Topend Sports Logo

Host City: Sapporo 1972

The Winter Olympic Games were held in Sapporo, Japan, in 1972, between Feb 3-13. There was 35 Nations with 1006 participants competing in 35 events. The Soviet Union maintained its top position on the Winter Games medal tally.



Professionalism Controversy

The retiring IOC president Avery Brundage threatened to disqualify 40 Alpine skiers for taking money from ski product manufacturers. He ultimately made an example of just one skier, and barred Austrian Karl Schranz. Adding to the controversy, many other countries, including the US and the Soviet Union, had been routinely circumventing the IOC's amateur code for decades with no consequences. The Soviets were paying their athletes for jobs they never actually performed, while the Americans handed out athletic scholarships to thousands of athletes.

Trivia



Related Pages

send us a comment Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.

Olympics Extra

The next Olympics will be in Paris 2024, followed by the Winter edition in Milan-Cortina 2026. Check out the list of Olympic Games sports, as well as discontinued and demonstration sports.

Major Events Extra

The largest sporting event in the world is the Olympic Games, but there are many other multi-sport games. In terms of single sport events, nothing beats the FIFA World Cup. To see what's coming up, check out the calendar of major sporting events.

 → How to Cite