United States at the 1948 Winter Olympics

United States at the 1948 Winter Olympics
Flag of the United States
IOC code	USA
NOC	United States Olympic Committee
in St. Moritz
Competitors	69 (59 men, 10 women) in 4 sports
Flag bearer	John Heaton (skeleton)
Medals Ranked 4th	Gold 3 Silver 4 Bronze 2 Total 9
Winter Olympics appearances (overview)
1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022

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.

Medal Name Sport Event Date  Gold Gretchen Fraser Alpine skiing Women's slalom February 5  Gold Dick Button Figure skating Men's singles February 5  Gold William D'Amico Patrick Martin Edward Rimkus Francis Tyler Bobsleigh Four-man February 7  Silver Ken Bartholomew Speed skating 500 meters January 31  Silver Robert Fitzgerald Speed skating 500 meters January 31  Silver Gretchen Fraser Alpine skiing Women's combined February 4  Silver John Heaton Skeleton Men's competition February 4  Bronze Schuyler Carron Frederick Fortune Bobsleigh Two-man January 31  Bronze James Bickford Donald Dupree William Dupree Thomas Hicks Bobsleigh Four-man February 7

Medals by sport Sport Total Alpine skiing 1 1 0 2 Bobsleigh 1 0 2 3 Figure skating 1 0 0 1 Speed skating 0 2 0 2 Skeleton 0 1 0 1 Total 3 4 2 9 Medals by gender Gender Total Percentage Male 2 3 2 7 77.8% Female 1 1 0 2 22.2% Total 3 4 2 9 100% Multiple medalists Name Sport Total Gretchen Fraser Alpine skiing 1 1 0 2

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
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
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
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
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

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
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
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
Bobby Fitzgerald		43.2
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. 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

• Comité Olympique Suisse (January 1951). Rapport Général sur les V^es Jeux Olympiques d'hiver St-Moritz 1948 (PDF) (in French). Lausanne: H. Jaunin. Retrieved 2008-06-10.
• "Olympic Medal Winners". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 2008-06-10.
• Olympic Winter Games 1948, full results by sports-reference.com