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
Mark Spitz beaten by Russell, Spitz did not get to swim in the 4×100-meter medley relay, which gave Russell his second gold medal and the USA team another world record performance. Spitz was disappointed in his 1968 Olympic performance. in January 1969, he decided to attend Indiana University to train with legendary Indiana Hoosiers swimming coach Doc Counsilman, who was also his Olympic coach in Mexico City. He called choosing Indiana and Counsilman "the biggest decision of my life (and) the best." While at Indiana, Spitz won eight individual NCAA titles. In 1971, he won the James E. Sullivan Award as the