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

Event:	Men's downhill
Games:	1972 Winter
Venue:	Mount Eniwa Hokkaido, Japan
Date:	February 7, 1972
Competitors:	55
Nations:	20
Win Value:	1:51.43
Gold:	Bernhard Russi
Goldnoc:	SUI
Silver:	Roland Collombin
Silvernoc:	SUI
Bronze:	Heinrich Messner
Bronzenoc:	AUT
Prev:	1968
Next:	1976

Men's Downhill
Location:	Mount Eniwa
Vertical:	772m (2,533feet)
Top Elevation:	1126m (3,694feet)
Base Elevation:	354m (1,161feet)
Longest Run:	2.64km (01.64miles)

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 1126m (3,694feet) above sea level, with a vertical drop of 772m (2,533feet). The course length was 2.64km (01.64miles) and Russi's winning run of 111.43 seconds resulted in an average speed of 85.291km/h, with an average vertical descent rate of 6.928m/s.

Results

The race started at 13:30 JST (UTC+9) under clear skies, with an air temperature of .

Rank	Bib	Name	Time	Difference
	4		1:51.43	—
	11		1:52.07	+0.64
	5		1:52.40	+0.97
4	1		1:53.11	+1.68
5	26		1:53.16	+1.73
6	13		1:53.19	+1.76
7	8		1:53.32	+1.89
8	18		1:53.39	+1.96
9	22		1:53.71	+2.28
10	7		1:53.85	+2.42
11	17		1:54.15	+2.72
11	10		1:54.15	+2.72
13	2		1:54.37	+2.94
14	15		1:54.38	+2.95
15	20		1:54.72	+3.29
16	3		1:54.81	+3.38
17	14		1:54.96	+3.53
18	25		1:55.05	+3.62
19	27		1:55.13	+3.70
20	30		1:55.16	+3.73
21	9		1:55.33	+3.90
22	24		1:55.34	+3.91
23	6		1:55.48	+4.05
24	12		1:55.50	+4.07
25	19		1:55.60	+4.17
26	23		1:55.90	+4.47
27	29		1:56.04	+4.61
28	42		1:56.66	+5.23
29	21		1:56.67	+5.24
30	44		1:57.58	+6.15
31	31		1:58.05	+6.62
32	28		1:58.29	+6.86
33	48		1:58.53	+7.10
34	45		1:59.28	+7.85
35	43		1:59.55	+8.12
36	47		1:59.71	+8.28
37	37		2:00.28	+8.85
38	49		2:00.38	+8.95
39	53		2:01.26	+9.83
40	36	Ivan Penev	2:02.16	+10.73
41	40		2:02.24	+10.81
42	50		2:02.45	+11.02
43	39		2:02.71	+11.28
44	46		2:02.90	+11.47
45	41		2:03.01	+11.58
46	62		2:03.19	+11.76
47	54		2:03.69	+12.26
48	55		2:04.33	+12.90
49	38		2:04.75	+13.32
50	56		2:06.50	+15.07
51	58		2:08.29	+16.86
52	60		2:11.29	+19.86
53	61		2:16.14	+24.71
54	57		2:18.19	+26.76
55	59		2:20.98	+29.55

External links

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

Notes and References

Web site: The XI Olympic Winter Games Sapporo 1972. LA84 Foundation. Organizing Committee for the XIth Olympic Winter Games. 1972. January 3, 2014.
Web site: Alpine Skiing at the 1972 Sapporo Winter Games: Men's Downhill . https://web.archive.org/web/20200418011802/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/winter/1972/ASK/mens-downhill.html . dead . 18 April 2020 . 16 March 2018 . Sports Reference.
Web site: 1971 World Cup standings. FIS. January 3, 2014.
Web site: 1970 World Championships results. FIS. January 3, 2014.
News: Karl Schranz third in history to fall to Olympic amateur rule. Morning Record . (Meriden, Connecticut) . Associated Press . February 2, 1972 . 11 .
News: Austrians seek to have Karl Schranz reinstated . Schenectady Gazette . (New York) . Associated Press . Waha . Eric . February 1, 1972. 22.
News: Swiss yodeling at Sapporo . Spokesman-Review . Spokane, Washington) . Associated Press . February 8, 1972 . 15 .
News: Games of the rainbow . Sports Illustrated . Johnson . William . February 14, 1972 . 12.