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

Men's downhill
at the XI Olympic Winter Games
Alpine skiing
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 →
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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
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Locations on Hokkaido

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

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

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
1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 Bernhard Russi  Switzerland 1:51.43 —
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 11 Roland Collombin  Switzerland 1:52.07 +0.64
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 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

  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

  • YouTube.com - 1972 Winter Olympics - Men's Downhill - Gold and Bronze medalists' runs - from Japanese television
  • FIS results
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Men's World Champions: Downhill • Super-G • Giant Slalom • Slalom • Combined • Parallel Giant Slalom • Mixed Team