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, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside Europe and North America.
Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline. It involves skiing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in slalom but less than in Super-G.
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.
Alpine skiing has been contested at every Winter Olympics since 1936, when a combined event was held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
Combined is an event in alpine ski racing. A traditional combined competition consists of one run of downhill and two runs of slalom, each discipline runs on separate days. The winner is the skier with the fastest aggregate time. A modified version, the super combined, is a speed race and only one run of slalom, with both portions scheduled on the same day.
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.
Francisco "Paquito" Fernández Ochoa was a World Cup alpine ski racer from Spain. Born in Madrid and raised north of the city in Cercedilla, he was the eldest of eight children whose father ran a ski school. Paquito raced in all of the alpine disciplines and specialized in slalom.
Monika Kaserer is a former Austrian alpine skier.
For the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan, a total of twelve sports venues were used. A thirteenth venue which was a reserved luge course was constructed, but never used in actual competition. Construction on all but of the venues used took place between 1968 and early 1971 in time for the test events. The Tsuskisamu Indoor Skating Rink was not completed until late 1971 or early 1972 because the number of teams scheduled to compete at the 1972 Games was not known. At the actual luge venue used, a malfunctioning starting gate during the first run led to the results being cancelled and rerun being ordered. The results of this event led to the only tie in Olympic luge history. The ski jumps at Miyanomori and Okurayama served as host venues for the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships thirty-five years later.
For the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, a total of fifteen sports venues were used. Nagano had attempted twice to host the Winter Olympics, losing out to Sapporo, host of the 1972 Winter Olympics. The third time, in 1991, Nagano edged out Salt Lake City to host the 1998 Games. The biathlon venue was adjusted in accordance with the Washington Convention over endangered species. The biggest venue controversy was at Happo'one resort on the length of the men's downhill and the battle that ensued to the point where skiing officials threatened to pull the event entirely before a compromise was reached three months before the Olympics. M-Wave has hosted three World Speed Skating Championships since the Olympics, while the Spiral has hosted a couple of world championships in bobsleigh, luge and skeleton.
Jim Hunter, nicknamed "Jungle Jim", is a Canadian former alpine ski racer who represented Canada at two Winter Olympic Games in 1972 and 1976, and won a bronze medal in the 1972 World Championships. He was a member of the Canadian Men's Alpine Ski Team nicknamed the "Crazy Canucks", and is considered to be the original Crazy Canuck.
Sapporo Teine (サッポロテイネ) is a recreational center in Teine-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. It comprises many facilities, such as the ski resort, the Teineyama Ropeway, and the Sapporo Teine Golf Club fields.
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 giant slalom competition of the Sapporo 1972 Olympics was held at Teine on Tuesday, February 8.
The Women's slalom competition of the 1972 Winter Olympics at Sapporo, Japan, was held at Teine on Friday, February 11.
Ryan Cochran-Siegle is an American World Cup alpine ski racer and a member of the Skiing Cochrans family. Cochran-Siegle specializes in giant slalom and super-G, and also races in downhill and combined. He made his World Cup debut on 26 November 2011. He debuted at the Winter Olympics in 2018, and in 2022, he won a silver medal in Super-G at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
James "Jack" Crawford is a Canadian World Cup alpine ski racer. He specializes in super-G, and also competes in giant slalom, downhill, and combined.
Italy competed at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1972 in Sapporo, Japan, from 2 to 18 February 1972.
