1976_Winter_Olympics

1976 Winter Olympics

The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated February 4-15, 1976 in Innsbruck, Austria. It was the second time the Tyrolean city hosted the Games.

Following the Munich Massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics, security was tight for the 1976 games.

Host selection

The cities of Denver, Colorado, United States; Sion, Switzerland; Tampere, Finland; and Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, made bids for the Games.

The games were originally awarded to Denver in May 1970, but a 300 percent rise in costs and worries about environmental impact led to Colorado voters' rejection in November 7, 1972, by a 3 to 2 margin, of a $5 million bond issue to finance the games with public funds.

Denver officially withdrew on November 15th, and the IOC then offered the games to Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, but they too declined owing to a change of government following elections. (Whistler would go on to be associated with neighboring Vancouver's successful bid for the 2010 games.)

Salt Lake City, Utah, which would eventually host in 2002 offered itself as a potential host after the withdrawal of Denver. The IOC, still reeling from the Denver rejection, declined and selected Innsbruck on February 5, 1973; it had hosted the 1964 games nine years earlier.

The chart below displays the original vote count for the 69th IOC Session at Amsterdam, Netherlands, in 1970, before the Denver rejection and the installation of Innsbruck, Austria, as alternate host.

ORIGINAL 1976 Winter Olympics Bidding Results
City	NOC Name	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3
Denver, Colorado		29	29	39
Sion		18	31	30
Tampere		12	8	-
Vancouver-Garibaldi, British Columbia		9	-	-

Highlights

Austrian favorite Franz Klammer won the men's downhill alpine skiing event in a total time of 1:45.73, after great pressure from his country and defending champion Bernhard Russi of Switzerland.
Media darling Dorothy Hamill of the United States won the Gold in Ladies Figure Skating, and inspired the popular "wedge" haircut.
Elegant British skater John Curry altered his routine to appeal to Olympic judges, winning gold.
American skater Terry Kubicka attempted - and completed - a dangerous backflip in figure skating.
West German skier Rosi Mittermaier almost swept the women's Alpine events, earning two golds and a silver, losing the third gold by an agonizing 13/100ths of a second.
Speed skating saw Soviet Tatiana Averina win four medals. Also, the U.S. team earned six of its 10 total medals in speed skating events.
In the 4-man bobsled, the East German team won for the first time of what would be 3 consecutive titles.
The USSR won its fourth straight ice hockey gold medal; Canada, for the second straight time, refused to send a team.
Sports technology, in the guise of innovative perforated skis, sleek hooded suits and streamlined helmets appeared in Alpine skiing, speed skating and ski jumping, making headlines in Innsbruck.
A second cauldron was built to represent the 1976 Games, and both the 1964 and 1976 cauldrons were lit.
The Soviet Union won the games with 13 gold medals, 6 silver medals and 8 bronze medals.
The mascot was the Tyrolean snowman.

Venues

Bergisel - ski jumping
Igls bobsleigh and luge track
Patscherkofel - men's alpine skiing - downhill
Axamer Lizum - women's alpine skiing, men's alpine skiing (giant slalom and slalom)

Winter map - Innsbruck area

Medals awarded

Ice dancing made its debut to the Olympics.

See the medal winners, ordered by sport:

Participating nations

37 Nations Participated in the 1976 Winter Olympic Games. The '76 Winter Olympics marked the final time the Republic of China participated under the Republic of China flag and name. After most of the international community recognized the People's Republic of China as the legitimate government of all China, the ROC was forced to compete under the name Chinese Taipei, under an altered flag and to use its National Banner Song instead of its national anthem. Andorra and San Marino participated in their first Winter Olympic Games.