The twelfth Winter Olympic Games were held in the Austrian Innsbruck from 4 to 15 February 1976. It is noteworthy that at first they were planned to be held in Denver, but the results of a survey of residents of Colorado showed that they did not want the Olympics to be held in them. Therefore, Denver withdrew his candidacy. The second Olympic Games were already held in Innsbruck, so two Olympic lights were lit.
1123 athletes, including 231 women, from 37 countries took part in the 1976 Olympic Games. Among the new sports, the program included sports ice dancing. A new distance in speed skating was also added - 1000 m. Men fought for gold in 8 sports - biathlon, skiing, alpine skiing and speed skating, hockey, bobsleigh, figure skating and luge competitions. Women competed in alpine skiing, skiing, luge and speed skating, as well as figure skating - 5 types in total.
Most athletes were sent by the NOCs of the United States - 94, the Soviet Union - 79, Austria - 74. Only 2 people were sent to the Olympics by the NOCs of San Marino, the Republic of Korea and Hungary. Most athletes participated in cross-country skiing - 106 men and 51 women.
The opening ceremony of the XII Winter Olympics in Innsbruck was held in the same stadium as 12 years ago.
The public was greatly impressed by Austrian Franz Klammer, who competed in the downhill. He passed the track at an average speed of about 103 km / h. Throughout the Olympics, he broke more than one speed record, became famous for his courage and fearlessness.
The closest to her third Olympic "gold" at these Games was the alpine skier from Germany Rosie Mittermeier. In downhill and slalom she was the best, but in giant slalom she lost to Canadian Katie Krainer, only 0, 12 seconds.
2 medals of the highest standard were won by a pair from the GDR - Bernhard Germeshausen and Meinhard Nemer. At first they were the first among the crews of two, and then in the composition of the four. It is worth noting that luge and bobsledders from the GDR won all the top awards in Innsbruck (5 pieces).
In figure skating, Briton John Curry became the Olympic champion.
Athletes from the USSR performed the best at the XII OWG. In cross-country skiing alone, they won 4 gold medals (2 for both men and women). Biathlete Nikolay Kruglov brought 2 gold medals to the "piggy bank" of the Russian team. Speed skater Tatyana Averina, in addition to 2 gold medals, also earned 2 bronze medals. And Raisa Smetanina twice this time became the Olympic champion and again - the silver medalist.
The first ever Olympic champions in ice dancing were Alexander Gorshkov and Lyudmila Pakhomova. Irina Rodnina also won a gold medal in Innsbruck, paired with Alexander Zaitsev.
In speed skating, Soviet athletes were also at their best, winning 4 gold out of 9 (3 - women, 1 - men). In hockey, the USSR national team was also the strongest.
As a result, the national team of the Soviet Union earned a record sum of points (192) and medals (27) in the history of the OWG. Gold of them were 13, silver - 6, bronze - 8. The second place was taken by the GDR national team with 135 points and 19 medals (7 + 5 + 7), the third - the USA with 73 points and 10 medals (3 + 3 + 4).
