1972 Olympics

The 1972 Winter Olympics, also known as the XI Olympic Winter Games, is a multi-sport winter event held in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan from February 3rd to February 13th, 1972. This became the first Winter Games to be hosted outside of Europe and North America, and after Melbourne and Tokyo only the third game became contested in those areas. Originally Sapporo secured the right to host the 1940 Winter Olympics but after his 1937 occupation of China, Japan resigned as host of the Games. In the end the games of 1940 were abandoned. Until then, the games have been organised by all the cities which granted games that were postponed due to war. Banff, Lahti, and Salt rivalled Sapporo The Games were debated at the 64th IOC Conference on April 26, 1966, held in Rome, Italy. The Japanese designed new large-scale buildings at Sapporo in anticipation, and held a trial run a full year ahead of the Olympics. An foreign sport week was arranged in February 1971 to assess the goals of the city as well as test its public mettle and hospitality, and this effort was recognised as "total success" by Olympic observers. Developing new facilities has proved to be a big boost for the Sapporo economy: by the time of the Games, the regional government had spent some $500 million in upgrading The Games organisers themselves made a respectable profit in part because they set a record of $8.47 million in broadcast rights. American Barbara Ann Cochran, one of three U.S. brothers on the Women's Alpine Skiing Team, shocked the world and became the first American woman to win a Gold Medal on Skiing when Andrea Mead Lawrence put first in the Slalom with an impressive first run followed by an even better second. Swiss almost obscure Marie-Thérès Nadig won both downhill and giant slalom competitions in alpine skiing. Norway's Magnar Solberg became the first repeat winner of the individual 20 km biathlon event, having placed first in Grenoble. Spain won first slalom skier Francisco Fernández Ochoa gold cup. American speedskaters Anne Henning and Dianne Holum made the greatest Winter Games triumph for the United States, winning two gold, one silver and one bronze respectively. Controversy over amateur status erupted three days before the Olympics, when IOC president Avery Brundage threatened to disqualify 40 funded alpine skiers and other deals. As an example, Austrian skier Karl Schranz, who earned more than $50,000 per annum from ski manufacturers, was disqualified. Meanwhile, Canada has declined to send an ice hockey team, claiming that the Communist nations 'top ice hockey teams are free to participate without restriction. Such Games are, as a historical fact, the last at which a skier has captured the gold medal using all-wooden skis. At the moment, top-level cross-country skiers used skis mostly made from synthetic fibreglass. All three women's cross-country ski contests were claimed by Galina Kulakova, who is based in the USSR. In speed skating the Dutch skater Ard Schenk has won three gold medals. Luge had his only tie in the history of the men's doubles event in Winter Olympics. The 1972 Winter Olympics featured 35 countries. The Republic of China and the Philippines were participating in their first Olympic Winters. American skater Janet Lynn won not only a bronze medal at the women's skating event, but also a huge reputation among Japanese audiences due to her free artistic programme when she featured on the cover of picture books released in Japan by "Olympic Winter Games, Sapporo 1972" and also on Japanese Television. Japan had earned a gold medal at the Winter Olympics until those events. Fans of Sapporo's host nation were excited when three Japanese competitors, led by Yukio Kasaya, swept the 70-meter gold, silver, and bronze ski jumping event; these will also be Japan's only medals to earn at these Olympics.