 |
Sapporo, Japan
XIth WINTER GAMES |
February
3 - 13, 1972 |
Mascot - none |
35
countries, 1006 athletes (206 women) |
6 sports, 35 events |
Opening -
Emperor Hirohito |
Torch lit by -
Hideki Takada |
Candidates:
Banff, Lahti/Are (FIN), Salt Lake City |
This was the first time for the
East. The eleventh edition of the Olympics was held in Sapporo, Japan. Sapporo originally was scheduled
to be the site of the 1940 Winter Games, but Japan resigned as the
Games' host nation after its 1937 invasion of China. Organizers of the
Sapporo Winter Olympics turned a tidy profit for the Games, largely as a
result of their take of the record $8.47 million for the broadcast
rights.
In return for the Olympic flame
to the East, the Japanese invested a fortune in facilities and
structures in Sapporo, a city with over 1,500,000 inhabitants, capital
of the Hokkaido island. For the occasion, in addition to the stadiums,
an airport, a tunnel under the sea and an underground railway were
constructed. Two of the most pernicious phenomena related to the games became more
pronounced: economic giantism and risky political implications.
The Austrian downhill skier Karl Schranz, one of the most famous athletes of all time, was accused of
professionalism and excluded from the contest. Canada pulled out of the ice
hockey competition over a dispute over the amateur status of many of the
hockey players. The Canadians felt that so-called state-sponsored East
European teams were in fact professional in nature, and believed that
they too should be allowed to send their best to the Olympics.
Japanese athletes took the chance to
perform in front of their home crowds, and dazzled with a complete medal
sweep of the 70-meter ski-jumping event.
Among the other sensational stars
of the Games were Dutch speed skater Ard Schenk, who won three gold
medals and nearly missed a fourth when he tripped in the 500m, Soviet
cross-county skier Galina Kulakova swept all three women's events, and
Swiss teen-ager Marie-Theres Nadig upset all favorites to win both the
downhill and giant slalom. In the slalom, American Barbara Ann Cochran
took America's first alpine gold since 1952.
The U.S. hockey team managed to
claim a silver behind the invincible Soviets, who once again took gold.
The Canadians and Swedes boycotted the hockey competition to protest
what they felt were unfair definitions of professionals. NHL players
were not allowed to play in the Olympics, however the Eastern-Bloc
countries' professionals were allowed to play.
The Soviets returned to the top
of the medals table with 16.
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1924
1928
1932
1936
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010 |
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6
sports, 35 events |
U
R
S |
G
D
R |
S
U
I |
N
E
D |
U
S
A |
F
R
G |
N
O
R |
I
T
A |
A
U
T |
S
W
E |
J
P
N |
T
C
H |
P
O
L |
E
S
P |
|
BIATHLON |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
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|
|
2 |
BOBSLEIGH |
|
|
1 |
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
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|
2 |
ICE HOCKEY |
1 |
|
|
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|
1 |
LUGE |
|
3 |
|
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|
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|
1 |
|
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|
4* |
SKATING |
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Figure Skating |
1 |
|
|
|
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|
|
|
1 |
|
|
1 |
|
|
3 |
Speed Skating |
|
|
|
4 |
2 |
2 |
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8 |
SKIING |
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Alpine Skiing |
|
|
3 |
|
1 |
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
6 |
Cross-Country Skiing |
5 |
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
7 |
Nordic Combined |
|
1 |
|
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|
1 |
Ski Jumping |
|
|
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|
|
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|
|
|
|
1 |
|
1 |
|
2 |
TOTAL |
8 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
36 |
* 2 gold medals
awarded in Men's Luge - Doubles
GOLD MEDAL
WINNERS
(All events same as 1968)
(22 Men, 12 Women, 1 Combined)
|
BIATHLON
M\20km: Magnar Solberg, Norway
M\4x7.5km Relay: Soviet Union
BOBSLEIGH
M\Two-Man: Wolfgang Zimmerer/Peter Utzschneider, West Germany
M\Four-Man: Switzerland
ICE HOCKEY
Men's Team: Soviet Union
LUGE
M\Single: Wolfgang Scheidel, East Germany
M\Double: Horst Hornlein/Reinhard Bredow, GDR & Paul
Hildgartner/Walter Plaikner, ITA
W\Single: Anna-Maria MÜLLER, East Germany |
SKIING
ALPINE SKIING
M\Downhill: Bernhard Russi, Switzerland
M\Slalom: Francisco Fernandez Ochoa, Spain
M\Giant Slalom: Gustav Thoni, Italy
W\Downhill: Marie-Theres Nadig, Switzerland
W\Slalom: Barbara Cochran, United States
W\Giant Slalom: Marie-Theres Nadig, Switzerland
CROSS-COUNTRY
SKIING
M\15km Classical: Sven-Ake LUNDBÄCK, Sweden
M\30km Classical: Vyacheslav Vedenin, USSR
M\50km Classical: Paal Tyldum, Norway
M\4x10km Relay: Soviet Union
W\5km Classical: Galina Kulakova, USSR
W\10km Classical: Galina Kulakokva, USSR
W\3x5km Relay: Soviet Union
NORDIC COMBINED
M\Individual: Ulrich Wehling, East Germany
SKI JUMPING
M\K-90 Individual: Yukio Kasaya, Japan
M\K-120 Individual: Wojciech Fortuna, Poland
|
|
SKATING
FIGURE SKATING
M\Singles: Ondrej Nepela, Czechoslovakia
W\Singles: Beatrix Schuba, Austria
Pairs: Irina Rodnina/Aleksei Ulanov, USSR
SPEED SKATING
M\500m: Erhard Keller, West Germany
M\1500m: Adrianus Schenk, Netherlands
M\5000m: Adrianus Schenk, Netherlands
M\10000m: Adrianus Schenk, Netherlands
W\500m: Anne Henning, United States
W\1000m: Monika Pflug, West Germany
W\1500m: Dianne Holum, United States
W\3000m: Christina Baas-Kaiser, Netherlands |
|
Country
|
G
|
S |
B |
TTL |
USSR |
8 |
5 |
3 |
16 |
East
Germany |
4 |
3 |
7 |
14 |
Switzerland |
4 |
3 |
3 |
10 |
Netherlands |
4 |
3 |
2 |
9 |
United
States |
3 |
2 |
3 |
8 |
West
Germany |
3 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
Norway |
2 |
5 |
5 |
12 |
Italy |
2 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
Austria |
1 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
Sweden |
1 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
Japan |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
Czechoslovakia |
1 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
Poland |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
Spain |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
Finland |
0 |
4 |
1 |
5 |
France |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Canada |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
TOTAL
|
36 |
34 |
35 |
105 |
|