In 1972, the International Olympic Committee entrusted the holding of the Winter Olympic Games in Japan. The largest international competition took place in Sapporo, the main city of Hokkaido, the northernmost Japanese island. The climate of this place, with rather warm winters and heavy snowfalls, was well suited for organizing ski competitions.
In total, 35 countries took part in the Olympiad. These games were the first for the teams of Taiwan and the Philippines. The circumstances were successful, and the competition took place without serious political conflicts and boycotts, unlike the summer games of the same year in Munich.
The Olympiad was organized at a very high level. One of the goals of Japan was to demonstrate the changes in the country to the whole world. Indeed, in the seventies, the explosive growth of the Japanese economy continued, transforming it into a great power. And games have become a necessary element of prestige for the country.
At this Olympics, the socialist states showed themselves very well. In the general unofficial medal standings, the Soviet Union took the first place. Most of the awards were won by Soviet skiers. For example, Galina Kulakova managed to get 3 gold awards. The first place was taken by Soviet hockey players. Soviet figure skating also showed a high level. Gold was won by a pair of Irina Rodnina and Alexei Ulanov, silver - by Lyudmila Smirnova and Andrei Suraikin. Also the second was Sergey Chetverukhin with his men's singles program. The successes of Soviet biathletes should also be noted - they received gold in the men's team race.
The second place was taken by the GDR team. She especially distinguished herself in luge sports - the athletes of this team were awarded three gold, two silver and three bronze medals at once.
Norway, the traditional leader in winter sports, came in only seventh, while the United States came in fifth. Japan, the host of the games, received only three medals, finishing in 11th place. The performance of the Canadian team was also quite unsuccessful. She received only one medal - silver in women's figure skating. And more than half of the countries - 18 - did not receive medals at all.
The 1972 Games were played at a very high professional level. As a result, the next Japanese application was approved a few years later. The 1988 Winter Olympics were held in Nagano.
