--- description: Amid all the drama about who will win, and by what margin, so much about the Olympics remains comfortingly the same, year after year. title: Winter Olympics Flashback: Photos From the Innsbruck Games, 1964 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7059314fec6ba46e/69884b5e3c1639d7c74575f2/140213-1964-winter-olympics-innsbruck-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Culture](/tag/culture/) ## Culture Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Winter Olympics Flashback: Photos From the Innsbruck Games, 1964 by [Liz Ronk](/author/liz-ronk/) ## Liz Ronk Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 1, 2014 10:35 PM CUT  Caption from LIFE. "A soaring ski jump at Innsbruck." Caption from LIFE. "A soaring ski jump at Innsbruck."Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images by [Liz Ronk](/author/liz-ronk/) ## Liz Ronk Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 1, 2014 10:35 PM CUT As the 2014 Sochi Games wind down, and the traditional torrent of post-Olympics analysis, excuses, recriminations and celebrations are poised to begin, LIFE looks back 50 years to another Winter Games, in Innsbruck in 1964\. It was a vastly different time, of course: the Cold War was at its most intense (the USSR won the most medals and the most golds); athletes weren’t tweeting or Instagraming their every move; 36 countries participated, fewer than half of the 88 at Sochi. 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 roll around. And maybe that’s why, in the end, we like the Olympics 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. Oddly enough, that’s something to cheer about, too.  Caption from LIFE. "A soaring ski jump at Innsbruck." Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. "Opening spectacle. Before 55,000 onlookers, athletes wearing colorful uniforms take the Olympic oath in arena below Bergisel ski jump." Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Opening ceremonies at the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Olympics. George Silk—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Scene from the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Olympics. George Silk—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Opening ceremonies at the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Olympics. George Silk—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Austrian alpine skier Josl Rieder stands on stair having just lit the Olympic flame at the opening ceremonies of the 1964 Winter Olympics. Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Cars parked at the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Olympics. Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Figure skaters at the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Olympics. Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Scene from the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Olympics. Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Scene from the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Olympics. Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Happy fans and autograph-seekers at the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Olympics. Paul Schutzer—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Medal ceremony, 1964 Innsbruck Winter Olympics. Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Scene from the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Olympics. Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. 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—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3878864/winter-olympics-flashback-photos-from-the-innsbruck-games-1964/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3878864/winter-olympics-flashback-photos-from-the-innsbruck-games-1964/"},"headline":"Winter Olympics Flashback: Photos From the Innsbruck Games, 1964","datePublished":"2014-02-01T22:35:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:03:46.916Z","description":"Amid all the drama about who will win, and by what margin, so much about the Olympics remains comfortingly, thrillingly the same, year after year.","url":"https://time.com/3878864/winter-olympics-flashback-photos-from-the-innsbruck-games-1964/","keywords":["Culture","Sports topic","Winter Olympics","Austria","1964","Ralph Crane","color photography","Paul Schutzer","george silk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7059314fec6ba46e/69884b5e3c1639d7c74575f2/140213-1964-winter-olympics-innsbruck-01.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/blt7059314fec6ba46e/69884b5e3c1639d7c74575f2/140213-1964-winter-olympics-innsbruck-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"1964 Winter Olympics","caption":"1964 Winter Olympics","creditText":"Ralph Crane—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/3878864/winter-olympics-flashback-photos-from-the-innsbruck-games-1964/","name":"Winter Olympics Flashback: Photos From the Innsbruck Games, 1964"}}]}] ```