The 1976 Olympics (winter) is an event that had a very important sporting and political significance during the confrontation between the countries of the West and the Soviet Union. The capitalist and socialist systems tried to prove which particular development option is more correct. Strange as it may seem, the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck was no exception. It was there that a serious struggle unfolded for the first places.
USSR - the best of the best
Initially, the 1976 Olympics (winter) was supposed to be like in America, in Denver. But the inhabitants of this city at a referendum held their vote against the games. Therefore, the Olympic Committee was in a difficult situation. And then Innsbruck agreed to host such an important event as the 1976 Olympics. The winter relay, it is worth noting, has already been held in this city in 1964. This event was attended by 1123 people who came from 37 countries. And the competition was held in ten sports disciplines. The list included skiing, biathlon, bobsledding, tobogganing, speed skating, ski jumping, cross-country skiing, figure skating, Nordic combined and, of course, hockey. Unconditional victory in this Olympics was won by athletes of the Soviet Union. It should be recalled that they managed to win 13 gold medals, 6 silver and 8 bronze. In second place was the GDR with the number of awards far behind the USSR. These are 7 gold medals, 5 silver and 7 bronze. And US representatives won third place.
Figure skating
Olympics-1976 (winter) was distinguished by performances in figure skating. Soviet athletes showed themselves excellently in this competition. In pair skating, gold went to Alexander Zaitsev and Irina Rodnina. The victory in ice dancing was won by Alexander Gorshkov and Lyudmila Pakhomova. Vladimir Korolev took silver in men's single skating. He lost only to British John Curry, who showed himself perfectly. And gold in a similar category, only female, went to American Dorothy Hamill.
Skiers
It should be noted that the Soviet masters of skiing showed themselves as well as in figure skating. In the race, which was held for 30 kilometers, the victory went to Sergei Savelyev. In a similar competition, but 15 km away, Evgeny Belyaev and Nikolai Bazhukov shared the first place. It turned out to win bronze in the team race, losing to Finland. Raisa Smetanina in the women's 10 km ski race won gold. The first place went to Soviet girls in the relay. It should be noted that Soviet athletes also mined gold in biathlon.
Hockey
At all times it was a very spectacular sport. Six teams from Division A and four strongest teams from Division B were allowed to participate in the tournament, which was held as part of the notorious Olympics. One team from Division C was also added. According to the results of the 1975 World Championship, a preliminary tournament was immediately held. After him, the losers held matches according to a system called “each with each” - for 7-12th places. The winners then played 1-6 places among themselves. The Olympics 1976 was remembered for a long time. Hockey (the finale in this category was amazing) allowed the Soviet team to excel again. It is worth noting that the team of Canada did not want to play in Innsbruck. That is why the teams of Czechoslovakia and the USSR fought for the first place and the title of the strongest hockey team in the world. In the first half, the Russians lost - the rivals have already scored two goals. But in the second, our athletes were able to recoup and prove for the fourth time that they are champions. The 1976 Olympics entered the history of the world for a long time, since then Soviet athletes managed to win the largest number of awards that was possible.