Alpine skiing at the 1976 Winter Olympics – Men's downhill

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Men's downhill
at the XII Olympic Winter Games
Alpine skiing pictogram.svg
Venue Patscherkofel
Tyrol, Austria
Date5 February 1976
Competitors74 from 27 nations
Winning time1:45.73
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Franz Klammer Flag of Austria.svg  Austria
Silver medal icon.svg Bernhard Russi Flag of Switzerland.svg  Switzerland
Bronze medal icon.svg Herbert Plank Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
  1972
1980  
Men's Downhill
Patscherkofel vm01.jpg
Location Patscherkofel
Vertical   870 m (2,854 ft)
Top elevation1,950 m (6,398 ft)  
Base elevation1,080 m (3,543 ft)
Austria relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Patscherkofel

The Men's Downhill competition of the 1976 Winter Olympics at Innsbruck, Austria, was held at Patscherkofel on Thursday, 5 February, [1] [2] [3] on the same course as in 1964. [4]

The defending world champion was David Zwilling of Austria, who had recently retired; Bernhard Russi of Switzerland was the defending Olympic champion. Franz Klammer of Austria was the defending World Cup downhill champion and led the current season; [5] [6] he had also won the pre-Olympic World Cup downhill at Patcherkofel a year earlier in January 1975.

Klammer won the gold medal, Russi took the silver, and Herbert Plank of Italy was the bronze medalist. [1] [2] [7]

The starting gate was at an elevation of 1,950 m (6,398 ft) above sea level, with a vertical drop of 870 m (2,854 ft). [3] The course length was 3.020 km (1.88 mi) and Klammer's famous winning run resulted in an average speed of 102.828 km/h (63.9 mph), with an average vertical descent rate of 8.2285 m/s (27.0 ft/s), significantly faster than previous Olympic downhills. At age 22, the win elevated him to an international celebrity and he was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. [7]

Egon Zimmermann, also of Austria, took the gold medal a dozen years earlier in the 1964 Olympic downhill. His winning time was 2:18.16, more than a half-minute behind Klammer's.

Through 2022, no Olympic men's downhill champion has repeated; Russi remains the sole defender to medal.

Results

RankBibNameCountryTimeDifference
Gold medal icon.svg15 Franz Klammer Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 1:45.73
Silver medal icon.svg3 Bernhard Russi Flag of Switzerland.svg  Switzerland 1:46.06+0.33
Bronze medal icon.svg8 Herbert Plank Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1:46.59+0.86
411 Philippe Roux Flag of Switzerland.svg  Switzerland 1:46.69+0.96
510 Ken Read Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 1:46.83+1.10
619 Andy Mill Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:47.06+1.33
729 Walter Tresch Flag of Switzerland.svg  Switzerland 1:47.29+1.56
813 Dave Irwin Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 1:47.41+1.68
96 Sepp Walcher Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 1:47.45+1.72
105 Jim Hunter Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 1:47.52+1.79
1130 Greg Jones Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:47.84+2.11
121 René Berthod Flag of Switzerland.svg  Switzerland 1:47.89+2.16
1322 Pete Patterson Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:47.94+2.21
1421 Rolando Thoeni Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1:48.13+2.40
1520 Peter Fischer Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 1:48.18+2.45
1624 Patrice Pellat-Finet Flag of France.svg  France 1:48.34+2.61
1725 Sepp Ferstl Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 1:48.41+2.68
1828 Dave Murray Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 1:48.43+2.70
194 Klaus Eberhard Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 1:48.45+2.72
2042 Sumihiro Tomii Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 1:48.88+3.15
2116 Willi Frommelt Flag of Liechtenstein (1937-1982).svg  Liechtenstein 1:48.92+3.19
2231 David Griff Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:49.02+3.29
2 Michael Veith Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany
2427 Karl Anderson Flag of the United States.svg  United States 1:49.08+3.35
259 Erik Håker Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 1:49.19+3.46
2614 Gustavo Thoeni Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1:49.25+3.52
2718 Mikio Katagiri Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 1:50.03+4.30
2838 Andreas Wenzel Flag of Liechtenstein (1937-1982).svg  Liechtenstein 1:50.08+4.35
2946 Wolfgang Junginger Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 1:50.48+4.75
3037 Alan Stewart Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 1:50.56+4.83
3144 Luis Rosenkjer Flag of Argentina (1861-2010).svg  Argentina 1:50.87+5.14
3234 Stuart Fitzsimmons Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 1:50.89+5.16
3345 Bohumír Zeman Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 1:51.27+5.54
3435 Kim Clifford Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1:51.64+5.91
3517 Francisco Fernández Ochoa Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain 1:51.91+6.18
3636 Juan Manuel Fernández Ochoa Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain 1:52.40+6.67
3743 Andrej Koželj Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg  Yugoslavia 1:52.75+7.02
33 Peter Fuchs Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain
3939 Juan Angel Olivieri Flag of Argentina (1861-2010).svg  Argentina 1:52.76+7.03
4055 Miloslav Sochor Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 1:53.48+7.75
4132 Jaime Ros Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain 1:53.50+7.77
4259 Jorge García Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain 1:53.55+7.82
4358 Didier Xhaet Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 1:53.56+7.83
4449 Vladimir Andreyev Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 1:53.61+7.88
4541 Robert Blanchaer Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 1:54.30+8.57
4640 Ajdin Pašović Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg  Yugoslavia 1:54.57+8.84
4754 Carlos Alberto Martínez Flag of Argentina (1861-2010).svg  Argentina 1:54.62+8.89
4856Ivan PenevFlag of Bulgaria (1971-1990).svg  Bulgaria 1:55.56+9.83
4974 Dan Cristea Flag of Romania (1965-1989).svg  Romania 1:55.63+9.90
5070 Georgi Kochov Flag of Bulgaria (1971-1990).svg  Bulgaria 1:55.82+10.09
5147 José Luis Koifman Flag of Chile.svg  Chile 1:56.30+10.57
5250 Roman Dereziński Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 1:56.33+10.60
5367 Stuart Blakely Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 1:57.91+12.18
5452 Antoine Crespo Flag of Andorra.svg  Andorra 1:58.72+12.99
5553 Gorban Ali Kalhor State Flag of Iran (1964-1980).svg  Iran 1:59.15+13.42
5662 Mohammad Hadj Kia Shemshaki State Flag of Iran (1964-1980).svg  Iran 1:59.44+13.71
5768 Ion Cavaşi Flag of Romania (1965-1989).svg  Romania 2:00.19+14.46
5861 Akbar Kalili State Flag of Iran (1964-1980).svg  Iran 2:00.32+14.59
5975 Rafael Cañas Flag of Chile.svg  Chile 2:00.39+14.66
6069 Brett Kendall Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2:00.57+14.84
6163 Fernando Reutter Flag of Chile.svg  Chile 2:01.19+15.46
6264 Carlos Font Flag of Andorra.svg  Andorra 2:01.75+16.02
6365 Ahmet Kıbıl Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 2:03.74+18.01
6473 Mümtaz Demirhan Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 2:06.01+20.28
6571 Thomas Karadimas Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 2:14.69+28.96
6666 Spyros Theodorou Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 2:17.08+31.35
-60 Robin Armstrong Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand DNF-
-57 Mohammad Kalhor State Flag of Iran (1964-1980).svg  Iran DNF-
-51 Xavier Areny Flag of Andorra.svg  Andorra DNF-
-48 Adrián Roncallo Flag of Argentina (1861-2010).svg  Argentina DNF-
-26 Konrad Bartelski Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain DNF-
-23 Rob McIntyre Flag of Australia.svg  Australia DNF-
-12 Anton Steiner Flag of Austria.svg  Austria DNF-
-7 Erwin Stricker Flag of Italy.svg  Italy DNF-
-72Murat TosunFlag of Turkey.svg  Turkey DNS-
Source: [3]

References

  1. 1 2 "Skier, skater, give U.S. silver". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. 5 February 1976. p. 1C.
  2. 1 2 Myers, Morley (February 5, 1976). "Austrian ace Klammer wins downhill". Nashua Telegraph. (New Hampshire). UPI. p. 21.
  3. 1 2 3 "Final Report - XII. Olympische Winterspiele Innsbruck 1976" (PDF). Organizing Committee for the XIIth Winter Olympic Games 1976. LA84 Foundation. 1976. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  4. "Alpine Skiing at the 1976 Innsbruck Winter Games: Men's Downhill". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  5. "1975 World Cup standings". FIS. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  6. "1974 World Championships results". FIS. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  7. 1 2 Johnson, William Oscar (16 February 1976). "On came the heroes". Sports Illustrated. p. 10.