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1972 Sapporo

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Relive the moments that went down in history at the 1972 winter Olympics in Sapporo. Access official videos, results, galleries, sport and athletes.

Sapporo 1972 Winter Olympics - Athletes, Medals & Results

Sapporo 1972

Netherlands

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Soviet Union

Galina

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Japan

Yukio

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Switzerland

Marie-Theres

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Sapporo 1972 Featured Athletes

Shinoda treats his material with a dignified grace that renders his documentary one of the most aesthetically pleasing of all Olympic films. Sapporo is in Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan, and the snow and winter chill ensure that the Winter Games live up to their name. While Dutch and Swiss athletes triumphed in certain disciplines, the Japanese won all three medals in the normal hill ski jumping. The figure skating is transformed into an interlude of beauty, with swans in flight superimposed over the skaters during their routines. During the finale, Toru Takemitsu's music enhances the suspense surrounding the large hill ski jumping competition.

**Masahiro Shinoda | 1972 | 167' |2013 IOC Restored version**

Official Films

Originals

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Sapporo 1972 Official Film | Sapporo Winter Olympics

On the slopes of Mount Eniwa on 7 February 1972, Bernhard Russi won the downhill skiing gold at the Olympic Winter Games. This success represented the pinnacle of the career of a man who subsequently went on to design every Olympic downhill course since 1988. As part of our Words of Olympians series, the Swiss Alpine skiing legend takes us back 42 years to relive the one minute and 51 seconds of his triumphant run in Sapporo.

Bernhard RUSSI

Sapporo 1972 | Olympic Winter games

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Bernhard Russi relives his triumphant run in Sapporo

From having to learn to walk again to double Olympian, Canadian alpine skier Jim Hunter explains what inspired him to fight back.

Jim HUNTER

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In Their Own Words: 'Jungle' Jim Hunter's journey to skiing stardom

A surprise slalom gold medallist in 1972, Francisco Fernandez Ochoa remains the only Spanish athlete to top a podium at a Winter Games.

On The Line

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Humble Roots to National Hero | Sapporo 1972

It would be an understatement to say that the people of Hokkaidō \(the northern Japanese island where Sapporo is located\), not to mention the country as a whole, were expecting great things of the ski jumpers, all of whom were from the region, as they prepared to take part in

Historic gold and legendary podium sweep for Japan’s ski jumpers at Sapporo 1972

Sapporo 1972 - Overview Mosaic

Relay Sapporo 1972

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2nd March 1972:  L-R: British skiers Valentina Iliffe, Carol Blackwood, Gina Hathorne and Divina Galica of the women's Olympic team pose in a row on a ski slope in Sapporo, Japan, Winter Olympic Games.  (Photo by Express/Express/Getty Images)

Ski Team

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Marie-Theres Nadig (SUI)

Japanese ice skater Tomoo Kurosawa arrives at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo carrying the Olympic Flame during a rehearsal for the Sapporo Winter Olympics, 11th January 1972. The last batch of torches were defective, causing the flame to die during the relay, and have had to be replaced. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Olympic Flame

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Sapporo 1972 Overview Replays

### Amateur Controversy

The subject of amateurism stirred controversy at the Sapporo 1972 Games. Austrian skier Karl Schranz was declared ineligible because he had allowed his name and photo to be used in commercial advertising, but full-time ice hockey players from communist nations were allowed to compete.

### Japan’s Jump Joy

Before the Sapporo Games, Japan had never won a gold medal in the Olympic Winter Games. But in the normal hill ski-jumping event, Yukio Kasaya led from start to finish to claim gold. His team-mates Akitsugu Konno and Seiji Aochi won the silver and bronze to complete the Japanese clean sweep.

### Sapporo 1972 Winter Olympic Games Legacy

[Discover the lasting legacy](https://olympics.com/ioc/legacy/sapporo-1972-legacies-all) that this edition of the Olympic Games created for its hosts.

### Triple Champions

Cross country skier Galina Kulakova of the USSR won the 5km and 10km events and anchored the Soviet relay team to victory. Ard Schenk of the Netherlands won three speed skating golds in convincing fashion. Such was his popularity in the Netherlands that a flower was named in his honour: Crocus chrysanthus Ard Schenk.

### Spanish First

The biggest surprise of the Games was the victory of 21-year-old "Paquito" Fernandez Ochoa, who won the slalom by a full second. His gold medal was the first ever to be won by a Spanish athlete in the Olympic Winter Games.

**NOCs:** 35

**Athletes:** 1,006 (205 women, 801 men)

**Events:** 35

**Volunteers:** N/A

**Media:** N/A

### Important Work

An enormous amount of work had to be done to carve out ski and bobsleigh runs in the mountainside.

### The Hockey Competitions With Canada Missing

The hockey tournament took place without the Canadian team, who had not been taking part in international competitions since 1969. They did not send a team to Sapporo to protest against the covert professionalism rife in the USSR and Eastern Europe.

### The First Olympic Games in Asia

These were the first Olympic Winter Games organised in Asia.

### Ceremonies

Sapporo 1972. Opening Ceremony. Arrival of the Olympic Flame.

#### Official Opening of the Games by:

His Majesty Emperor Hirohito

#### Lighting the Olympic Flame by:

Hideki Takada (school boy)

#### Olympic Oath by:

Keiichi Suzuki (speed skating)

#### Officials' Oath by:

Fumio Asaki

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Olympic Winter Games Sapporo 1972

Sapporo 1972

Sapporo 1972 Official Film | Sapporo Winter Olympics

Bernhard Russi relives his triumphant run in Sapporo

In Their Own Words: 'Jungle' Jim Hunter's journey to skiing stardom

Humble Roots to National Hero | Sapporo 1972

Historic gold and legendary podium sweep for Japan’s ski jumpers at Sapporo 1972

About the Games

Amateur Controversy

Japan’s Jump Joy

Sapporo 1972 Winter Olympic Games Legacy

Triple Champions

Spanish First

Important Work

The Hockey Competitions With Canada Missing

The First Olympic Games in Asia

Ceremonies

Official Opening of the Games by:

Lighting the Olympic Flame by:

Olympic Oath by:

Officials' Oath by:

Medal Table

Featured Athletes

ard schenk

galina kulakova

yukio kasaya

marie-theres nadig

Replays from
Sapporo 1972

Humble Roots to National Hero | Sapporo 1972

Discover the Games

The Brand

The Medals

The Torch