--- title: Winter Olympics: Vintage Photos of Awesome Women Athletes description: Photos of women winter Olympians -- the famous and the largely forgotten, medalists and non-medalists -- from the 1940s to the 1970s. canonical: https://time.com/3878716/winter-olympics-vintage-photos-of-awesome-women-athletes/ author: Liz Ronk article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-01-16T00:13:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:03:47.674Z og:title: Winter Olympics: Vintage Photos of Awesome Women Athletes og:description: Photos of women winter Olympians -- the famous and the largely forgotten, medalists and non-medalists -- from the 1940s to the 1970s. og:url: https://time.com/3878716/winter-olympics-vintage-photos-of-awesome-women-athletes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc48108bdb740daf7/69884b2f8e06012c2945ff62/140130-35-anne-henning-1972.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: Winter Olympics Sapporo 1972 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Winter Olympics: Vintage Photos of Awesome Women Athletes twitter:description: Photos of women winter Olympians -- the famous and the largely forgotten, medalists and non-medalists -- from the 1940s to the 1970s. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc48108bdb740daf7/69884b2f8e06012c2945ff62/140130-35-anne-henning-1972.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Women of the Winter Olympics: Amazing Athletes in Action by [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) ## Liz Ronk Jan 16, 2014 12:13 AM UTC  Anne Henning, 16, skating to victory in the 500-meter speed skating race at the Sapporo Winter Olympics, 1972. Anne Henning, 16, skating to victory in the 500-meter speed skating race at the Sapporo Winter Olympics, 1972.George Silk—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images by [Liz Ronk](https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/) ## Liz Ronk Jan 16, 2014 12:13 AM UTC Ever since the first Winter Olympics in 1924, women athletes have competed for gold with the same intensity, grace and power as their male counterparts — even if, in ’24, the only events in which women were allowed to take part were figure- and pairs-skating. In 2014 at [Sochi](http://www.olympic.org/sochi-2014-winter-olympics), meanwhile, competitors from around the globe will put it all on the line in 98 events across 15 disciplines, from figure-skating to ice hockey to — _finally_ — ski jumping for both men and women. Here, in acknowledgement of the long, icy, often-uphill trail that sportswomen have had to navigate through the years, LIFE offers a series of Winter Olympics photos from the 1940s to the 1970s — pictures featuring the still-famous ([Peggy Fleming](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggy%5FFleming), Lidiya Skoblikova, Andrea Mead Lawrence) as well as more than a few largely forgotten female athletes who made a mark in the Olympics, whether they medaled or not.  Fifteen-year-old Andrea Mead Lawrence, the first American alpine skier to win Olympic gold, training in 1947. George Silk—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Six-time U.S. national figure-skating champion Gretchen Merrill, St. Moritz Olympics, 1948. Mark Kauffman—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  French figure skater Jacqueline du Bief, St. Moritz, 1948. Mark Kauffman—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  British figure skater Jeanette Altwegg, bronze medalist at St. Moritz, 1948. Walter Sanders—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Canadian Patricia Gault, St. Moritz, 1948. Mark Kauffman—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Olympic figure skater, St. Moritz, 1948. Walter Sanders—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Gretchen Merrill, St. Moritz Olympics, 1948. Walter Sanders—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  American skier Brynhild Grasmoen, St. Moritz, 1948. Walter Sanders—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Great Britain's Sue Holmes, Cortina, Italy, 1956. Frank Scherschel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Unidentified skater, Cortina, Italy, 1956. Frank Scherschel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Unidentified athlete, Cortina, Italy, 1956. Frank Scherschel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  American figure-skating silver medalist Carol Heiss, Cortina, Italy, 1956. Frank Scherschel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Russian cross-country skiers Radya Yeroshina (silver) and Lyubov Kozyreva (gold), Cortina, Italy, 1956. Frank Scherschel—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  American silver medalist Penny Pitou (left) and German downhill gold medalist Heidi Biebl, Squaw Valley, 1960. Nat Farbman—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Slalom silver medalist Betsy Snite (USA), Squaw Valley, 1960. Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  American downhill skier Penny Pitou (silver medalist), Squaw Valley, 1960. Nat Farbman—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  American downhill skier Penny Pitou (silver medalist), Squaw Valley, 1960. Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Unidentified athlete, Squaw Valley, 1960. George Silk—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Figure skater Carol Heiss (gold medal, Ladies Singles), Squaw Valley, 1960. George Silk—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Figure skater Carol Heiss (gold medal, Ladies Singles), Squaw Valley, 1960. Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Russian speed-skating gold medalist Lidiya Skoblikova (center), with Poland's Elwira Seroczynska (left, silver) and Helena Pilejczyk (right, bronze), Squaw Valley, 1960. Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Unidentified athlete, Innsbruck Olympics, 1964. George Silk—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Unidentified athlete, Innsbruck Olympics, 1964. George Silk—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  American skier Jean Saubert (center) gets kisses from French downhill gold and silver medalists (and sisters), Christine and Marielle Goitschel, Innsbruck Olympics, 1964. Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Unidentified athlete, Innsbruck Olympics, 1964. George Silk—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Left to right: Christine Goitschel, Jean Saubert, and Marielle Goitschel, Innsbruck, 1964 George Silk—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  American speed skater and four-time Olympic medalist Dianne Holum, Grenoble Olympics, 1968. Art Rickerby—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Unidentified athlete, Grenoble Olympics, 1968. Art Rickerby—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Three-time Olympic medalist Lyudmila Titova, speed skater, Grenoble Olympics, 1968. Art Rickerby—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  American figure skater Peggy Fleming, Grenoble Olympics, 1968. Art Rickerby—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Twelve-year-old Romanian figure skater Beatrice Hustiu, Grenoble Olympics, 1968. Art Rickerby—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  American figure skater Janet Lynn, Grenoble Olympics, 1968. Art Rickerby—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  American figure skater Peggy Fleming, Grenoble Olympics, 1968. Art Rickerby—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Peggy Fleming, gold medalist, Ladies Singles figure skating, Grenoble Olympics, 1968. Art Rickerby—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Anne Henning, 16, skating to victory in the 500-meter speed skating race at the Sapporo Winter Olympics, 1972. George Silk—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Figure skaters Janet Lynn (American, bronze), Beatrix Schuba (Austrian, gold) and Karin Manguessen (Canadian, silver), Sapporo Winter Olympics, 1972. George Silk—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  American speed skater and four-time Olympic medalist Dianne Holum, Sapporo Winter Olympics, 1972. George Silk—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Women's luge, Sapporo Winter Olympics, 1972. John Dominis—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3878716/winter-olympics-vintage-photos-of-awesome-women-athletes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3878716/winter-olympics-vintage-photos-of-awesome-women-athletes/"},"headline":"Women of the Winter Olympics: Amazing Athletes in Action","datePublished":"2014-01-16T00:13:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:03:47.674Z","description":"Photos of women winter Olympians -- the famous and the largely forgotten, medalists and non-medalists -- from the 1940s to the 1970s.","url":"https://time.com/3878716/winter-olympics-vintage-photos-of-awesome-women-athletes/","keywords":["Culture","olympics","Winter Olympics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc48108bdb740daf7/69884b2f8e06012c2945ff62/140130-35-anne-henning-1972.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Liz Ronk","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/liz-ronk/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc48108bdb740daf7/69884b2f8e06012c2945ff62/140130-35-anne-henning-1972.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Winter Olympics Sapporo 1972","caption":"Anne Henning, 16, skating to victory in the 500-meter speed skating race at the Sapporo Winter Olympics, 1972.","creditText":"George Silk—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/culture/","name":"Culture"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3878716/winter-olympics-vintage-photos-of-awesome-women-athletes/","name":"Women of the Winter Olympics: Amazing Athletes in Action"}}]}] ```