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Line 19: The '''1972 [[Winter Olympics]]''', officially known as the '''XI Olympic Winter Games''', were celebrated in [[1972]] in [[Sapporo]], [[Japan]]. It was the first Winter Olympics to be held outside Western Europe and the USA, and only the 4th Games (summer or winter) held outside of the above mentioned regions, after [[Melbourne]], [[Tokyo]] and [[Mexico City]]. The [[city]] won the rights to those games in [[1966]]. Sapporo first won the rights to host the Winter Olympics in 1940, but Japan resigned as the Games' host nation after its 1937 invasion of China. With a record $8.47 million for broadcast rights among other reasons, the organizers of the Sapporo Games turned a healthy profit.<ref name=Washington>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/longterm/olympics1998/history/years/1972.htm Washington Post]</ref> ==Highlights== *Japan had never won a gold medal in the Winter Olympics. The host country shone in Sapporo when three Japanese jumpers, led by [[Yukio Kasaya]], swept the ski jump for gold, silver, and bronze. *[[Galina Kulakova]] of the USSR won all three cross-country skiing events for women. *Dutch skater [[Ard Schenk]] won three golds medals in speed skating. *In Alpine skiing, virtual unknown Swiss Marie-Thérès Nadig won both the downhill and the giant slalom events. *[[Magnar Solberg]] from Norway was the first repeat winner in the individual 20km biathlon event.<ref>[http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/index_uk.asp?OLGT=2&OLGY=1972 www.Olympic.org]</ref><!--The first five highlights are all from this reference--> *Spain scored its first Winter gold medal courtesy of slalom skier Francisco Fernandez Ochoa. *American speedskaters [[Anne Henning]] and Diane Holum made the US's best showing in the Winter Games, winning two gold, a silver, and a bronze.<ref name=Washington/><!-- The Spain and US highlights are from the same source. --> *Three days before the Games, controversy over amateur status arose when IOC president [[Avery Brundage]] threatened to disqualify 40 alpine skiiers who received endorsement and other deals. Ultimately, Austrian skier [[Karl Schranz]], who received over $50,000 per year from ski manufacturers was banned as an example. Meanwhile, the Canadian team refused to send an ice hockey team when they maintained that professional ice hockey players from Communist nations were allowed to compete with no restrictions. <ref>[http://www.infoplease.com/ipsa/A0300768.html Infoplease-Sapporo]</ref> *On a historical note, these Games are the last where a skier won the gold medal using all-wooden skis. Since this time, top-level cross-country skiiers use skis made mostly of fibreglass synthetics.<ref>[http://hometown.aol.de/svizaczak/wo-47740.html aolhometown]</ref> == Venues == Line 124 ⟶ 137: ==References== {{commonscat}} <references/> *[http://www.aafla.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1972/orw1972.pdf Sapporo 72] - Official report, digitized copy online *[http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/index_uk.asp?OLGT=2&OLGY=1972 Sapporo 1972] - International Olympic Committee website | |||