Alpine skiing at the 1972 Winter Olympics – Men's downhill

The Men's Downhill competition of the Sapporo 1972 Olympics was held at Mount Eniwa on Monday, February 7.[1][2]

Men's downhill
at the XI Olympic Winter Games
VenueMount Eniwa
Hokkaido, Japan
DateFebruary 7, 1972
Competitors55 from 20 nations
Winning time1:51.43
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Bernhard Russi  Switzerland
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Roland Collombin  Switzerland
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Heinrich Messner  Austria
← 1968
1976 →
Men's Downhill
LocationMount Eniwa
Vertical   772 m (2,533 ft)
Top elevation1,126 m (3,694 ft)  
Base elevation   354 m (1,161 ft)
Longest run2.640 km (1.64 mi)
Alpine skiing at the 1972 Winter Olympics – Men's downhill is located in Hokkaido
Sapporo
Sapporo
Teine
Teine
Mount Eniwa
Mount Eniwa

The defending world champion was Bernhard Russi of Switzerland, who was also the defending World Cup downhill champion, and Austria's Karl Schranz led the current season.[3][4] Schranz was classified as a professional and banned from the Olympics.[5][6]

Russi won the gold medal, teammate Roland Collombin took the silver, and Heini Messner of Austria won the bronze.[7][8]

The starting gate was at an elevation of 1,126 m (3,694 ft) above sea level, with a vertical drop of 772 m (2,533 ft).[1] The course length was 2.640 km (1.64 mi) and Russi's winning run of 111.43 seconds resulted in an average speed of 85.291 km/h (53.0 mph), with an average vertical descent rate of 6.928 m/s (22.7 ft/s).

Results edit

The race started at 13:30 JST (UTC+9) under clear skies, with an air temperature of −7 °C (19 °F).

Rank Bib Name Country Time Difference
  4 Bernhard Russi   Switzerland 1:51.43
  11 Roland Collombin   Switzerland 1:52.07 +0.64
  5 Heinrich Messner   Austria 1:52.40 +0.97
4 1 Andreas Sprecher   Switzerland 1:53.11 +1.68
5 26 Erik Håker   Norway 1:53.16 +1.73
6 13 Walter Tresch   Switzerland 1:53.19 +1.76
7 8 Karl Cordin   Austria 1:53.32 +1.89
8 18 Bob Cochran   United States 1:53.39 +1.96
9 22 Josef Loidl   Austria 1:53.71 +2.28
10 7 Marcello Varallo   Italy 1:53.85 +2.42
11 17 Giuliano Besson   Italy 1:54.15 +2.72
11 10 Stefano Anzi   Italy 1:54.15 +2.72
13 2 Gustav Thöni   Italy 1:54.37 +2.94
14 15 Mike Lafferty   United States 1:54.38 +2.95
15 20 Roger Rossat-Mignod   France 1:54.72 +3.29
16 3 Bernard Orcel   France 1:54.81 +3.38
17 14 David Currier   United States 1:54.96 +3.53
18 25 Hans-Jörg Schlager   West Germany 1:55.05 +3.62
19 27 Henri Duvillard   France 1:55.13 +3.70
20 30 Jim Hunter   Canada 1:55.16 +3.73
21 9 Bernard Charvin   France 1:55.33 +3.90
22 24 Sumihiro Tomii   Japan 1:55.34 +3.91
23 6 Malcolm Milne   Australia 1:55.48 +4.05
24 12 Franz Vogler   West Germany 1:55.50 +4.07
25 19 Hank Kashiwa   United States 1:55.60 +4.17
26 23 Herbert Marxer   Liechtenstein 1:55.90 +4.47
27 29 Alfred Hagn   West Germany 1:56.04 +4.61
28 42 Manni Thofte   Sweden 1:56.66 +5.23
29 21 Willi Lesch   West Germany 1:56.67 +5.24
30 44 Willi Frommelt   Liechtenstein 1:57.58 +6.15
31 31 Reinhard Tritscher   Austria 1:58.05 +6.62
32 28 Reto Barrington   Canada 1:58.29 +6.86
33 48 Royston Varley   Great Britain 1:58.53 +7.10
34 45 Olle Rolén   Sweden 1:59.28 +7.85
35 43 Masahiko Otsue   Japan 1:59.55 +8.12
36 47 Peik Christensen   Norway 1:59.71 +8.28
37 37 Alex Mapelli-Mozzi   Great Britain 2:00.28 +8.85
38 49 Derek Robbins   Canada 2:00.38 +8.95
39 53 Dan Cristea   Romania 2:01.26 +9.83
40 36 Ivan Penev   Bulgaria 2:02.16 +10.73
41 40 Chris Womersley   New Zealand 2:02.24 +10.81
42 50 Robert Blanchaer   Belgium 2:02.45 +11.02
43 39 Konrad Bartelski   Great Britain 2:02.71 +11.28
44 46 Steven Clifford   Australia 2:02.90 +11.47
45 41 Resmi Resmiev   Bulgaria 2:03.01 +11.58
46 62 Sergey Grishchenko   Soviet Union 2:03.19 +11.76
47 54 Carlos Perner   Argentina 2:03.69 +12.26
48 55 Virgil Brenci   Romania 2:04.33 +12.90
49 38 Ross Ewington   New Zealand 2:04.75 +13.32
50 56 Iain Finlayson   Great Britain 2:06.50 +15.07
51 58 Jorge-Emilio Lazzarini   Argentina 2:08.29 +16.86
52 60 Ali Saveh   Iran 2:11.29 +19.86
53 61 Lotfollah Kia Shemshaki   Iran 2:16.14 +24.71
54 57 Fayzollah Band Ali   Iran 2:18.19 +26.76
55 59 Gorban Ali Kalhor   Iran 2:20.98 +29.55
Source:[1]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "The XI Olympic Winter Games Sapporo 1972" (PDF). Organizing Committee for the XIth Olympic Winter Games. LA84 Foundation. 1972. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  2. ^ "Alpine Skiing at the 1972 Sapporo Winter Games: Men's Downhill". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  3. ^ "1971 World Cup standings". FIS. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  4. ^ "1970 World Championships results". FIS. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  5. ^ "Karl Schranz third in history to fall to Olympic amateur rule". Morning Record. (Meriden, Connecticut). Associated Press. February 2, 1972. p. 11.
  6. ^ Waha, Eric (February 1, 1972). "Austrians seek to have Karl Schranz reinstated". Schenectady Gazette. (New York). Associated Press. p. 22.
  7. ^ "Swiss yodeling at Sapporo". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. February 8, 1972. p. 15.
  8. ^ Johnson, William (February 14, 1972). "Games of the rainbow". Sports Illustrated. p. 12.

External links edit

  • YouTube.com - 1972 Winter Olympics - Men's Downhill - Gold and Bronze medalists' runs - from Japanese television
  • FIS results