Alpine skiing at the 1972 Winter Olympics

Alpine skiing
at the XI Olympic Winter Games
VenueMount Eniwa (downhill) and Teine
Hokkaidō, Japan
DatesFebruary 5–13, 1972
Competitors144 from 27 nations
Alpine skiing at the
1972 Winter Olympics
Downhill men women
Giant slalom men women
Slalom men women

Alpine skiing at the 1972 Winter Olympics consisted of six events, held near Sapporo, Japan, from February 5–13, 1972. The downhills were held at Mount Eniwa, and the four technical events at Teine.[1][2]

Medal summary

Six nations won medals in Alpine skiing; Switzerland led in medals with three gold, two silver, and a bronze. Switzerland's Marie-Theres Nadig led the individual medal table, with two gold medals. The top men's medalist was Gustav Thöni of Italy with a gold and a silver.

The gold medal won in the slalom by Francisco Fernández Ochoa was the first medal for Spain at the Winter Olympics. As of 2010, it remains the only gold medal won by the country at the Winter Games.

Medal table

 Rank  Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  Switzerland (SUI) 3 2 1 6
2  Italy (ITA) 1 1 1 3
3  United States (USA) 1 0 1 1
4  Spain (ESP) 1 0 0 1
5  Austria (AUT) 0 2 2 4
6  France (FRA) 0 1 1 2

Source:[2]

Men's events

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Downhill
 Bernhard Russi
Switzerland (SUI)
1:51.43  Roland Collombin
Switzerland (SUI)
1:52.07  Heini Messner
Austria (AUT)
1:52.40
Giant slalom
 Gustav Thöni
Italy (ITA)
3:09.62  Edy Bruggmann
Switzerland (SUI)
3:10.75  Werner Mattle
Switzerland (SUI)
3:10.99
Slalom
 Francisco Fernández Ochoa
Spain (ESP)
1:49.27   Gustav Thöni
Italy (ITA)
1:50.28  Rolando Thöni
Italy (ITA)
1:50.30

Source:[2]

Women's events

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Downhill
 Marie-Theres Nadig
Switzerland (SUI)
1:36.68  Annemarie Moser-Pröll
Austria (AUT)
1:37.00  Susan Corrock
United States (USA)
1:37.68
Giant slalom
 Marie-Theres Nadig
Switzerland (SUI)
1:29.90  Annemarie Moser-Pröll
Austria (AUT)
1:30.75  Wiltrud Drexel
Austria (AUT)
1:32.35
Slalom
 Barbara Cochran
United States (USA)
1:31.24  Danièle Debernard
France (FRA)
1:31.26  Florence Steurer
France (FRA)
1:32.69

Source:[2]

Course information

Date Race Start
Elevation
Finish
Elevation
Vertical
Drop
Course
Length
Average
Gradient
Mon 7-Feb  Downhill – men 1,126 m (3,694 ft)   354 m (1,161 ft)  772 m (2,533 ft)  2.636 km (1.638 mi) 29.3%
Sat 5-Feb  Downhill – women 870 m (2,854 ft)   336 m (1,102 ft)  534 m (1,752 ft)  2.108 km (1.310 mi) 25.3%
Wed 9-Feb  Giant Slalom – men  (1st run) 952 m (3,123 ft)   550 m (1,804 ft)  402 m (1,319 ft)  1.075 km (0.668 mi) 37.4%
Thu 10-Feb  Giant Slalom – men  (2nd run) 952 m (3,123 ft)   550 m (1,804 ft)  402 m (1,319 ft)  1.089 km (0.677 mi) 36.9%
Tue 8-Feb  Giant Slalom – women 982 m (3,222 ft)   625 m (2,051 ft)  357 m (1,171 ft)  1.232 km (0.766 mi) 29.0%
Sun 13-Feb  Slalom – men  (2 runs) 795 m (2,608 ft)   567 m (1,860 ft)  228 m (748 ft)  0.531 km (0.330 mi) 42.9%
Fri 11-Feb  Slalom – women  (2 runs) 751 m (2,464 ft)   567 m (1,860 ft)  184 m (604 ft)  0.449 km (0.279 mi) 34.3%

Source:[2]

Participating nations

Twenty-seven nations sent alpine skiers to compete in the events in Innsbruck. The Philippines and Chinese Taipei made their Olympic alpine skiing debuts. Below is a list of the competing nations; in parentheses are the number of national competitors. [2]

World championships

From 1948 through 1980, the alpine skiing events at the Winter Olympics also served as the World Championships, held every two years. With the addition of the giant slalom, the combined event was dropped for 1950 and 1952, but returned as a World Championship event in 1954 as a "paper race" which used the results from the three events. During the Olympics from 1956 through 1980, World Championship medals were awarded by the FIS for the combined event. The combined returned as a separate event at the World Championships in 1982 and at the Olympics in 1988.

Combined

Men's Combined

Medal Athlete   Points   DH GS SL
1st Italy Gustav Thöni (ITA) 21.12 13 1st 2nd
2nd  Switzerland  Walter Tresch (SUI) 46.98 6 14 13
3rd Canada Jim Hunter (CAN) 86.41 20 11 19
4 Canada Reto Barrington (CAN)   122.66 32 20 23
5 Australia Malcolm Milne (AUS) 134.70 23 29 24
6 Romania Virgil Brenci (ROM) 177.58 48 33 20

Women's Combined

Medal Athlete   Points   DH GS SL
1st Austria Annemarie Moser-Pröll (AUT) 25.64 2nd 2nd 5
2nd France Florence Steurer (FRA) 59.51 23 6 3rd
3rd Norway Toril Førland (NOR) 80.95 11 17 9
4 Austria Monika Kaserer (AUT) 82.71 30 13 7
5 Canada Laurie Kreiner (CAN) 83.10 20 4 12
6 United Kingdom Gina Hathorn (GBR) 86.39 25 14 11

References

  1. de.wikipedia.org - Olympische Winterspiele 1972/Ski Alpin - (in German)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "The XI Olympic Winter Games Sapporo 1972" (PDF). Organizing Committee for the XIth Olympic Winter Games. LA84 Foundation. 1972. Retrieved January 3, 2014.

External links