History
Fast Facts
Host City: Innsbruck, AustriaOpening date: Feb. 4, 1976
Closing date: Feb. 15, 1976
Nations: 37
Athletes: 1,123 (892 Men, 231 Women)
37 events in 8 sports
The International Olympic Committee selected Denver to host the Winter Olympics in 1976, the bicentennial of the United States and the 100th anniversary of Colorado's admission to the union. But opposition suddenly sprang up among Colorado voters. In a binding referendum, 62 percent of those voters opposed the state's spending more money to develop the proposed site.
The Denver organizing committee had no choice but to withdraw as host, so the IOC asked Innsbruck to take over.
As in 1964, the Austrian army had to truck snow in to cover bare slopes. That problem was quickly forgotten, though, when local hero Franz Klammer won the men's downhill on opening day. Klammer had planned to use skis with perforated tips, intended to lessen wind resistance, but the equipment wasn't approved by Olympic officials. So Klammer won with his old, conventional skis.
Other technological approvements did pass muster. Wearing new streamlined helmets, Austrians Karl Schnabl and Toni Innauer finished 1-2 in the 90-kilometer ski jump. And 47-year-old speed skater Franz Krienbuehl of Switzerland wore a sleek, skin-tight suit in his 1000-meter heat. He finished only eighth, but other skaters found that the suit improved their times and it's now the standard speed skating uniform.
Women skaters were again the top American competitors. Sheila Young became the first U. S. woman to win three medals in a single Olympics, with a gold, a silver, and a bronze. Dorothy Hamill won the figure skating gold, Leah Poulos added a silver medal in the 1,000-meter speed skating event, and her future husband, Peter Mueller, was the men's 1,000-meter champion.
Bill Koch became the first American to win a medal in a Nordic skiing event when he finished second in the 30-kilometer cross-country race.
