964 Winter Olympics at Innsbruck, Austria.
Ralph Crane/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
A team photo of American skiers at the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Olympics, including medalists Jean Saubert (front row, center), Jimmie Heuga (front, far left) and Billy Kidd (front, far right).
George Silk/Life Pictures/Shutterstock
