Olympic Wednesday returns to the United States today with the 1960 Winter Olympiad in what was then known as Squaw Valley, California. It’s now called Olympic Valley, appropriately so. Back then, though, the small unincorporated village didn’t even have a mayor to send to the 1956 closing ceremonies for the traditional flame handoff! But Walt Disney got involved in the presentation for television, and voila!

The Soviet Union (21) and the U.S. (10) were the only nations to achieve double-digit medal counts, while Finland and Germany tied for third place with 8 medals each. Overall, only 665 athletes from 30 countries came to Squaw Valley, and there were only 27 events in 8 disciplines. However, thanks to the American TV broadcasts, the event was considered a success, and the United States would be awarded more winter dates.

Most Outstanding Male Athlete: Yevgeny Grishin, USSR

Speed skater Yevgeny Grishin repeated his double-gold effort from the 1956 Olympiad, and he was the only male athlete to win multiple golds at Squaw Valley, too. With victories in the 500m and 1,500m events, he earns our nod here, easily. For the record, he also went on to win silver in 1964 in the 500m at age 32.

Most Outstanding Female Athlete: Lidiya Skoblikova, USSR

Women’s speed skating made its debut at the 1960 Olympics, and Lidiya Skoblikova won 2 golds in the 1,500m and 3,000m events. She also took 4th place in the 1,000m event, so she was close to being the only woman to win 3 medals in this olympiad. At just age 20, she would be back to compete again. Stay tuned.

Most Outstanding Male Team: American Hockey

This was an odd Olympics in that 6 different nations won the 6 Alpine skiing events, for example. No men’s national squad really dominated any of the disciplines, which opens the door for this non-homer selection. The Americans were on no one’s short list for a medal, really, and yet on home ice, the team went 7-0 in the competition, beating each of the medal favorites along the way: Canada, USSR, Czechoslovakia, and Sweden.

Most Outstanding Female Team: Soviet Speed Skating

Of the 12 medals on the table for the women’s speed skating events, the Soviet women won 6 of them—including 3 golds and 2 silvers. Skoblikova won 2 golds, of course, and she was joined by Klara Guseva in the winner’s circle (1,000m). Germany and Poland each won 2 medals in the sport, but the Soviets rolled.