Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

was the host nation for the

1972 Winter Olympics The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially the and commonly known as Sapporo 1972 ( ja, 札幌1972), was a winter multi-sport event held from February 3 to 13, 1972, in Sapporo, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to take place outside Europe ...

in Sapporo. It was the first time that Japan had hosted the Winter Olympic Games, but second time overall after the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

in Tokyo. It was also the first Winter Olympic Games held in Asia. The host nation sent 90 athletes, consisting of 70 men and 20 women, along with 20 officers. The flag bearer for the Japanese team, Mineyuki Mashiko did not participate in the game, but instead held the position of team manager. Three Japanese ski jumpers swept the medals in the normal hill event, becoming national heroes. This achievement also made Yukio Kasaya the first gold medalist for Japan at the Winter Olympic Games. He was also the first ever Asian to win a Winter Olympic gold medal.

Medalists

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Alpine skiing

;Men ;Men's slalom ;Women

Biathlon

;Men : ¹ One minute added per close miss (a hit in the outer ring), two minutes added per complete miss. ;Men's 4 x 7.5 km relay : ² A penalty loop of 200 metres had to be skied per missed target.

Bobsleigh

Cross-country skiing

;Men ;Men's 4 × 10 km relay ;Women ;Women's 3 × 5 km relay

Figure skating

;Men ;Women ;Pairs

Ice hockey

First round

Winners (in bold) entered the Medal Round. Other teams played a consolation round for 7th-11th places.

Consolation round

*Japan 3-3 Switzerland *Japan 3-2 Yugoslavia *Japan 4-5 Norway *Japan 7-6 West Germany

Luge

;Men (Men's) Doubles ;Women

Nordic combined

Events: * normal hill ski jumping * 15 km cross-country skiing

Ski jumping

Speed skating

;Men ;Women

References

Official Olympic ReportsInternational Olympic Committee results database

Olympic Winter Games 1972, full results by sports-reference.com
{{Nations at the 1972 Winter Olympics Nations at the 1972 Winter Olympics

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

Winter Olympics