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The 1960 Winter
Games were held in Squaw Valley, USA. The use of this site is
a story that will last for years to come.
It all began
on December 26th, 1954 when Alexander Cushing spotted an article
in the San Francisco Chronicle stating that Reno, NV and Anchorage,
AK had submitted bids to hold the 1960 Winter Olympics. Holding
such an acclaimed event in Squaw Valley, USA met with great ridicule
at first. Cushing with the support of Curly Grieves, the Sports
Editor for the San Francisco Examiner, soon announced Squaw Valley's
bid for the Games.
Cushing met
the IOC with the help of a diverse and knowledgeable entourage
including Pulitzer Prize-winning Chicago Daily News columnist
George Weller, and French war hero Joe Marillac. Cushing even
had a 3,000 pound model of Squaw Valley built to scale in order
to convince the committee to take him seriously.
On a cold
spring day in 1955, in Paris, France, Alexander Cushing convinced
the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to select Squaw Valley,
USA as the site for the VIII Olympic Winter Games. Many to this
day still wonder how a town with no mayor, and a ski resort with
just one chairlift, two rope tows, and a fifty-room lodge could
instantly become a site of international distinction.
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