1964 Innsbruck Winter Olympics

Also called: IX Olympic Winter Games, 1964 Winter Olympics

Games at Innsbruck in the Austrian Tyrol, where North Korea made its Olympic debut and Han Pil-hwa won a speed-skating silver, the first Winter Olympic medal for a Korean.

Thirty-six nations took part from 29 January to 9 February. A mild winter left too little snow, and the Austrian army carried snow and ice down from the mountains to prepare the courses. Luge became an Olympic event, and the Soviet Union’s Lidiya Skoblikova won all four women’s speed-skating events. North Korea, appearing at the Olympics for the first time, saw Han Pil-hwa take silver in the women’s 3000 m, sharing second place — the first Winter Olympic medal won by a Korean from either side of the peninsula.