1. 1972 Winter Olympics Sapporo, Japan

2. XI Olympic Winter Games
It was the first Winter Olympics to be held outside Europe and North America
Also, only the third game (summer or winter) held outside those regions over all, after Melbourne (1956) and Tokyo (1964)

3. On a historical note, these Games are the last where a skier won the gold medal using all-wooden skis
Since this time, top-level cross-country skiers use skis made mostly of fiberglass synthetics
Luge had its only tie in the history of the Winter Olympics in the men's doubles event

4. Three days before the Games, controversy over amateur status arose
IOC president Avery Brundage threatened to disqualify 40 alpine skiers who received endorsement and other deals
Austrian skier Karl Schranz, who received over $50,000 per year from ski manufacturers, was banned as an example
Meanwhile, Canada refused to send an ice hockey team, maintaining that professional ice hockey players from Communist nations were allowed to compete with no restrictions

5. Highlights
Magnar Solberg from Norway was the first repeat winner in the individual 20 km biathlon event
Galina Kulakova of the USSR won all three cross-country skiing events for women
Dutch skater Ard Schenk won three gold medals in speed skating

6. American Highlights
In Women's Alpine Skiing, American Barbara Ann Cochran, one of three siblings on the U.S. Ski Team, surprised the world and became the first U.S. woman since Andrea Mead Lawrence to win a Gold Medal in Skiing
she took first place in the Slalom with an excellent first run backed up by an even better second run
American speed skaters Anne Henning and Dianne Holum made the United States' best showing in the Winter Games, winning two gold, a silver, and a bronze

7. Participating Nations
35 nations participated in the 1972 Winter Olympics
The Republic of China (commonly known as Taiwan) and the Philippines participated in their first Winter Olympic Games

9. Medal Count
Prior to these games, Japan had never won a gold medal in the Winter Olympics
The host country shone in Sapporo when three Japanese athletes, swept the ski jumping 70m event
Spain scored its first Winter gold medal courtesy of slalom skier Francisco Fernández Ochoa
The Soviet Union led all nations with 8 gold and 16 total medals
East Germany finished second with 14 total medals

10. 1972 Summer Olympics Munich, Germany

11. Games of the XX Olympiad
The Olympic mascot, the dachshund "Waldi", was the first officially named Olympic mascot
Handball (last held in 1936) and Archery (last held in 1920) returned as Olympic sports after a long absence
Slalom canoeing was held for the first time at the Olympics

12. Australian swimmer Shane Gould won three gold medals, a silver, and a bronze medal at the age of 15
Wim Ruska became the first judoka to win two gold medals
Dan Gable won the gold medal in wrestling without having a single point scored against him

14. Olga Korbut, a Soviet gymnast, became a media star after winning a gold medal in the team competition event
failing to win in the individual all-around after a fall, she finally won two gold medals in the Balance Beam and the floor exercise events

15. Dave Wottle won the men's 800m
after being last for the first 600m, he started to pass runner after runner up the final straightaway, finally grabbing the lead in the final 18 meters to win by 0.03 seconds
At the victory ceremony, Wottle forgot to remove his golf cap
This was interpreted by some as a form of protest against the Vietnam War, but Wottle later apologized.

16. Two American 400 m runners, Vincent Matthews and Wayne Collett, acted casually on the medal stand, twirled their medals (gold and silver, respectively), joked with one another and did not face the American flag as "The Star-Spangled Banner" was being played during the award ceremony
They were banned from the Olympics for life, as Tommie Smith and John Carlos had been in the 1968 Summer Olympics

18. In the final of the men's basketball, the United States lost to the Soviet Union, in what USA Basketball calls "the most controversial game in international basketball history“
In a close-fought match, the U.S. team had initially won with a score of 50–49
However, due to confusing signals from the scorer's table, the final 3 seconds of the game were replayed twice
the Soviet team was able to regain the lead and claim a victory
Ultimately the U.S team refused to accept their silver medals, which remain held in a vault in Lausanne, Switzerland

21. Frank Shorter, who was born in Munich, became the first American in 64 years to win the Olympic marathon
As Shorter was nearing the stadium, German student Norbert Sudhaus entered the stadium wearing a track uniform, joined the race and ran the last kilometer
thinking he was the winner, the crowd began cheering him before officials realized the hoax and security escorted Sudhaus off the track
Arriving seconds later, Shorter was understandably perplexed to see someone ahead of him and to hear the boos and catcalls meant for Sudhaus
This was the third time in Olympic history that an American had won the marathon (after Thomas Hicks 1904 and Johnny Hayes 1908) — and in none of those three instances did the winner enter the stadium first.

22. Mark Spitz, a swimmer from the United States, set a world record when he won seven gold medals in a single Olympics bringing his lifetime total to nine (he had won two golds in Mexico City's Games)
In each of his seven wins, Spitz set a new world record
Being Jewish, Spitz was asked to leave Munich before the closing ceremonies for his own protection
fears arose that he would be an additional target of those responsible for the Munich massacre
Spitz's record stood until 2008, when it was beaten by Michael Phelps who won 8 gold medals in the pool

23. The Soviet Union led all nation with 50 gold and 99 total medals
The US finished second overall with 94 total medals (33 golds)
East Germany with 66 total, while West Germany won 40 medals

24. Black September
The Games were largely overshadowed by what has come to be known as the "Munich massacre“
On September 5, a group of eight Palestinians belonging to the Black September organization broke into the Olympic Village and took nine Israeli athletes, coaches and officials hostage in their apartments
Two of the hostages who resisted were killed in the first moments of the break-in
the subsequent standoff in the Olympic Village lasted for almost 18 hours

25. Late in the evening of September 5, the terrorists and their hostages were transferred by helicopter to the military airport of Fürstenfeldbruck, ostensibly to board a plane bound for an undetermined Arab country
The German authorities planned to ambush them there, but underestimated the numbers of their opposition and were thus undermanned
During a botched rescue attempt, all of the Israeli hostages were killed. Four of them were shot, then incinerated when one of the terrorists detonated a grenade inside the helicopter in which the hostages were sitting. The five remaining hostages were then machine-gunned to death