During the confrontation between the Soviet Union and the Western countries, the Olympians' competitions had not only sporting, but also important political significance - two systems, socialist and capitalist, tried to prove whose version of development was more correct. The Olympics in the Austrian city of Innsbruck, where a desperate struggle for prizes unfolded, was no exception.
Initially, the Olympiad was supposed to take place in the USA, in Denver. However, residents of the city voted against the Games in a referendum, so the Olympic Committee found itself in a difficult situation. As a result, Innsbruck, which had already hosted them in 1964, agreed to host the Olympic Games.
1123 people from 37 countries took part in the Winter Olympics. Competitions were held in ten sports disciplines: alpine skiing, bobsleigh, speed skating, biathlon, ski jumping, luge, cross-country skiing, combined skiing, figure skating, and hockey. According to the results of the Olympiad, athletes from the Soviet Union won an unconditional victory, having won 13 gold, 6 silver and 8 bronze awards. The second place was taken by the GDR with 7 gold, 5 silver and 7 bronze medals. The representatives of the USA got the third place - 3 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze medals.
Hockey is always one of the most spectacular competitions in the Winter Olympics. Unfortunately, the Canadian team, which boycotted the games, did not compete in Innsbruck, so the eternal rivals - the teams of the USSR and Czechoslovakia - fought in the final for the right to be called the strongest team in the world. The beginning of the meeting was not in favor of the hockey players from the USSR, already in the first half they were losing with a score of 0: 2. In the second half, they managed to win back, but in the third, eight minutes before the end, the Czechs took the lead again. Nevertheless, their expectations were not destined to come true - the goals of Alexander Yakushev and Valery Kharlamov allowed the team from the USSR to become champions for the fourth time in a row. The Czechs got the second place, the third was taken by the athletes from Germany.
Soviet athletes also performed well in figure skating. Irina Rodnina and Alexander Zaitsev won gold in pair skating, while Lyudmila Pakhomova and Alexander Gorshkov won ice dancing. In the men's single skating, silver went to Vladimir Korolev, who was second only to the excellent British John Curry. The American Dorothy Hamill deservedly won the gold medal among women.
The games were also successful for Soviet skiers. In the 30 km race, Sergey Savelyev won the victory, in the 15 km race, Nikolai Bazhukov and Evgeny Belyaev took the first two places. In the team race, the team of the Soviet Union managed to win bronze, the gold was won by athletes from Finland.
Raisa Smetanina was the first in women's cross-country skiing for 10 kilometers, Soviet girls won gold in the relay.
The gold medal was also taken to the USSR by biathletes - in the individual race for 20 kilometers, Nikolai Kruglov became the first, there was no equal to Soviet athletes in the relay.
The 1976 Winter Olympics became one of the most successful for athletes from the USSR and forever entered the history of Soviet and Russian sports.
