Alpine skiing at the 1972 Winter Olympics Alpine skiing at the 1972 Winter Olympics Alpine skiing at the 1972 Winter Olympics consisted of six events, held February near Sapporo, Japan. The downhills were held at Mount Eniwa, and the four technical events at Teine. Six nations won medals in alpine skiing; Switzerland led in medals with three gold, two silver, and a bronze. Switzerland's Marie-Theres Nadig led the individual medal table, with two gold medals. The top men's medalist was Gustav Thöni of Italy with a gold and a silver. The gold medal won in the slalom by Francisco Fernández Ochoa was Spain's first medal at the
United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics highest total medal count, and won more silver and bronze medals than any other participating nation. This games also saw a gold medal record for U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps, who won 8 golds surpassing Mark Spitz's record of 7 golds in a single Olympic event in 1972. Phelps also surpassed Spitz, Larisa Latynina of the USSR, Paavo Nurmi of Finland, and U.S. sprinter Carl Lewis to become the current record holder for the most Olympic gold medals (14). The United States also saw milestones in women's swimming. Natalie Coughlin won 6 medals in Beijing, the most for a female Olympic