BBC ON THIS DAY | 11 | 1976: John Curry skates to Olympic gold About This Site | Text Only 1976: John Curry skates to Olympic gold Figure skater John Curry has won Britain's first Olympic gold in the sport. It is the country's first medal at the winter games for 12 years. Before tonight's winning performance, Britain's highest place in the men's figure skating had been fourth. Skating before a crowd of 10,000 in Innsbruck's Olympic Eisstadion, Curry took to the ice leading the field after the first two stages of the men's figure skating. His five minute performance was described by The Times as "masterly in its cool beauty of movement". Showered with carnations He executed three immaculate triple jumps, but it was his artistic interpretation of the music that put his performance above those of his rivals. The nine judges gave him a forest of 5.9s for both technical merit and artistic impression. The Soviet judge was a bit tougher with 5.8 and 5.9 and the Canadian judge gave him two 5.8s.

The 26-year-old from Birmingham was showered with carnations as he paused on the ice at the end of his performance to give his mother a wave across the stadium. Another British skater, Robin Cousins, finished 10th and Glyn Jones finished 16th. Curry shared the medal podium with Vladimir Kovalyov, of the Soviet Union, who took silver and Canadian Toller Cranston who secured the bronze. Afterwards he said: "I shall go to the world championships and then perhaps I shall retire from amateur skating. Perhaps I might form a theatre of amateur skating." He said he had enjoyed the Olympic competition more than he thought, "It's been very exciting - the perfect end to my amateur career and the perfect start to my professional career - I hope." Curry told a news conference two weeks ago he had had no intention of becoming a skater. Dancing was his first love but his father, a precision engineer, did not approve. Then at the age of seven, he saw one of the Wembley ice pantomimes on television and was immediately captivated by skating.

He went on to win his first competition at the age of eight - and in 1967 he won the British Junior championship. He took 11th place in the Sapporo Olympics and since then has continuously held the British championship. For the past three years he has been training in the United States with the US women's champion, Dorothy Hamill, under coach Carlo Fassi. 1976 Olympics 1976 Olympics Speed Skating The IOC originally gave the 1976 Winter Games to Denver, but in 1972 Colorado voters rejected a $5 million bond issue to finance the undertaking. Denver immediately withdrew as host and the IOC called on Innsbruck, site of the 1964 Games. For the second straight Winter Carnival the USSR and East Germany finished 1–2 in overall medals. In 1972, Dutch speed skater Ard Schenk and Soviet cross-country skier Galina Kulakova each won three gold medals. In '76, nobody won three, but 25–year-old West German skier Rosi Mittermaier almost did—winning two golds and a silver in the women's Alpine events.

The Russian hockey team, which had won the gold medal in 1972 and then battled the NHL's Team Canada to a virtual standoff six months later, returned with most of the same players and won its fourth straight Olympic title. In figure skating, 19–year-old Dorothy Hamill of the U.S. and John Curry of Britain won gold medals. Both were coached by Carlo Fassi, who also coached Peggy Fleming in 1968. Also, Bill Koch became the first U.S. skier to ever win an Olympic cross-country medal when he placed second in the 30–kilometer race. John Curry 1976 Innsbruck Olympics LP - YouTube John Curry 1976 Innsbruck Olympics LP Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later.

Uploaded on Nov 29, 2009 John Curry 1976 Innsbruck Olympics LP Gold Medal 1976 Innsbruck Winter Games | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com 1976 Innsbruck Winter Games Host City: Innsbruck, Austria (February 3, 1976 to February 15, 1976) Opening Ceremony: February 4, 1976 (opened by President Dr.

Rudolf Kirchschläger) Lighter of the Olympic Flame: Josef Feistmantl Takers of the Olympic Oath: Werner Delle Karth (athlete) and Willi Köstinger (official) Closing Ceremony: February 15, 1976 Events: 37 in 10 sports Participants: 1,129 (897 men and 231 women) from 37 countries Youngest Participant: Yelena Vodorezova (12 years, 266 days) Oldest Participant: Franz Krienbühl (46 years, 327 days) Most Medals (Athlete): Soviet Union (27 medals) Overview In May 1970, the IOC awarded the 12th Olympic Winter Games to Denver, Colorado – and later rued the choice. The citizens of Denver, probably prompted at least in part by the debacle that was occurring with the wanton spending in Montreal for 1976, did not want the Olympics. They were also very concerned about the environmental impact that would be made by construction of all the sporting facilities.

In November 1972, a public referendum voted against the Olympics and on 12 November 1972, Denver informed the IOC that they would not host the 1976 Olympic Winter Games. On short notice, the IOC turned to Innsbruck again, choosing that city over quickly organized bids from Lake Placid, Mont Blanc (FRA), and Tampere (FIN). And once again Innsbruck demonstrated how well an Olympic Winter Games could be staged. » Click to show/hide rest of overview It was lucky for the Winter Olympics that in 1972 [Lord Killanin] succeeded [Avery Brundage] as IOC President. Brundage had developed a hatred of the Olympic Winter Games, feeling that they were too commercialized. At his farewell address to the IOC, Brundage stated that he hoped, )the Winter Olympics receive a decent burial in Denver.) Killanin wrote in his autobiography (My Olympic Years) that Brundage was pleased when Denver's Organizing Committee began to have problems.

Killanin himself noted, )I am sure that there will be some people in the IOC who will favor winding up the Winter Olympics altogether.) Fortunately, Innsbruck saved the Winter Olympic idea. The only problem Innsbruck had, as always seems to be the case, was a lack of snow prior to the Olympics. The Austrian army was again enlisted, as in 1964, to pack the ski runs with snow hauled in from local mountaintops. Fortunately, a huge storm one week before the Olympic solved the problem. The competitions were well contested though no single athlete could be said to dominate, as in years past. [Rosi Mittermaier] (FRG) was perhaps the most publicized. She won the downhill and slalom early in the Games and had a chance to equal the feats of [Toni Sailer] and [Jean-Claude Killy] by winning the giant slalom. Older than many of the competitors, close to retirement, and born nearby, just across the German border at [Reit im Winkl], she was a heavy sentimental favorite. But it was not to be.

Canada's [Kathy Kreiner] defeated Rosi by only 12/100th's of a second, but did not diminish her smile. The most dramatic event was the hometown victory of Austria's [Franz Klammer] in the downhill. Klammer skiied on the edge throughout his run, to narrowly defeat Switzerland's [Bernhard Russi]. Some people wished to rename the [Patscherkofel] course the Klammerkofel to honor his victory. In figure skating, [Irina Rodnina] (URS) again won a pairs gold medal, but with a different partner than in 1972. In men's figure skating Britain's [John Curry] and Canada's [Toller Cranston] introduced a more balletic style than in years past. Among the women, [Dorothy Hamill] of the United States became a camera favorite with her pixie looks, spright-like hairdo, and omnipresent squint, as she competed without her contact lenses. In winning the gold medal, she also proved she could skate more than a little bit, too. Innsbruck succeeded.

The Austrian town had overcome the problems that had beset Denver and the Olympic Winter idea and brought back sanity to the Winter Olympics. Although there were political problems in 1980 prior to the Winter Olympics, since 1976 no Olympic Winter city has had significant problems or controversies while hosting the Olympics. Innsbruck saved the Olympic Winter Games. Country Medal Leaders A Sports Reference Site : About SR/Olympics | Privacy Statement | Conditions & Terms of Service | Use of Data Data provided by OlyMADMen , led by Hilary Evans, Arild Gjerde, Jeroen Heijmans, and Bill Mallon. Members: David Foster, Martin Frank, Jørn Jensen, Carl-Johan Johansson, Taavi Kalju, Martin Kellner, George Masin, Stein Opdahl, Wolf Reinhardt, Ralf Regnitter, Paul Tchir, Magne Teigen, Christian Tugnoli, Morten Aarlia Torp, and Ralf Schlüter. Sports Reference LLC and are not sponsored by or affiliated with the Olympics, the United States Olympic Committee or the International Olympic Committee.

Trademarks featured or referred to on this website are the property of their respective trademark holders and not Sports Reference LLC or . Part of the Figure Skating at the 1976 Innsbruck Winter Games: Men's Singles | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com Figure Skating at the 1976 Innsbruck Winter Games: Men's Singles Venue(s): Olympic Ice Stadium, Innsbruck Date Started: February 8, 1976 Date Finished: February 11, 1976 Format: Each judge ranked each skater by Ordinal Placement from first through last place. The Ordinal Placement for each judge was based on Total Points awarded by that judge to the skaters. The points were based on 30% for Compulsory Figures, 20% for the Short Program, and 50% for Free Skating, with the tiebreaker for each judge being the Free Skating score. Final placement was determined by a Majority Placement rule. Thus, if a skater was ranked first by a majority of the judges, that skater was placed first overall, and the process was repeated for each place.

Ties were broken by a Subsequent Majority rule, i.e., if the skaters were ranked for the same position by the same number of judges, Majority Placement for the next higher position for each skater determined who was ranked higher. The tiebreakers were then 1) Number of Majority Placements, 2) Total Ordinals of Majority, 3) Total Ordinals, 4) Total Points. Gold: Toller Cranston Summary The competition was expected to come down to the artistic [John Curry] (GBR) against the powerful athleticism of the Soviet’s [Vladimir Kovalyov]. Prior to 1976, Curry had never defeated Kovalyov in a major event, but shortly before the Innsbruck Olympics, Curry won the European Championships, with Kovalyov second. European judges’ criticism of Curry’s skating was that it was too feminine and not athletic enough. By the time of the Olympics, Curry had supplemented his programs with enough jumps to satisfy the judges. In the competition, [Sergey Volkov] (URS) took the lead after the compulsories with Curry second and Kovalyov third.

Curry then moved into the lead, placing second in the short program to Canada’s [Toller Cranston]. Kovalyov had problems in the short, placing only sixth, and dropping to fourth place overall, behind Curry, Volkov, and East Germany’s [Jan Hoffmann]. Curry won the free skating to secure the gold medal. Kovalyov placed only fourth in that phase but moved up to the silver medal as Volkov and Hoffmann struggled. Cranston, fifth after the short program, placed second in the free skate to win the bronze medal. Curry was an openly gay skater, as was Cranston, and would later die from AIDS in 1994. American [Terry Kubicka] performed a back flip, then still allowed and the first at the Winter Olympics, but he was not rewarded by the judges. Curry was coached by [Carlo Fassi], who also coached the 1976 women’s gold medalist, [Dorothy Hamill].

A Sports Reference Site : About SR/Olympics | Privacy Statement | Conditions & Terms of Service | Use of Data Data provided by OlyMADMen , led by Hilary Evans, Arild Gjerde, Jeroen Heijmans, and Bill Mallon. Members: David Foster, Martin Frank, Jørn Jensen, Carl-Johan Johansson, Taavi Kalju, Martin Kellner, George Masin, Stein Opdahl, Wolf Reinhardt, Ralf Regnitter, Paul Tchir, Magne Teigen, Christian Tugnoli, Morten Aarlia Torp, and Ralf Schlüter. Sports Reference LLC and are not sponsored by or affiliated with the Olympics, the United States Olympic Committee or the International Olympic Committee. Trademarks featured or referred to on this website are the property of their respective trademark holders and not Sports Reference LLC or .

Part of the From the Observer archive, 8 February 1976: triumph of John Curry, the ballet boy who took to the ice | News | The Guardian From the Observer archive, 8 February 1976: triumph of John Curry, the ballet boy who took to the ice Our correspondent thrills to the skater's grace and elegance ahead of his victory at the Winter Olympics 'An alliance of athleticism and music': John Curry at Innsbruck in 1976. Photograph: Tony Duffy/Getty Images Christopher Brasher Saturday 8 February 2014 19.05 EST First published on Saturday 8 February 2014 19.05 EST Share on Messenger Close On Wednesday night, before an audience of well over 10 million British viewers, John Curry will break through a barrier of British inhibition: the belief that ballet dancing is not manly. Because John Curry, the son of a man who owned a precision engineering factory in Birmingham, was dissuaded by his father from becoming a ballet dancer. "It is," said his father, "no career for a man." But the ambition of a boy will not be denied. So Curry transferred his allegiance to a sport.

He became an ice skater and on Wednesday he will lift the hearts of millions of people as he performs his free-skating programme in the ice stadium of Innsbruck. In doing so, he may win an Olympic gold medal – he is the current favourite – but it doesn't matter if he does not do so. After all, Janet Lynn, that elfin American blonde who wooed the world four years ago at the Sapporo Olympic stadium, only won a bronze medal, but the world acknowledged her as the greatest free skater of her time. It was art – one of those rare moments when sport becomes an expression of spirit. And they are rare: I can only recollect Larissa Latynina, the Russian gymnast, her body flowing, defying gravity. John Curry does the same for me and the fact that he comes from the most unlikely background adds to the wonder. He was born 26 years ago in Birmingham. As a seven-year-old, he had seen skating on television and realised, even at that age, that this was a sport that included an element of spiritual expression. He had the luck to find a teacher who believed in basic technique, Ken Vickers.

At 16, John went to Richmond in Surrey, where Arnold Gerschwiler was the resident coach. Gerschwiler has produced 14 European champions, eight world champions and two Olympic gold medallists. A world champion needs two things: ability and the will to fight. He saw in Curry the ability. But they clashed, principally because John put art first, while Gerschwiler put sport first. At Richmond, life was not easy. He worked part-time, earning about £13 a week, and his skating bills came to £12.50. It was a recipe for misery. Always tired, and penniless, he very nearly retired. Then in 1973 he was approached by the American sponsor Ed Moser, who said: "I would like to help you.'' From then on, Curry could pick his coach from among the world's best. He went first to Gus Lussi and then to Carlo Fassi. Both say John had everything needed to be a champion; it was only a question of belief in himself. Curry has changed greatly in this last year. He can now rid himself of his nervousness before an event. And he has learned to compromise.

"The jumps used to be incidental to the choreography but now the jumps are the most important part of the programme. And I'm really enjoying myself." So it is less a compromise, more an alliance of music and athleticism, blended together with elegance and grace. This is an edited extract 1976 Olympics 1976 Olympics Innsbruck The IOC originally gave the 1976 Winter Games to Denver, but in 1972 Colorado voters rejected a $5 million bond issue to finance the undertaking. Denver immediately withdrew as host and the IOC called on Innsbruck, site of the 1964 Games. For the second straight Winter Carnival the USSR and East Germany finished 1–2 in overall medals. In 1972, Dutch speed skater Ard Schenk and Soviet cross-country skier Galina Kulakova each won three gold medals. In '76, nobody won three, but 25–year-old West German skier Rosi Mittermaier almost did—winning two golds and a silver in the women's Alpine events.

The Russian hockey team, which had won the gold medal in 1972 and then battled the NHL's Team Canada to a virtual standoff six months later, returned with most of the same players and won its fourth straight Olympic title. In figure skating, 19–year-old Dorothy Hamill of the U.S. and John Curry of Britain won gold medals. Both were coached by Carlo Fassi, who also coached Peggy Fleming in 1968. Also, Bill Koch became the first U.S. skier to ever win an Olympic cross-country medal when he placed second in the 30–kilometer race. Top 10 Standings National medal standings are not recognized by the IOC. The unofficial point totals are based on 3 points for a gold medal, 2 for a silver and 1 for a bronze. Total medals are in parentheses. Innsbruck 1976 Winter Olympics - results & video highlights Official Reports arrow Denver pulls out The 1976 Games had been awarded to Denver, but the people of the state of Colorado voted to prohibit public funds from being used to support the Games. Innsbruck offered to step in and its offer was accepted by the IOC Executive Board.

The city had previously hosted the Winter Games 12 years earlier. Downhill drama The most memorable image of the Games was local hero Franz Klammer flying wildly down the downhill course, barely in control, on his way to a gold medal. Rosi Mittermaier of West Germany won two of the three Alpine skiing events and almost became the first woman to win all three. But in the final race, Canada’s Kathy Kreiner beat her by 12 hundredths of a second. Debuts and firsts Ice dancing debuted as a full medal discipline and was dominated by the Russians. In figure skating, American Terry Kubicka performed a back flip - the first time in the history of figure skating this dangerous move had been successfully performed. Elegant and athletic British figure skater John Curry tended to emphasise grace and artistic expression over athleticism, an approach that had cost him points with the judges in the past. But in Innsbruck he combined his natural elegance with a series of stunning jumps and was rewarded with the highest points total in the history of men's figure skating.

NOCs: 37 Athletes: 1,123 (231 women, 892 men) Events: 37 Media: n/a Denver's withdrawal The Games had been awarded to the city of Denver but the city withdrew on 15 November 1972 following a referendum which rejected the building of Olympic facilities for ecological reasons. Innsbruck offered to step in. It was accepted by the IOC as host city of these Games on 4 February 1973. Two cauldrons This was the second time the Games had taken place in this city, the first being in 1964. For this reason, two Olympic cauldrons were lit. New on the programme Olympic debut for ice dancing. The first back flip For the first time in the history of figure skating, a competitor (Terry Kubicka, USA) attempted, and succeeded, a dangerous back flip. Ceremonies 4 February 1976: There were two Olympic cauldrons, to celebrate not only the present Games but also the previous time they had been held in Innsbruck, 1964.

Official opening of the Games by: President Dr Rudolf Kirschschläger Lighting of the Olympic Flame by: Two cauldrons were lit as a symbol of Winter Games being held twice in Innsbruck. The cauldron of 1964 was lit by Christl Haas (Alpine skiing) and the 1976 cauldron was ignited by Josef Feistmantl (luge). Olympic Oath by: Officials' Oath by: Willy Köstinger (Nordic combined) The emblem represents the coat of arms of the city of Innsbruck, showing the bridge on the Inn which gives the city its name. The bridge and the five Olympic rings symbolize the link between the various peoples and the ties of friendship binding the young athletes of all nations for whom Innsbruck was once again a meeting place in 1976. As was the case for the 1964 Innsbruck Games, the winners’ medal was created by the Viennese artist Martha Coufal-Hartl. The medals were produced by the Austrian mint in Vienna.

The obverse depicts the emblem of the Games (the same as the 1964 Games), comprising the Olympic rings and the coat of arms of the city showing the bridge on the Inn which gives the city of Innsbruck its name. For centuries, this bridge has been the link between the old town and the Hötting district. It symbolizes friendship and the people of the world coming together. Total distance: 1 618 km in Austria Countries crossed: Greece, Austria More info Guided by the principle of not showing one sporting discipline in particular, Arthur Zelger the designer of the poster created a neutral poster, showing a skate, a common feature of winter sports. This skate symbolizes all the disciplines found in the Winter Games: a ski run, a sledge or bobsleigh and the blade of a skate. The white rectangle on the tip makes the “I” of Innsbruck. On the right, in the background, the coloured peaks symbolize the Tyrolean mountains. Entitled “Final report”, the official report of the XII Olympic Winter Games, Innsbruck 1976, was the first one published in a trilingual version – French, English and German.

The A-to-Z of the Winter Olympics | Sport | The Guardian Winter Olympics 2006 The A-to-Z of the Winter Olympics The Games begin today. Stephen Moss offers a guide to curling, Klammer and careering downhill on a biscuit tin Bob de Jong of the Netherlands Olympic speed skating team works out at the Oval Lingotto in Turin. Photograph: Jasper Juinen/AP Friday 10 February 2006 10.58 EST First published on Friday 10 February 2006 10.58 EST Close A A is for Alain Baxter, the Scottish skier who came third in the slalom at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City but was disqualified because he tested positive for methamphetamine. Sounds sinister but the probable source was a nasal spray Baxter was taking for a cold. Baxter will be seeking redemption in Turin, competing alongside his younger brother Noel. Unfortunately, since Salt Lake City, Baxter Senior's career has gone downhill. A is also for Jeanette Altwegg, who won figure skating gold for Britain in Oslo in 1952.

Altwegg was also an excellent tennis player, and reached the Wimbledon junior final in 1947. B B is for Bolero, an extremely irritating orchestral piece by Maurice Ravel (founder of the eponymous chain of shoe shops). As well as being the music that Torvill and Dean danced to in their famous gold medal-winning performance in Sarajevo in 1984, it was also used by Bo Derek to seduce Dudley Moore in the film 10. B is also for the Brians - the American Brian Boitano and the Canadian Brian Orser - who fought an epic battle for skating gold in the 1988 Games in Calgary. But only Winter Olympics anoraks will be interested in that. And Canadians, of course. C C is for curling, in which Britain (well, Scotland actually - all the team were from north of the border) grabbed a dramatic gold at Salt Lake City in 2002. The sport is magnificently loopy: one team member launches a giant "stone" weighing 42lb along the ice while his - or in this case her - team-mates sweep the ice with brushes to speed its progress towards the "house".

Like bowls but without the edge-of-the-seat excitement. C is also for Curry and Cousins. John Curry won the figure skating gold for Britain in the 1976 Games in Innsbruck. Robin Cousins followed suit - a rather natty, tight-fitting one - four years later at Lake Placid in New York state. Both won BBC Sports Personality of the Year. This was the golden age of British ice skating. Now we have to make do with former soap stars making fools of themselves on ITV's Dancing on Ice. C is also for Chamonix, where the first Winter Olympics were held in 1924. D D is for death and destruction, which ensured that the ill-fated 1940 Winter Games did not take place. They had originally been due to be held in Sapporo, but that plan was abandoned when Japan invaded China. Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, the venue in 1936, was then asked to act as host again, but Germany invaded Poland. That was it until St Moritz in 1948. D is also for downhill skiing, a rather ridiculous name since it presupposes that there is uphill skiing.

E E is for Eddie "the Eagle" Edwards, Britain's most famous Olympic ski jumper. In fact, Britain's only Olympic ski jumper. He competed at Calgary in 1988, coming 56th out of 57 entrants. (The 57th was disqualified.) The 24-year-old plasterer with the dumpy frame and thick, owlish spectacles was a curiosity beside the sleek Finns and angular Austrians. The French called him "Le Benny Hill du ski", an Italian journalist called him a "ski-dropper" rather than a ski-jumper, and his jump of 71 metres was about half the length of the Finn who won. But the public adored him, and Eddie (his real name is Michael) became a media sensation - easily the most famous athlete at the Calgary Games. His single, Fly Eddie Fly, was a top 50 hit in the UK, Mun Nimeni on Eetu (My Name is Eddie) reached number two in the Finnish charts, and he wrote a book called Eddie on the Piste. The International Olympic Committee didn't share the joke.

In 1990, it changed the qualification rules in an attempt to ensure that no one quite as bad as Eddie could ever compete again. It seems to have worked, because he has failed in all his subsequent attempts at qualification. F F is for Florence (usually called Madge) Syers, the Brit who won the first ever figure skating gold, at the London Games in 1908 (the Winter Olympics had yet to be hived off as a separate event). Figure skating then was quite different from its modern (rather carnal) incarnation. Photographs of Syers show her competing in long skirt, large hat and billowing blouse. It's unlikely that any triple lutzes were attempted. G G is for global warming, which must be a bit of a worry for the organisers of the Winter Olympics. The Games of 2106, which will have to be held at the Amundsen-Scott Station in Antarctica, are likely to be an intimate gathering. G is also for Lord Glentoran, the Eton-educated Tory peer who, as Robin Dixon (more properly, Thomas Robin Valerian Dixon), won gold in the two-man bobsleigh at Innsbruck in 1964.

Actually, this being the two-man bob, it wasn't just him. He was partnered by RAF man Tony Nash. H H is for Sonja Henie, the Norwegian who is generally regarded as the greatest figure skater of all time. She won gold at the Winter Olympics of 1928, 1932 and 1936, before quitting the sport to become a star of ice carnivals and movies. Her films, which include Thin Ice, Happy Landing and Wintertime, would not win high marks for artistic impression. H is also for high security. Italy was a prominent supporter of the Iraq war and, fearing reprisals, Turin is on terrorism alert, with police snipers on duty at all venues, watching out for suspicious men on skis carrying rucksacks. I I is for ice hockey, a ludicrous sport in which men and women in padded outfits hurtle round the ice knocking each other over and trying to smash a small disc into a tiny goal guarded by a huge goalkeeper with a face mask. Very big in Canada. Amazingly, Britain won the ice hockey gold in 1936, beating the Canadians (who had won the previous four Olympic titles) in the final.

Ten of the 12 British players were based in Canada. J J is for Jamaica, whose bobsleigh team won the hearts of spectators at the 1988 Calgary Olympics (at least those that weren't already devoted to Eddie the Eagle). Their exploits at the Calgary Games - mainly a catalogue of crashes - were retold in the movie Cool Runnings, and the team became an institution at subsequent Winter Olympics. Sadly, the Jamaicans failed to qualify for Turin. K K is for Kristan Bromley (aka Dr Ice), Britain's best hope of a medal this year, in the skeleton bobsleigh - a sled about the same size and shape as a biscuit tin. Called Dr Ice because he has an an engineering PhD - in bob-skeleton design, handily. May even win gold if all goes well. K is also for John and Sinead Kerr, the Scottish brother and sister team who have hopes (albeit more remote than Dr Ice's) of an ice dancing medal. John likes to dress in a kilt. Though not while he's competing, obviously.

K is also for Franz Klammer and Jean-Claude Killy, both legendary skiers but, sadly for them, not British, and therefore skated over rather quickly here. L L is for Sir Arnold Lunn, who invented Alpine skiing and successfully lobbied for its introduction at the Games of 1936. Until then, skiing at the Olympics had been of the dull Nordic variety, with lots of ultra-fit Norwegians skiing for miles across country and no hair-raising (and highly televisual) thrills and spills. One of these ultra-fit Norwegians complained that a Brit altering the rules of skiing was like an Eskimo rewriting the laws of cricket. We are also about as successful at skiing as the Eskimos XI is at cricket. L is also for luge, a tiny sled similar to the skeleton bobsleigh. The main difference is that competitors hurtle downhill feet first on the luge and head first on the skeleton bob (or is it the other way round?) Crazy and very dangerous however you do it. The Germans always win the luge. But that has to be better than them invading Poland.

M M is for McDonald's, a "Worldwide Olympic Partner" which is using the Games in Turin to launch "a major global initiative to promote a balanced, active lifestyle". See also Olympic torch, attacks on. N N is for nightmare scenario, which predicts that Turin will grind to a halt during the 17 days of the Olympics because of lack of planning and poor transport. "My biggest fear is that there is going to be traffic chaos on the road up to the mountains," says one IOC official. Surprisingly, the Italians are behind schedule in their preparations, with one of the Olympic villages still not quite fin... O O is for Olympic torch, the internationally recognised symbol of love, peace, universal brotherhood and the mass immolation of doves. Unfortunately, the Italians don't seem to have got the message, because wherever the torch has been taken in Italy it has been assailed by demonstrators. Anti-globalisation protesters, opponents of a proposed high-speed rail link, and people angry at the commercialisation of the Games have all blocked its progress. It was also held up by heavy snow in northern Italy. P P is for piste, a slope prepared for skiing.

Key word for punning sub-editors and writers of sporting autobiographies (see Eddie "the Eagle" Edwards). Q Q is for queues. See nightmare scenario. R R is for Rhona Martin, captain of the women's curling team that won gold for Britain in 2002. She will again carry a proud nation's hopes on her shoulders in Turin. (Important note: it's women curlers; not women in curlers.) S S is for Squaw Valley, an obscure skiing resort in California that hosted the 1960 Games, despite the fact that, when it was chosen five years earlier, it had just one 50-room hotel and a single chairlift. S is also for snowboarding, the hippest discipline (sic) at the Winter Olympics. Snowboarding joined the Olympic "family" in 1998, as a sort of rebellious, long-haired younger son. The winner of the first snowboarding gold, Ross Rebagliati, was disqualified when a routine drug test found traces of cannabis. Many aficionados of the sport argued that snowboarders should only be disqualified if they hadn't been taking cannabis.

T T is for Turin, which was chosen as host of the 20th Winter Olympics in 1999, beating Helsinki, Klagenfurt, Zakopane, Sion and Poprad-Tatry to the prize. The Games include 84 events; 252 medals are up for grabs; there are 2,600 athletes from 82 countries, 2,500 officials, and 10,000 journalists. (Lucky the Games aren't being held at Squaw Valley.) T is also for Torvill and Dean, who are to ice dancing what Pearl and Dean were to cinema advertising. At the Sarajevo games in 1984, T&D won gold with an unforgettable performance watched by an estimated 24 million people in the UK.

They gained maximum marks from all the judges (even the dodgy east European ones) for artistic impression, the Queen sent a message of congratulation, and Jayne Torvill found the words to crown a magical occasion - "I just want to say hello and thank the people of Nottingham." T is also for Italian skiing superstar Alberto Tomba (nicknamed "Tomba la Bomba"), the tubby, charismatic playboy who won three golds at the Games of 1988 and 1992. U U is for the USSR, which was top nation in 1956, 1960, 1964, 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1988, but doesn't seem to have done much recently. V V is for vertigo, which is what the compulsive television watcher is likely to suffer over the next 17 days. W W is for Katarina Witt, the elegant East German figure skater who won consecutive golds in 1984 and 1988. Used to infuriate officials by skating in outrageously skimpy outfits and, after her retirement, posed nude for Playboy.

A lot more fun to google than Eddie "the Eagle" Edwards. (Note to Guardian technology support team: I really did view AskMen.com and retroCRUSH: the barely legal pleasure palace, in the interests of research.) X X is for X-certificate. See Katarina Witt above. Y Y is for Yemen, which is sending a crack team of skiiers to the Games. OK, that was a feeble attempt at humour - they're not sending anyone. But look out for Mathieu Razanakolona from Madagascar in the giant slalom, Sarah Ben Mansour from Morocco in the Alpine skiing, and Noureddine Maurice Bentoumi of Algeria in the cross-country skiing. Who said the Winter Olympics weren't a global event? Z Z is for, yes you guessed it, Zzzzzzzzzz, which is what today's four-hour opening ceremony is likely to induce. Z is also for Sarka Zahrobska, the Czech skier who carries with her the best wishes of all compilers of alphabetical guides to the Winter Olympics.

Question: In which Winter Olympics city did John Curry win gold in 1976?
Answer: INNSBRUCK