# Alpine skiing at the 1972 Winter Olympics

Alpine skiing at the 1972 Winter Olympics consisted of six events, held February 5–13 near Sapporo, Japan. The downhills were held at Mount Eniwa, and the four technical events at Teine.

## Medal summary

Six nations won medals in alpine skiing; Switzerland led in medals with three gold, two silver, and a bronze. Switzerland's Marie-Theres Nadig led the individual medal table, with two gold medals. The top men's medalist was Gustav Thöni of Italy with a gold and a silver.
The gold medal won in the slalom by Francisco Fernández Ochoa was Spain's first medal at the Winter Olympics. Through 2018, it remains its only gold medal at the Winter Games.

### Medal table

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Switzerland (SUI) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| 2 | Italy (ITA) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | United States (USA) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | Spain (ESP) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Austria (AUT) | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 6 | France (FRA) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Totals (6 entries) | Totals (6 entries) | 6 | 6 | 6 | 18 |
Source:

### Men's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| Downhill details | Bernhard Russi Switzerland | 1:51.43 | Roland Collombin Switzerland | 1:52.07 | Heinrich Messner Austria | 1:52.40 |
| Giant slalom details | Gustav Thöni Italy | 3:09.62 | Edmund Bruggmann Switzerland | 3:10.75 | Werner Mattle Switzerland | 3:10.99 |
| Slalom details | Francisco Fernández Ochoa Spain | 1:49.27 | Gustav Thöni Italy | 1:50.28 | Roland Thöni Italy | 1:50.30 |
Source:

### Women's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| Downhill details | Marie-Theres Nadig Switzerland | 1:36.68 | Annemarie Moser-Pröll Austria | 1:37.00 | Susan Corrock United States | 1:37.68 |
| Giant slalom details | Marie-Theres Nadig Switzerland | 1:29.90 | Annemarie Moser-Pröll Austria | 1:30.75 | Wiltrud Drexel Austria | 1:32.35 |
| Slalom details | Barbara Cochran United States | 1:31.24 | Danièle Debernard France | 1:31.26 | Florence Steurer France | 1:32.69 |
Source:

## Course information

| Date | Race | Start Elevation | Finish Elevation | Vertical Drop | Course Length | Average Gradient |
| Mon 7-Feb | Downhill – men | 1,126 m (3,694 ft) | 354 m (1,161 ft) | 772 m (2,533 ft) | 2.636 km (1.638 mi) | 29.3% |
| Sat 5-Feb | Downhill – women | 870 m (2,854 ft) | 336 m (1,102 ft) | 534 m (1,752 ft) | 2.108 km (1.310 mi) | 25.3% |
| Wed 9-Feb | Giant slalom – men (1st run) | 952 m (3,123 ft) | 550 m (1,804 ft) | 402 m (1,319 ft) | 1.075 km (0.668 mi) | 37.4% |
| Thu 10-Feb | Giant slalom – men (2nd run) | 952 m (3,123 ft) | 550 m (1,804 ft) | 402 m (1,319 ft) | 1.089 km (0.677 mi) | 36.9% |
| Tue 8-Feb | Giant slalom – women | 982 m (3,222 ft) | 625 m (2,051 ft) | 357 m (1,171 ft) | 1.232 km (0.766 mi) | 29.0% |
| Sun 13-Feb | Slalom – men (2 runs) | 795 m (2,608 ft) | 567 m (1,860 ft) | 228 m (748 ft) | 0.531 km (0.330 mi) | 42.9% |
| Fri 11-Feb | Slalom – women (2 runs) | 751 m (2,464 ft) | 567 m (1,860 ft) | 184 m (604 ft) | 0.449 km (0.279 mi) | 34.3% |
Source:

## Participating nations

Twenty-seven nations sent alpine skiers to compete in the events in Sapporo. The Philippines and Chinese Taipei made their Olympic alpine skiing debuts. Below is a list of the competing nations; in parentheses are the number of national competitors.
| Argentina (2)  Australia (2)  Austria (13)  Belgium (1)  Bulgaria (2)  Canada (8)  France (12)  West Germany (11)  Great Britain (8) | Greece (3)  Iran (4)  Italy (8)  Japan (10)  Lebanon (1)  Liechtenstein (3)  New Zealand (2)  Norway (7)  Philippines (2) | Poland (2)  Republic of China (4)  Romania (2)  Soviet Union (4)  Spain (3)  Sweden (4)  Switzerland (12)  United States (13)  Yugoslavia (1) |

## World championships

From 1948 through 1980, the alpine skiing events at the Winter Olympics also served as the World Championships, held every two years. With the addition of the giant slalom, the combined event was dropped for 1950 and 1952, but returned as a World Championship event in 1954 as a "paper race" which used the results from the three events. During the Olympics from 1956 through 1980, World Championship medals were awarded by the FIS for the combined event. The combined returned as a separate event at the World Championships in 1982 and at the Olympics in 1988.