Figure skating at the 1968 Winter Olympics — 1968 edition of the figure skating competitions during the Olympic Winter Games
Peggy Fleming's gold medal ended a seven-year American figure skating drought following the 1961 team plane crash, while ice dance debuted as a demonstration event.
Key Facts
- Host venue
- Le Stade Olympique de Glace, Grenoble
- Peggy Fleming judges
- First-place votes from all 9 judges
- Ice dance status
- Demonstration event (not medal)
- Ice dance winners
- Diane Towler & Bernard Ford (Great Britain)
- Ice dance became medal event
- 1976 Innsbruck Winter Olympics
- Last US gold before Fleming
- Prior to 1961 US team plane crash
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The 1961 crash of Sabena Flight 548 killed the entire US figure skating team, leaving American skating without elite competitive representation for years. Peggy Fleming emerged as the leading American skater and arrived at Grenoble having trained rigorously in compulsory figures, the discipline that then carried the greatest scoring weight.
Figure skating at the 1968 Winter Olympics was held at Le Stade Olympique de Glace in Grenoble. Fleming dominated the compulsory figures to build a commanding lead and earned first-place votes from all nine judges, winning the gold medal. Ice dance, called 'rhythmic skating,' ran as a demonstration event won by Towler and Ford of Great Britain.
Fleming's victory was the first American figure skating gold since the 1961 disaster and sparked a revival of US prominence in the sport. Ice dance gained international recognition through its Grenoble demonstration and was elevated to full Olympic medal status at the 1976 Innsbruck Winter Games, eight years later.
Result
at Le Stade Olympique de Glace, Grenoble, France