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United States at the
1948 Winter Olympics
Flag of the United States
IOC codeUSA
NOC United States Olympic Committee
in St. Moritz
Competitors69 (59 men, 10 women) in 9 sports
Flag bearer John Heaton (skeleton)
Medals
Ranked 4th
Gold
3
Silver
4
Bronze
2
Total
9
Winter Olympics appearances ( overview)

The United States competed at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

Medalists

Further information: 1948 Winter Olympics medal table

The following U.S. competitors won medals at the games. In the by discipline sections below, medalists' names are bolded.

Alpine skiing

Main article: Alpine skiing at the 1948 Winter Olympics

Timed events
Men

Athlete Event Run 1 Run 2 Total
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
Bob Blatt Downhill — 3:27.4 44
Dev Jennings 3:28.2 45
Steve Knowlton 3:26.2 43
Barney McLean 3:30.1 47
Dick Movitz 3:25.2 42
Jack Reddish 3:12.3 26
Steve Knowlton Slalom 1:12.9 16 1:07.6 17 2:20.5 16
Barney McLean 1:20.5 30 1:07.6 17 2:28.1 24
Colin Stewart 1:15.3 23 1:08.8 21 2:24.1 20
Jack Reddish 1:11.0 10 1:04.5 5 2:15.5 7

Women

Athlete Event Run 1 Run 2 Total
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
Becky Cremer Downhill — 2:44.2 22
Gretchen Fraser 2:37.1 13
Brynhild Grasmoen 2:36.0 12
Paula Kann 2:49.0 28
Andrea Mead 3:03.1 35
Ruth-Marie Stewart 2:42.0 20
Gretchen Fraser Slalom 59.7 1 57.5 2 1:57.2 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Brynhild Grasmoen 1:05.6 12 1:04.0 12 2:09.6 9
Paula Kann 1:07.8 16 1:02.0 9 2:09.8 11
Andrea Mead 1:05.1 11 1:03.7 11 2:08.8 8

Combined
The downhill part of the combined events were held concurrently with the individual downhill skiing events. For athletes competing in both events, the same time was used (see table above for the results). The slalom part of the events were held separate from the individual slalom competitions.

Men

Athlete Event Downhill Slalom Total
Time Points Time 1 Time 2 Total Points Points Rank
Bob Blatt Combined 3:27.4 18.09 1:15.6 1:21.4 2:37.0 9.74 27.83 29
Steve Knowlton 3:26.2 17.32 1:15.5 1:14.0 2:29.5 6.42 23.75 25
Barney McLean 3:30.1 19.42 1:16.4 1:11.5 2:27.9 5.73 25.15 26
Jack Reddish 3:12.3 9.71 1:14.1 1:08.8 2:22.9 3.53 13.24 12

Women

Athlete Event Downhill Slalom Total
Time Points Time 1 Time 2 Total Points Points Rank
Becky Cremer Combined 2:44.2 10.11 1:09.4 1:12.5 2:21.9 11.90 22.01 17
Gretchen Fraser 2:37.1 5.50 1:01.8 59.2 2:01.0 1.45 6.95 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Andrea Mead 3:03.1 22.14 1:03.8 1:11.7 2:15.5 8.70 30.84 21
Ruth-Marie Stewart 2:42.0 8.58 1:09.8 1:06.6 2:16.4 9.15 17.73 16

Bobsleigh

Main article: Bobsleigh at the 1948 Winter Olympics
Athlete Event Run 1 Run 2 Run 3 Run 4 Total
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
Frederick Fortune
Schuyler Carron 		Two-man 1:25.5 8 1:24.1 3 1:22.5 3 1:23.2 3 5:35.3 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Tuffield A. Latour
Leo J. Martin 		1:24.9 4 1:24.8 6 1:24.1 8 1:25.4 12 5:39.2 9
James Bickford
Thomas Hicks
Donald Dupree
William Dupree 		Four-man 1:17.4 5 1:20.7 2 1:21.8 4 1:21.6 2 5:21.5 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Francis Tyler
Patrick Martin
Edward Rimkus
William D'Amico 		1:17.1 2 1:19.6 1 1:21.4 1 1:22.0 5 5:20.1 1st place, gold medalist(s)

Cross-country skiing

Main article: Cross-country skiing at the 1948 Winter Olympics
Athlete Event Time Rank
Wendell Broomhall 18 km 1:31:40 65
Corey Engen 1:37:24 75
Don Johnson 1:32:03 66
Ralph Townsend 1:37:12 74
Gordy Wren 1:40:12 77

Figure skating

Main article: Figure skating at the 1948 Winter Olympics

Individual

Athlete Event CF FS Total
Rank Rank Points Places Rank
Dick Button Men's singles 1 1 191.177 10 1st place, gold medalist(s)
James Grogan 9 6 168.711 62 6
John Lettengarver 4 2 176.400 36 4
Gretchen Merrill Ladies singles 6 11 148.466 73 8
Eileen Seigh 10 10 144.111 110 11
Yvonne Sherman 8 5 149.833 62 6

Mixed

Athletes Event Points Score Rank
Karol Kennedy
Peter Kennedy 		Pairs 10.536 59.5 6
Yvonne Sherman
Robert Swenning 		10.581 53 4

Ice hockey

Main article: Ice hockey at the 1948 Winter Olympics

The tournament was almost cancelled when rival teams representing the United States arrived. An Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team was supported by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), and an Amateur Hockey Association (AHA) team was supported by the Ligue Internationale de Hockey sur Glace (LIHG). [1] [2] At the center of the issue was amateurism. [3] [4] [5] The International Olympic Committee ruled that neither team could compete, but the Swiss organizing committee allowed the AAU team to march in the opening ceremony, and the AHA team to play unofficially, without being eligible for medals. [6] [3]

Summary

Team Event Opposition
Score 		Opposition
Score 		Opposition
Score 		Opposition
Score 		Opposition
Score 		Opposition
Score 		Opposition
Score 		Opposition
Score 		Rank
United States men Men's tournament    Switzerland
L 4–5 		  Poland
W 23–4 		  Italy
W 31–1 		  Sweden
W 5–2 		  Canada
L 3–12 		  Austria
W 13–2 		  Great Britain
W 4–3 		  Czechoslovakia
L 3–4 		DSQ (4)

Roster

Al Opsahl
Bruce Mather
Bruce Cunliffe
Donald Geary
Fred Pearson
Goodwin Harding
Herb Vaningen
Jack Kirrane
Jack Riley
Jack Garrity
Ralph Warburton
Robert Baker
Bob Boeser
Stan Priddy

Tournament

Pld W L T GF GA Pts
  Canada 8 7 0 1 69 5 15
  Czechoslovakia 8 7 0 1 80 18 15
   Switzerland 8 6 2 0 67 21 12
  Sweden 8 4 4 0 55 28 8
  Great Britain 8 3 5 0 39 47 6
  Poland 8 2 6 0 29 97 4
  Austria 8 1 7 0 33 77 2
  Italy 8 0 8 0 24 156 0
  United States DSQ 8 5 3 0 86 33 (10)
  • Switzerland 5-4 USA
  • USA 23-4 Poland
  • USA 31-1 Italy
  • USA 5-2 Sweden
  • Canada 12-3 USA
  • USA 13-2 Austria
  • USA 4-3 United Kingdom
  • Czechoslovakia 4-3 USA

Nordic combined

Main article: Nordic combined at the 1948 Winter Olympics

The cross-country skiing part of this event was combined with the main medal event, meaning that athletes competing here were skiing for two disciplines at the same time. Details can be found above in this article, in the cross-country skiing section.

The ski jumping (normal hill) event was held separate from the main medal event of ski jumping, results can be found in the table below. Athletes would perform three jumps, of which the two best jumps (distance and form) were counted.

Athlete Event Cross-country Ski Jumping Total
Time Points Rank Distance 1 Distance 2 Points Rank Points Rank
Corey Engen Individual 1:34:24 132.00 34 65.5 64.0 214.8 3 346.80 26
Don Johnson 1:32:03 157.50 28 57.0 59.0 187.6 27 345.10 27
Ralph Townsend 1:37:12 138.00 33 61.0 58.0 188.7 24 326.70 33
Gordy Wren 1:40:12 120.00 36 66.5 68.5 220.2 2 340.20 29

Skeleton

Main article: Skeleton at the 1948 Winter Olympics
Athlete Event Run 1 Run 2 Run 3 Run 4 Run 5 Run 6 Total
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
Jack Heaton Men's 48.1 5 47.4 1 47.7 2 1:00.0 2 1:00.2 1 1:01.2 5 5:24.6 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
William Johnson 47.7 2 48.4 5 48.0 4 DNF
Mac MacCarthy 48.8 8 48.3 4 49.4 12 1:03.6 9 1:02.7 9 1:02.7 8 5:35.5 8
Wilbur Martin 47.8 3 49.2 11 48.2 5 1:00.7 3 1:01.6 5 1:00.5 3 5:28.0 4

Ski jumping

Main article: Ski jumping at the 1948 Winter Olympics
Athlete Event Jump 1 Jump 2 Total
Distance Distance Points Rank
Walter Bietila Normal hill 61.0 64.0 (fall) 142.9 42
Sverre Fredheim 66.0 65.0 210.1 12
Joe Perrault 61.0 67.0 207.0 15
Gordy Wren 68.0 68.5 222.8 5

Speed skating

Main article: Speed skating at the 1948 Winter Olympics
Athlete Event Time Rank
Ken Bartholomew 500 m 43.2 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Bobby Fitzgerald 43.2 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Ken Henry 43.3 5
Del Lamb 43.6 6
Ray Blum 1500 m 2:23.4 20
Bobby Fitzgerald 2:27.0 28
Ken Henry 2:24.6 22
Johnny Werket 2:20.2 6
Ray Blum 5000 m 8:54.4 17
Ken Henry 8:56.0 18
Sonny Rupprecht 8:58.4 21
Buddy Solem 9:10.4 27
Sonny Rupprecht 10,000 m 21:20.3 17
Art Seaman 21:34.8 18
Buddy Solem 26:22.4 19
Johnny Werket 19:44.0 11

References

  1. ^ "1948-Winter Olympics V (St. Moritz, Switzerland)". CTV global media. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
  2. ^ "Storms over St. Moritz". Time Magazine. Time Inc. 1948-02-09. Archived from the original on March 2, 2012. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
  3. ^ a b Findling & Pelle (2004), p. 316
  4. ^ Szemberg, Szymon; Podnieks, Andrew (2008). "Story #82–USA sends two teams to the 1948 Olympics". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved 2009-03-10.
  5. ^ Results and commentary in french
  6. ^ Findling & Pelle (2004), p. 317
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