1972 Winter Olympics / Nordic skiing

Nordic skiing at the 1972 Winter Olympics
information
venue	Sapporo
Competition venue	Makomanai cross-country skiing area , Miyanomori ski jump , Ōkurayama ski jump
Nations	20th
Athletes	244 (196 , 48 )
date	5th - 13th February 1972
decisions	10
← Grenoble 1968 Innsbruck 1976 →

At the XI. At the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo , ten competitions were held in Nordic skiing . This was also the 29th Nordic World Ski Championships . In addition to Olympic medals, world championship medals were also awarded. The only exception was the Nordic Combined, in which there were only Olympic medals. The venues were Makomanai for the cross-country races as well as the Miyanomori-Schanze and the Ōkurayama-Schanze .

As with the Nordic World Ski Championships in 1970 , the Soviet Union was the clearly dominant nation with five gold medals. Five nations followed in the medal ranking, each with a gold medal. The Soviet cross-country skiers were particularly strong. Galina Kulakowa started three times and won gold three times. Vyacheslav Vedenin won two gold and one bronze medals.

Balance sheet

Medal table

space	country				total
1	Soviet Union	5	2	1	8th
2	Norway	1	3	3	7th
3	Japan	1	1	1	3
4th	GDR	1	-	2	3
5	Poland	1	-	-	1
	Sweden	1	-	-	1
7th	Finland	-	3	1	4th
8th	Switzerland	-	1	1	2
9	Czechoslovakia	-	-	1	1

Medalist

Cross-country men

competitor	gold	silver	bronze
15 km	Sven-Åke Lundbäck	Fyodor Simashov	Ivar Formo
30 km	Vyacheslav Vedenin	Pål Tyldum	Johannes Harviken
50 km	Pål Tyldum	Magne Myrmo	Vyacheslav Vedenin
4 × 10 km relay	Fyodor Simaschow Juri Skobow , Vyacheslav Vedenin , Vladimir Voronkov	Oddvar Brå , Ivar Formo , Johannes Harviken , Pål Tyldum	Albert Giger , Edi Hauser , Alfred Kälin , Alois Kälin

Cross-country women

competitor	gold	silver	bronze
5 km	Galina Kulakova	Marjatta Kajosmaa	Helena Šikolová
10 km	Galina Kulakova	Alevtina Oljunina	Marjatta Kajosmaa
3 × 5 km relay	Galina Kulakowa , Lyubov Muchatschowa , Alevtina Oljunina	Marjatta Kajosmaa , Hilkka Riihivuori , Helena Takalo	Inger Aufles , Aslaug Dahl , Berit Mørdre

Ski jumping

competitor	gold	silver	bronze
Normal hill	Yukio Kasaya	Akitsugu Konno	Seiji Aochi
Large hill	Wojciech Fortuna	Walter Steiner	Rainer Schmidt

Nordic combination

competitor	gold	silver	bronze
singles	Ulrich Wehling	Rauno Miettinen	Karl-Heinz Luck

Cross-country men

15 km

space	country	athlete	Time (min)
1	SWE	Sven-Åke Lundbäck	45: 28.24
2	URS	Fyodor Simashov	46: 00.84
3	NOR	Ivar Formo	46: 02.68
4th	FIN	Juha Mieto	46: 02.74
5	URS	Yuri Skobov	46: 04.59
6th	GDR	Axel Lesser	46: 17.01
7th	FRG	Walter Demel	46: 17.36
8th	SWE	Gunnar Larsson	46: 23.29
9	NOR	Oddvar Brå	46: 25.88
10	FIN	Osmo Karjalainen	46: 27.51
11	SUI	Edi Hauser	46: 30.53
13	GDR	Gert-Dietmar Klause	46: 34.40
14th	SUI	Albert Giger	46: 38.36
17th	SUI	Alois Kälin	46: 50.31
22nd	FRG	Gerhard Gehring	47: 33.78
25th	GDR	Gerd Hessler	48: 04.15
26th	GDR	Rainer Gross	48: 05.86
32	FRG	Hartmut Döpp	48: 46.08
34	SUI	Hansueli cruiser	48: 55.37
36	FRG	Franz Betz	49: 00.41
38	AUT	Heinrich Wallner	49: 17.97
42	AUT	Herbert Wachter	49: 44.13

Date: February 7, 1972, 9:00 a.m.
Difference in altitude: 130 m; Maximum ascent: 90 m; Total ascent: 502 m
62 participants from 19 countries, all in the rating.

30 km

space	country	athlete	Time (h)
1	URS	Vyacheslav Vedenin	1: 36: 31.15
2	NOR	Pål Tyldum	1: 37: 25.30
3	NOR	Johannes Harviken	1: 37: 32.44
4th	SWE	Gunnar Larsson	1: 37: 33.72
5	FRG	Walter Demel	1: 37: 45.53
6th	URS	Fyodor Simashov	1: 38: 22.50
7th	SUI	Alois Kälin	1: 38: 40.72
8th	GDR	Gert-Dietmar Klause	1: 39: 15.54
9	TCH	Stanislav Henych	1: 39: 24.29
10	FRG	Gerhard Gehring	1: 39: 44.47
12	GDR	Axel Lesser	1: 39: 49.29
14th	SUI	Edi Hauser	1: 40: 14.98
17th	SUI	Alfred Kälin	1: 41: 35.34
18th	GDR	Gerd Hessler	1: 41: 37.47
27	GDR	Eberhard Klessen	1: 43: 15.99
33	AUT	Herbert Wachter	1: 44: 45.67
35	FRG	Hartmut Döpp	1: 44: 51.05
35	FRG	Edgar Eckert	1: 45: 38.51
41	SUI	Werner Geeser	1: 46: 20.36
48	AUT	Heinrich Wallner	1: 48: 05.42

Date: February 4, 1972, 9:00 a.m.
Difference in altitude: 119 m; Maximum ascent: 85 m; Total ascent: 823 m
59 participants from 18 countries, 55 of them in the rating.

50 km

space	country	athlete	Time (h)
1	NOR	Pål Tyldum	2: 43: 14.75
2	NOR	Magne Myrmo	2: 43: 29.45
3	URS	Vyacheslav Vedenin	2: 44: 00,19
4th	NOR	Reidar Hjermstad	2: 44: 15.51
5	FRG	Walter Demel	2: 44: 32.67
6th	SUI	Werner Geeser	2: 44: 34.13
7th	SWE	Lars-Arne Bölling	2: 45: 06.80
8th	URS	Fyodor Simashev	2: 45: 08.93
9	GDR	Gert-Dietmar Klause	2: 46: 17.43
10	NOR	Ole Ellefsæter	2: 46: 46.94
14th	SUI	Ulrich Wenger	2: 49: 35.35
16	GDR	Eberhard Klessen	2: 49: 53.01
18th	GDR	Rainer Gross	2: 50: 16.91
23	SUI	Louis Jaggi	2: 53: 00.78
26th	SUI	Giuseppe Dermon	2: 56: 24.21
31	FRG	Edgar Eckert	3: 00: 08.32

Date: February 10, 1972, 8:30 a.m.
Difference in altitude: 127 m; Maximum ascent: 89 m; Total ascent: 1453 m
40 participants from 14 countries, 33 of them in the rating.

4 × 10 km relay

space	Country / athlete	time
1	Soviet Union Vladimir Voronkov Yuri Skobov Fyodor Simaschow Vyacheslav Vedenin	2:04: 47.94 h 31: 12.52 min 30: 55.42 min 32: 18.63 min 30: 21.37 min
2	Norway Oddvar Brå Pål Tyldum Ivar Formo Johannes Harviken	2:04: 57.06 h 31: 10.38 min 30: 58.11 min 31: 16.78 min 31: 31.79 min
3	Switzerland Alfred Kälin Albert Giger Alois Kälin Edi Hauser	2: 07: 00.06 h 31: 54.76 min 31: 40.14 min 31: 13.11 min 32: 12.05 min
4th	Sweden Thomas Magnusson Lars-Göran Åslund Gunnar Larsson Sven-Åke Lundbäck	2: 07: 03.60 h 31: 10.56 min 31: 59.65 min 31: 35.96 min 32: 17.43 min
5	Finland Hannu Taipale Juha Mieto Juhani Repo Osmo Karjalainen	2:07: 50.19 h 32: 17.19 min 30: 54.64 min 33: 47.89 min 30: 50.47 min
6th	GDR Gerd Heßler Axel Lesser Gerhard Grimmer Gert-Dietmar Klause	2: 10: 03.73 h 32: 19.74 min 31: 09.53 min 33: 49.31 min 32: 45.15 min
7th	FR Germany Franz Betz Urban Hettich Hartmut Döpp Walter Demel	2: 10: 42.85 h 33: 08.14 min 34: 06.06 min 32: 22.00 min 31: 06.95 min
8th	Czechoslovakia Stanislav Henych Ján Fajstavr Ján Michalko Ján Ilavský	2: 11: 27.55 h 32: 00.85 min 31: 51.70 min 33: 19.57 min 34: 15.43 min

Date: February 13, 1972, 9:00 a.m.
Difference in altitude: 109 m; Maximum ascent: 67 m; Total ascent: 313 m
14 relays at the start, 13 of them in the rating. Abandoned: Austria ( Herbert Wachter , Josef Hauser , Ulli Öhlböck , Heinrich Wallner ).

Cross-country women

5 km

space	country	sportswoman	Time (min)
1	URS	Galina Kulakova	17:00, 50
2	FIN	Marjatta Kajosmaa	17: 05.50
3	TCH	Helena Šikolová	17: 07.32
4th	URS	Alevtina Oljunina	17: 07.40
5	FIN	Hilkka Kuntola	17: 11.67
6th	URS	Lyubov Muchacheva	17: 12.08
7th	NOR	Berit Mørdre	17: 16.79
8th	NOR	Aslaug Dahl	17: 17.49
9	FIN	Helena Takalo	17: 21.39
10	URS	Nina Feodorova	17: 25.62
11	FRG	Michaela Endler	17: 32.56
14th	GDR	Renate Fischer	17: 41.07
20th	GDR	Gabriele Haupt	17: 55.04
24	FRG	Monika Mrklas	17: 57.40
28	GDR	Anna Unger	18: 13.19
30th	GDR	Christine Philipp	18: 17.02

Date: February 9, 1972, 9:00 a.m.
Difference in altitude: 90 m; Maximum ascent: 56 m; Total ascent: 133 m
43 participants from 12 countries, all in the rating.

10 km

space	country	sportswoman	Time (min)
1	URS	Galina Kulakova	34: 17.82
2	URS	Alevtina Oljunina	34: 54.11
3	FIN	Marjatta Kajosmaa	34: 56.45
4th	URS	Lyubov Muchacheva	34: 58.56
5	FIN	Helena Takalo	35: 06.34
6th	NOR	Aslaug Dahl	35: 18.84
7th	TCH	Helena Šikolová	35: 29.33
8th	FIN	Hilkka Kuntola	35: 36.71
9	GDR	Renate Fischer	35: 46.96
10	URS	Nina Schebalina	35: 54.59
17th	FRG	Michaela Endler	36: 38.05
18th	GDR	Gabriele Haupt	36: 38.41
20th	GDR	Anna Unger	36: 45.24
31	GDR	Christine Phillip	37: 51.76
32	FRG	Ingrid Rothfuss	38: 03.69

Date: February 6, 1972, 9:00 a.m.
Difference in altitude: 103 m; Maximum ascent: 44 m; Total ascent: 289 m
42 participants from 12 countries, 41 of them in the rating.

3 × 5 km relay

space	Country / athletes	Time (min)
1	Soviet Union Lyubov Muchacheva Alewtina Oljunina Galina Kulakowa	48: 46.15 min 16: 49.20 min 16: 30.91 min 15: 26.04 min
2	Finland Helena Takalo Hilkka Kuntola Marjatta Kajosmaa	49: 19.37 min 17: 04.93 min 16: 41.67 min 15: 32.77 min
3	Norway Inger Aufles Aslaug Dahl Berit Mørdre	49: 51.49 min 17: 36.75 min 16: 34.87 min 15: 39.87 min
4th	BR Germany Monika Mrklas Ingrid Rothfuß Michaela Endler	50: 25.61 min 17:40.22 min 17:06.50 min 15: 38.89 min
5	GDR Gabriele Haupt Renate Fischer Anna Unger	50: 28.45 min 17: 37.32 min 16: 49.56 min 16: 01.57 min
6th	Czechoslovakia Alena Bartošová Helena Šikolová Milena Cillerová	51: 16.16 min 17: 35.77 min 17:06.47 min 16: 33.92 min
7th	Poland Anna Gębala-Duraj Józefa Chromik Weronika Budny	51: 49.13 min 18: 21.93 min 17: 15.45 min 16: 11.75 min
8th	Sweden Meeri Bodelid Eva Olsson Birgitta Lindqvist	51: 51.84 min 18: 32.24 min 17:09.91 min 16:09.89 min

Date: February 12, 1972, 9:00 a.m.
Difference in altitude: 43 m; Maximum ascent: 37 m; Total ascent: 126 m
11 relays at the start, all in the ranking.

Ski jumping

Normal hill

space	country	athlete	Widths (m)	Points
1	JPN	Yukio Kasaya	84.0 / 79.0	244.2
2	JPN	Akitsugu Konno	82.5 / 79.0	234.8
3	JPN	Seiji Aochi	83.5 / 77.5	229.5
4th	NOR	Ingolf Mork	78.0 / 78.0	225.5
5	TCH	Jiří Raška	78.5 / 78.0	224.8
6th	POLE	Wojciech Fortuna	82.0 / 76.5	222.0
7th	URS	Gari Napalkov	79.5 / 76.0	220.2
7th	TCH	Karel Kodejška	80.0 / 75.5	220.2
9	URS	Koba Zakadze	82.0 / 76.5	219.9
10	YUG	Peter Štefančič	77.0 / 77.5	218.15
14th	SUI	Walter Steiner	79.0 / 76.0	217.4
15th	GDR	Rainer Schmidt	80.5 / 75.0	217.2
16	SUI	Ernst von Grünigen	78.0 / 74.5	212.4
18th	GDR	Henry Glass	78.0 / 73.5	211.8
22nd	SUI	Hans Schmid	76.5 / 73.5	208.9
26th	AUT	Rudolf Wanner	77.0 / 74.0	205.0
28	SUI	Sepp Zehnder	76.0 / 72.0	203.7
29	AUT	Reinhold Bachler	79.5 / 76.0	201.6
31	GDR	Hans-Georg Aschenbach	74.0 / 69.5	198.5
36	AUT	Max Golser	73.0 / 73.5	195.8
38	GDR	Manfred Wolf	77.8 / 81.0	195.0
46	FRG	Günther Göllner	74.0 / 66.0	185.9
47	FRG	Alfred Grosche	70.0 / 69.0	182.8
49	FRG	Sepp Schwinghammer	68.5 / 68.5	180.1

Date: February 6, 1972, 10:00 am
Miyanomori-Schanze , K-point : 70 m
56 participants from 26 countries, all in the valuation.

The strategy of the Japanese team leadership worked: Despite three victories in the Four Hills Tournament 1971/72 , the winner Kasaya had to fly back home before the final competition in Bischofshofen in order to prepare intensively for the Olympic competition with his comrades. Otherwise he would have had the chance to become the first athlete to win all four individual competitions of the Four Hills Tournament.

Large hill

space	country	athlete	Widths (m)	Points
1	POLE	Wojciech Fortuna	111.0 / 87.5	219.9
2	SUI	Walter Steiner	94.0 / 103.0	219.8
3	GDR	Rainer Schmidt	98.5 / 101.0	219.3
4th	FIN	Tauno Käyhkö	95.0 / 100.5	219.2
5	GDR	Manfred Wolf	107.0 / 89.5	215.1
6th	URS	Gari Napalkov	99.5 / 92.0	210.1
7th	JPN	Yukio Kasaya	106.0 / 95.0	209.4
8th	YUG	Danilo Pudgar	97.5 / 97.5	206.5
9	FIN	Esko Rautionaho	93.0 / 99.0	205.8
10	TCH	Jiří Raška	99.0 / 89.0	204.7
20th	GDR	Henry Glass	91.0 / 84.0	183.0
22nd	SUI	Sepp Zehnder	92.5 / 84.0	181.1
24	AUT	Reinhold Bachler	88.5 / 89.5	179.2
27	FRG	Günther Göllner	90.0 / 87.0	175.3
39	GDR	Heinz Wosipiwo	82.0 / 87.0	159.6
42	SUI	Hans Schmid	94.5 / 89.0	156.4
43	AUT	Max Golser	86.0 / 78.0	153.6
46	AUT	Rudolf Wanner	79.0 / 83.0	157.3
52	FRG	Alfred Grosche	84.0 / 77.5	119.6

Date: February 11, 1972, 10:00 a.m.
Ōkurayama-Schanze , K-point: 90 m
52 participants from 15 countries, all in the ranking

There was quite a surprise in this competition from Poland's Fortuna, whose “miracle jump” in the first round gave him such a big lead that he could not be caught up by the competition in round 2. Overall, the competition was severely impaired by constantly changing gusts of wind. This resulted in very unequal conditions for the participants.

Nordic combination

space	country	athlete	Points jumping	Points running	Points totel
1	GDR	Ulrich Wehling	200.9	212.44	413.34
2	FIN	Rauno Miettinen	210.0	195.51	405.51
3	GDR	Karl-Heinz Luck	178.8	220.00	398.80
4th	FIN	Erkki Kilpinen	185.0	206.85	391.85
5	JPN	Yūji Katsuro	195.1	195.10	390.20
6th	TCH	Tomáš Kučera	191.8	196.14	387.94
7th	URS	Alexander Nossow	201.3	186.43	387.73
8th	NOR	Kåre Olav Berg	180.4	204.40	384.80
9	GDR	Günter Deckert	183.4	199.57	382.97
10	FRG	Ralph Pöhland	174.8	206.40	381.20
18th	GDR	Hans Hartleb	183.9	185.61	369.51
20th	FRG	Urban Hettich	152.1	214.68	366.78
25th	FRG	Alfred Winkler	175.6	181.51	357.11
33	FRG	Franz Keller	154.0	182.86	336.86
37	AUT	Ulli Öhlböck	150.9	169.81	320.71

Ski jumping: February 4, 1972, 10:00 a.m.
Miyanomori hill, K point: 70 m

Cross-country skiing 15 km: February 5, 1972, 9:00 am
Elevation difference: 127 m; Maximum ascent: 92 m; Total ascent: 423 m
40 participants from 14 countries, 39 in the rating.

Ulrich Wehling's winning streak began at this event: He was able to win the Nordic Combined at three Olympic Games in a row, something that no other athlete had achieved before or after.

literature

• Cross-country skiing at the Olympic Winter Games: List of Olympic champions in cross-country skiing. Edited by the Bucher Group, General Books Verlag, 2010, 188 pages.

Web links

• Cross-country skiing at the 1972 Winter Olympics in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Ski jumping at the 1972 Winter Olympics in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Nordic combined at the 1972 Winter Olympics in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Official report of the 1972 Winter Olympics (PDF; 43.3 MB)