Event: | Men's downhill |
Games: | 1976 Winter |
Venue: | Patscherkofel Tyrol, Austria |
Date: | 5 February 1976 |
Competitors: | 74 |
Nations: | 27 |
Win Value: | 1:45.73 |
Gold: | Franz Klammer |
Goldnoc: | AUT |
Silver: | Bernhard Russi |
Silvernoc: | SUI |
Bronze: | Herbert Plank |
Bronzenoc: | ITA |
Prev: | 1972 |
Next: | 1980 |
Men's Downhill | |
Location: | Patscherkofel |
Vertical: | 870m (2,850feet) |
Top Elevation: | 1950m (6,400feet) |
Base Elevation: | 1080m (3,540feet) |
The Men's Downhill competition of the 1976 Winter Olympics at Innsbruck, Austria, was held at Patscherkofel on Thursday, 5 February,[1] [2] [3] on the same course as in 1964.[4]
The defending world champion was David Zwilling of Austria, who had recently retired; Bernhard Russi of Switzerland was the defending Olympic champion. Franz Klammer of Austria was the defending World Cup downhill champion and led the current season;[5] [6] he had also won the pre-Olympic World Cup downhill at Patcherkofel a year earlier in January 1975.
Klammer won the gold medal, Russi took the silver, and Herbert Plank of Italy was the bronze medalist.[1] [2] [7]
The starting gate was at an elevation of 1950m (6,400feet) above sea level, with a vertical drop of 870m (2,850feet). The course length was 3.02km (01.88miles) and Klammer's famous winning run resulted in an average speed of 102.828km/h, with an average vertical descent rate of 8.2285m/s, significantly faster than previous Olympic downhills. At age 22, the win elevated him to an international celebrity and he was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.[7]
Egon Zimmermann, also of Austria, took the gold medal a dozen years earlier in the 1964 Olympic downhill. His winning time was 2:18.16, more than a half-minute behind Klammer's.
Through 2022, no Olympic men's downhill champion has repeated; Russi remains the sole defender to medal.
Rank | Bib | Name | Country | Time | Difference | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
15 | 1:45.73 | — | ||||
3 | 1:46.06 | +0.33 | ||||
8 | 1:46.59 | +0.86 | ||||
4 | 11 | 1:46.69 | +0.96 | |||
5 | 10 | 1:46.83 | +1.10 | |||
6 | 19 | 1:47.06 | +1.33 | |||
7 | 29 | 1:47.29 | +1.56 | |||
8 | 13 | 1:47.41 | +1.68 | |||
9 | 6 | 1:47.45 | +1.72 | |||
10 | 5 | 1:47.52 | +1.79 | |||
11 | 30 | 1:47.84 | +2.11 | |||
12 | 1 | 1:47.89 | +2.16 | |||
13 | 22 | 1:47.94 | +2.21 | |||
14 | 21 | 1:48.13 | +2.40 | |||
15 | 20 | 1:48.18 | +2.45 | |||
16 | 24 | 1:48.34 | +2.61 | |||
17 | 25 | 1:48.41 | +2.68 | |||
18 | 28 | 1:48.43 | +2.70 | |||
19 | 4 | 1:48.45 | +2.72 | |||
20 | 42 | 1:48.88 | +3.15 | |||
21 | 16 | 1:48.92 | +3.19 | |||
22 | 31 | 1:49.02 | +3.29 | |||
2 | ||||||
24 | 27 | 1:49.08 | +3.35 | |||
25 | 9 | 1:49.19 | +3.46 | |||
26 | 14 | 1:49.25 | +3.52 | |||
27 | 18 | 1:50.03 | +4.30 | |||
28 | 38 | 1:50.08 | +4.35 | |||
29 | 46 | 1:50.48 | +4.75 | |||
30 | 37 | 1:50.56 | +4.83 | |||
31 | 44 | 1:50.87 | +5.14 | |||
32 | 34 | 1:50.89 | +5.16 | |||
33 | 45 | 1:51.27 | +5.54 | |||
34 | 35 | 1:51.64 | +5.91 | |||
35 | 17 | 1:51.91 | +6.18 | |||
36 | 36 | 1:52.40 | +6.67 | |||
37 | 43 | 1:52.75 | +7.02 | |||
33 | ||||||
39 | 39 | 1:52.76 | +7.03 | |||
40 | 55 | 1:53.48 | +7.75 | |||
41 | 32 | 1:53.50 | +7.77 | |||
42 | 59 | 1:53.55 | +7.82 | |||
43 | 58 | 1:53.56 | +7.83 | |||
44 | 49 | 1:53.61 | +7.88 | |||
45 | 41 | 1:54.30 | +8.57 | |||
46 | 40 | 1:54.57 | +8.84 | |||
47 | 54 | 1:54.62 | +8.89 | |||
48 | 56 | Ivan Penev | 1:55.56 | +9.83 | ||
49 | 74 | 1:55.63 | +9.90 | |||
50 | 70 | 1:55.82 | +10.09 | |||
51 | 47 | 1:56.30 | +10.57 | |||
52 | 50 | 1:56.33 | +10.60 | |||
53 | 67 | 1:57.91 | +12.18 | |||
54 | 52 | 1:58.72 | +12.99 | |||
55 | 53 | 1:59.15 | +13.42 | |||
56 | 62 | 1:59.44 | +13.71 | |||
57 | 68 | 2:00.19 | +14.46 | |||
58 | 61 | 2:00.32 | +14.59 | |||
59 | 75 | 2:00.39 | +14.66 | |||
60 | 69 | 2:00.57 | +14.84 | |||
61 | 63 | 2:01.19 | +15.46 | |||
62 | 64 | 2:01.75 | +16.02 | |||
63 | 65 | 2:03.74 | +18.01 | |||
64 | 73 | 2:06.01 | +20.28 | |||
65 | 71 | 2:14.69 | +28.96 | |||
66 | 66 | 2:17.08 | +31.35 | |||
- | 60 | DNF | - | |||
- | 57 | DNF | - | |||
- | 51 | DNF | - | |||
- | 48 | DNF | - | |||
- | 26 | DNF | - | |||
- | 23 | DNF | - | |||
- | 12 | DNF | - | |||
- | 7 | DNF | - | |||
- | 72 | DNS | - |