Sapporo
The biggest controversy in the 48–year history of the Winter Games erupted just three days before the opening ceremonies were scheduled to get underway in northern Japan. That's when retiring IOC president Avery Brundage threatened to disqualify 40 Alpine skiers for professionalism.
At Grenoble in 1968, Brundage had demanded that all trademarks be removed from competitors' skis, but settled for having the offensive skis taken away from medal winners before they could be photographed. Now, the 84–year-old guardian of the Olympic flame wanted all the pros thrown out.
A compromise was reached when the IOC executive committee voted 28–14 to make an example of skiing's most commercialized star, 33-year-old Austrian World Cup champion Karl Schranz, who reportedly earned over $50,000 a year “testing” ski equipment.
All other offenders were allowed to participate.
Said Schranz after being banished: “This thing of amateur purity is something that dates back to the 19th century when amateur sportsmen were regarded as gentlemen and everyone else was an outcast. The Olympics should be a competition of skill and strength and speed—and no more.”
Schranz retired after the Games, having never won an Olympic gold medal.
The amateurism question caused controversy in the ice hockey event as well. Canada refused to send a team to Sapporo, having withdrawn from international amateur competition in 1969 to protest use of “professional amateurs” by Russia and other eastern bloc countries.
Top 10 Standings
National medal standings are not recognized by the IOC. The unofficial point totals are based on 3 points for a gold medal, 2 for a silver and 1 for a bronze. Total medals are in parentheses.
| | | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | USSR (16) | 8 | 5 | 3 | 37 |
| 2 | East Germany (14) | 4 | 3 | 7 | 25 |
| 3 | Switzerland (10) | 4 | 3 | 3 | 21 |
| | Norway (12) | 2 | 5 | 5 | 21 |
| 5 | Holland (9) | 4 | 3 | 2 | 20 |
| 6 | USA (8) | 3 | 2 | 3 | 16 |
| 7 | West Germany (5) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| 8 | Italy (5) | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
| 9 | Austria (5) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| | Finland (5) | 0 | 4 | 1 | 9 |
Leading Medal Winners
Number of individual medals won on the left; gold, silver and bronze breakdown to the right.
Men
| No | | Sport | G-S-B |
|---|
| 3 | Ard Schenk, NED | Sp. Skate | 3-0-0 |
| 3 | Vyacheslav Vedenine, USSR | X-country | 2-0-1 |
| 3 | Pål Tyldum, NOR | X-country | 1-2-0 |
| 2 | Fedor Simashov, USSR | X-country | 1-1-0 |
| 2 | Gustav Thöni, ITA | Alpine | 1-1-0 |
| 2 | Wolfgang Zimmerer, W. Ger. | Bobsled | 1-0-1 |
| 2 | Peter Utzschneider, W. Ger. | Bobsled | 1-0-1 |
| 2 | Jean Wicki, SWI | Bobsled | 1-0-1 |
| 2 | Edy Hubacher, SWI | Bobsled | 1-0-1 |
| 2 | Roar Grönvold, NOR | Sp. Skate | 0-2-0 |
| 2 | Ivar Formo, NOR | X-country | 0-1-1 |
| 2 | Johs Harviken, NOR | X-country | 0-1-1 |
| 2 | Hansjorg Knauthe, E. Ger. | Biathlon | 0-1-1 |
| 2 | Wolfram Fiedler, E. Ger. | Luge | 0-0-2 |
| 2 | Sten Stensen, NOR | Sp. Skate | 0-0-2 |
Women
| No | | Sport | G-S-B |
|---|
| 3 | Galina Kulakova, USSR | X-country | 3-0-0 |
| 3 | Marjatta Kajosmaa, FIN | X-country | 0-2-1 |
| 2 | Marie-Theres Nadig, SWI | Alpine | 2-0-0 |
| 2 | Dianne Holum, USA | Sp. Skate | 1-1-0 |
| 2 | Christina Baas-Kaiser, NED | Sp. Skate | 1-1-0 |
| 2 | Alevtina Olunina, USSR | X-country | 1-1-0 |
| 2 | Anne Henning, USA | Sp. Skate | 1-0-1 |
| 2 | Annemarie Pröll, FRA | Alpine | 0-2-0 |
| 2 | Atje Keulen-Deelstra, NED | Sp. Skate | 0-1-1 |
Alpine Skiing
Men
| Event | | Time |
|---|
| Downhill | Bernhard Russi, SWI | 1:51.43 |
| Slalom | Francisco Ochoa, SPA | 1:49.27 |
| G.Slalom | Gustav Thöni, ITA | 3:09.62 |
Women
| Event | | Time |
|---|
| Downhill | Marie-Theres Nadig, SWI | 1:36.68 |
| Slalom | Barbara Cochran, USA | 1:31.24 |
| G.Slalom | Marie-Theres Nadig, SWI | 1:29.90 |
Biathlon
| Event | | MT | Adj.Time |
|---|
| 20 km | Magnar Solberg, NOR | 2 | 1:15:55.50 |
| 4x7.5km | USSR (Tikonov, Safine, Biakov,
Mamatov) | 3 | 1:51:44.92 |
Bobsled
| Event | | Time |
|---|
| 2-Man | W. Ger. (Wolfgang Zimmerer
& Peter Utzschneider) | 4:57.07 |
| 4-Man | SWI (Jean Wicki, Edy Hubacher, Hans
Leutenegger, Werner Camichel) | 4:43.07 |
Figure Skating
| Event | | Points |
|---|
| Men | Ondrej Nepela, CZE | 2739.1 |
| Women | Trixi Schuba, AUT | 2751.5 |
| Pairs | Irina Rodnina & Aleksei Ulanov, USSR | 420.4 |
Ice Hockey
Group A
(Overall records in parentheses)
| | | Gm | W-L-T | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|
| 1 | USSR (4-0-1) | 5 | 4-0-1 | 9 | 33 | 13 |
| 2 | USA (4-2-0) | 5 | 3-2-0 | 6 | 18 | 15 |
| 3 | Czechoslovakia (4-2-0) | 5 | 3-2-0 | 6 | 26 | 13 |
| 4 | Sweden (3-2-1) | 5 | 2-2-1 | 5 | 17 | 13 |
| 5 | Finland (3-3-0) | 5 | 2-3-0 | 4 | 14 | 24 |
| 6 | Poland (1-5-0) | 5 | 0-5-0 | 0 | 9 | 39 |
Note: Pivotal game—USSR over Czech., 5–2, in final contest for both teams. The 5–1 U.S. victory over the Czechs gave the Americans second place. Also, the USSR received a bye to Group A while the other seven teams had to win a one-game elimination round to qualify.
Luge
Men
| Event | | Time |
|---|
| 1-Seat | Wolfgang Scheidel, E. Ger. | 3:27.58 |
| 2-Seat | (TIE) Horst Hörnlein
& Reinhard Bredow, E. Ger. | 1:28.35 |
| | Paul Hildgartner
& Walter Plaikner, ITA | 1:28.35 |
Women
| Event | | Time |
|---|
| 1-Seat | Anna-Maria Müller, E. Ger. | 2:59.18 |
Nordic Skiing
Men
Cross Country
| Event | | Time |
|---|
| 15km | Sven-Ake Lundbäck, SWE | 45:28.24 |
| 30km | Vyachelav Vedenine, USSR | 1:36:31.15 |
| 50km | Pål Tyldum, NOR | 2:43:14.75 |
| 4x10km | USSR (Voronkov, Skobov, Simachev, |
| | Vedenine) | 2:04:47.94 |
Ski Jumping
| Event | | Points |
|---|
| 70m | Yukio Kasaya, JPN | 244.2 |
| 90m | Wojciech Fortuna, POL | 219.9 |
Nordic Combined
| Event | | Points |
|---|
| 15km/Jump | Ulrich Wehling, E. Ger. | 413.340 |
Women
Cross Country
| Event | | Time |
|---|
| 5km | Galina Kulakova, USSR | 17:00.50 |
| 10km | Galina Kulakova, USSR | 34:17.82 |
| 3x5km | USSR (Moukhatcheva, Olunina,
Kulakova) | 48:46.15 |
Speed Skating
Men
| Event | | Time | |
|---|
| 500m | Erhard Keller, W. Ger. | 39.44 | OR |
| 1500m | Ard Schenk, NED | 2:02.96 | OR |
| 5000m | Ard Schenk, NED | 7:23.61 | |
| 10,000m | Ard Schenk, NED | 15:01.35 | OR |
Women
| Event | | Time | |
|---|
| 500m | Anne Henning, USA | 43.33 | OR |
| 1000m | Monika Pflug, W. Ger. | 1:31.40 | OR |
| 1500m | Dianne Holum, USA | 2:20.85 | OR |
| 3000m | Christina Baas-Kaiser, NED | 4:52.14 | OR |
