The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the XI Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Sapporo 1972, was a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside Europe and North America.
Super giant slalom, or super-G, is a racing discipline of alpine skiing. Along with the faster downhill, it is regarded as a "speed" event, in contrast to the technical events giant slalom and slalom. It debuted as an official World Cup event during the 1983 season and was added to the official schedule of the World Championships in 1987 and the Winter Olympics in 1988.
Hermann Maier is an Austrian former World Cup champion alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist. Nicknamed the "Herminator", Maier ranks among the greatest alpine ski racers in history, with four overall World Cup titles, two Olympic gold medals, and three World Championship titles. His 54 World Cup race victories – 24 super-G, 15 downhills, 14 giant slaloms, and 1 combined – rank third on the men's all-time list behind Ingemar Stenmark's 86 victories and Marcel Hirscher's 67 victories. As of 2013, he holds the record for the most points in one season by a male alpine skier, with 2000 points from the 2000 season. From 2000–2013 he also held the title of most points in one season by any alpine skier, until Tina Maze scored 2414 points in the 2013 season.
Verena "Vreni" Schneider is a retired ski racer from Switzerland. She is the most successful alpine ski racer of her country, the fourth most successful female ski racer ever and was voted "Swiss Sportswoman of the Century".
Marc Girardelli is an Austrian–Luxembourger former alpine ski racer, a five-time World Cup overall champion who excelled in all five alpine disciplines.
Renate Götschl is an Austrian former alpine ski racer. She is a two-time individual World Champion in the combined (1997) and downhill (1999), and has won a total of 9 World Championships medals. She also won two Olympic medals in 2002, the bronze medal in downhill and the silver medal in the combined.
Annemarie Moser-Pröll is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Austria. Born in Kleinarl, Salzburg, she was the most successful female alpine ski racer during the 1970s, with an all-time women's record of six overall titles, including five consecutively. She had most success in downhill, giant slalom and combined races. In 1980, her last year as a competitor, she secured her third Olympic medal at Lake Placid and won five World Cup races. Her younger sister Cornelia Pröll is also a former alpine Olympian.
Alpine skiing at the 1972 Winter Olympics consisted of six events, held February 5–13 near Sapporo, Japan. The downhills were held at Mount Eniwa, and the four technical events at Teine.
Marie-Theres Nadig is a retired Swiss alpine skier.
Petra Kronberger is an Austrian former alpine skier, who participated in all disciplines. She was the first female alpine skier to win in all five World Cup events.
The 6th World Cup season began in December 1971 in Switzerland and concluded in March 1972 in France. Gustav Thöni of Italy won his second of three consecutive overall titles. Annemarie Pröll of Austria won the women's overall title, her second of five consecutive.
Marcel Hirscher is an Austrian former World Cup alpine ski racer. Hirscher made his World Cup debut in March 2007. He competed primarily in slalom and giant slalom, as well as combined and occasionally in super G. Winner of a record eight consecutive World Cup titles, Hirscher has also won 11 medals at the Alpine Skiing World Championships, seven of them gold, a silver medal in slalom at the 2014 Winter Olympics, and two gold medals in the combined and giant slalom at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Due to his record number of overall titles and many years of extreme dominance of both slalom and giant slalom, he is considered by many, including his former rivals Henrik Kristoffersen, Kjetil Jansrud and Alexis Pinturault, to be the best alpine skier in history. He won a total of 67 World Cup races, ranking second on the male all-time list.
The Women's downhill competition of the Lake Placid 1980 Olympics was held at Whiteface Mountain on Sunday, February 17.
The Women's downhill competition of the Innsbruck 1976 Olympics was held at Axamer Lizum on Sunday, 8 February.
The Women's giant slalom competition of the Innsbruck 1976 Olympics was held at Axamer Lizum on Friday, 13 February.
The Men's Downhill competition of the Sapporo 1972 Olympics was held at Mount Eniwa on Monday, February 7.
The Men's giant slalom competition of the Sapporo 1972 Olympics was held at Teine on Wednesday, February 9, and Thursday, February 10.
The Men's slalom competition of the Sapporo 1972 Olympics was held at Teine.
The Women's downhill competition of the Sapporo 1972 Olympics was held at Mount Eniwa on Saturday, February 5.
The Women's slalom competition of the 1972 Winter Olympics at Sapporo, Japan, was held at Teine on Friday, February 11.
