Grenoble 1968 - ORTF Broadcast Opening Sequence (Excerpt)
Copyright (c) 1968 Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française
The Winter Olympic Games make their return to the place where they began 44 years prior - the French Alps, and this time, the city of Grenoble served as the main site for the 10th edition of the Winter Games held from 6 to 18 February 1968.
Grenoble was at the Dauphine region of the French Alps, but the 1968 Winter Games were spread all through the mountains; there were separate Olympic Villages because the distance to the events – a main one in Grenoble, and the others in Chamrousse and Autran. Only the skating and ice hockey events were actually held in the city.
Grenoble 1968, which attracts 1,158 athletes from 37 countries, sought some of these firsts; it was these Games that introduced the idea of mascots to the Olympic movement, albeit unofficially, with Schuss, a little character on skis, and also for the first time, TV viewers were able to watch Olympic telecasts transmitting in colour.
However, the Winter Olympics - once considered immune to the political issues so often seen at their summer counterparts - began to be hit with scenes of controversy. It started before the Games when the IOC, headed at the time by Avery Brundage, decided it wished to curb advertising on skis and clothing by the alpine skiiers. They threatened to expel certain skiiers, while the skiiers threatened to withdraw en masse in revolt. A compromise was reached eventually in which the skiiers agreed to remove all equipment with advertising prior to being photographed or interviewed.
The Games, nonetheless, went fairly well as it witnessed French homebet Jean-Claude Killy skiing away to three alpine golds, while Norway emerged themselves as the topnotchers of Grenoble 1968, piping the USSR (13 medals of any color - five were gold) in both parameters; six golds and 14 medals overall.
Legacy-wise, the 1968 Games accelerated the growth of the city in the foothills of the Alps, which had seen its population double in the 1950s and 60s. The event provided impetus for Grenoble’s development, and the improvements made to transport links and urban infrastructure in time for the Games helped trigger economic growth and make the city the innovative, forward-looking place that it is today.
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