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| Event type

20 kilometres, Men1

Date 9 February 1972 — 9:01
StatusOlympic
LocationMakomanai Biathlon Site, Sapporo
Participants54 from 14 countries
FormatVariable penalty for each missed target. The target had two circles, an inner and an outer. Shots outside the outer circle brought a two-minute penalty. Shots between the circles brought a one-minute penalty.
DetailsCourse Length: ?
Height Differential: 84 m
Maximum Climb: 45 m
Shooting 1: Prone at 3.6 km, 150 m range
Shooting 2: Standing at 8.5 km, 150 m range
Shooting 3: Prone at 12.5 km, 150 m range
Shooting 4: Standing at 17.4 km, 150 m range
Total Climbing: 719 m

Originally scheduled for 8 February, after 35 skiers had started the event was cancelled because of a snow storm, which made the shooting conditions almost impossible, and was re-scheduled for the next day.

Soviet’s Aleksandr Tikhonov had been the dominant biathlete since his silver medal at the 1968 Winter Olympics, winning individual World Championships gold in 1969 and 1970, silver in 1971, and was also a member of the gold winning Soviet relay team all three years. Magnar Solberg, the surprise Olympic gold medalist from 1968, had won individual bronze medals in the World Championships in 1969 and 1971, and silver with the Norwegian relay team in 1969, 1970 and 1971. However, he still had no medals from Norwegian Championships, and the 35-year old policeman from Trondheim showed no signs of Olympic form at the start of the 1972 season, and was not, in fact, originally chosen for the Norwegian team. The selection committee agreed to give him an extra chance, and he again showed that he was made for big occasions.

After the first shooting round Solberg was in the lead with no misses, 22 seconds ahead of the Swede Lars-Göran Arwidson, with Finland’s Yrjö Salpakari third, 10 seconds behind Arwidson. The favorite Tikhonov had three penalty minutes and was far behind. After the second shooting, Arwidson had taken a clear lead with a perfect round with the rifle. A big surprise was the 27-year-old Italian, Willy Bertin, who had started with one penalty minute, but now had a perfect round and climbed to second, 49 seconds behind Arwidson, and closely followed by Salkapari. Solberg had one penalty minute and dropped down to seventh place, 1:35 behind the leader.

After the third round of shooting the situation changed. Bertin had another perfect round and took over the lead, 32 seconds ahead of East Germany’s Hansjörg Knauthe, who had a one minute penalty from the first shooting round but since then had moved steadily up in the rankings. Salkapari was still in third, closely followed by Solberg, moving from seventh to fourth in spite of one additional penalty minute. Arwidson had two penalty minutes and dropped from first to fifth, but only 11 seconds behind the bronze position.

At the final shooting round, Bertin had four penalty minutes and was out of contention for a medal. Both Solberg, Knauthe, Arwidson and Salpakari had perfect shooting series, but Solberg was the fastest skiier and had a seven seconds lead over Knauthe. Arvidsson and Salpakari were 35 and 45 seconds behind, with no chances for gold. At the finish Solberg had extended his lead over Knauthe to 12 seconds and won his second Olympic gold medal, as dominant as he had been in 1968. Arwidson was able to defend his bronze medal position, ahead of fast finishing Tikhonov, who passed Salpakari in the final stages of the race. Finland’s Esko Saira was the fastest skier of the day, but had to be content with sixth place due to five penalty minutes. A few weeks after his second Olympic gold medal, Solberg was finally able to win a national championship gold medal, and after that he left top-sport to pursue a career as a police officer and criminal investigator.

PosCompetitorNOCAdjusted TimePenaltiesSkiingShooting 1 PenaltiesShooting 1Shooting 2 PenaltiesShooting 2Shooting 3 PenaltiesShooting 3Shooting 4 PenaltiesShooting 4
1Magnar SolbergNOR1-15:55.5021-13:55.50 (4)016:44.92 (1)135:18.63 (8)151:34.82 (4)01-07:38.85 (1)Gold
2Hansjörg KnautheGDR1-16:07.6011-15:07.60 (8)118:11.01 (16)034:49.56 (5)051:02.26 (2)01-07:45.25 (2)Silver
3Lars-Göran ArwidsonSWE1-16:27.0321-14:27.03 (6)017:06.00 (3)033:43.37 (1)251:39.35 (5)01-08:13.40 (3)Bronze
4Aleksandr TikhonovURS1-16:48.6541-12:48.65 (2)320:05.40 (43)137:23.91 (22)052:43.01 (15)01-08:44.20 (5)
5Yrjö SalpakariFIN1-16:51.4321-14:51.43 (7)017:16.53 (4)134:35.96 (3)151:28.11 (3)01-08:23.44 (4)
6Esko SairaFIN1-17:34.8051-12:34.80 (1)218:33.74 (22)135:50.02 (11)152:11.66 (8)11-09:27.73 (6)
7Viktor MamatovURS1-18:16.2621-16:16.26 (13)118:36.50 (24)136:24.70 (16)052:37.49 (13)01-09:54.30 (7)
8Tor SvendsbergetNOR1-18:26.5431-15:26.54 (10)016:56.54 (2)134:51.01 (6)152:02.39 (7)11-10:01.02 (8)
9Aleksander KlimaPOL1-19:00.8621-17:00.86 (22)118:56.83 (25)036:06.21 (12)052:23.80 (9)11-10:25.99 (10)
10Daniel ClaudonFRA1-19:14.6711-18:14.67 (31)018:10.49 (15)136:06.64 (13)052:36.49 (12)01-10:18.51 (9)
11Keith OliverGBR1-20:40.3131-17:40.31 (27)017:43.39 (6)034:45.04 (4)152:23.59 (11)21-12:09.88 (13)
12Ivan ByakovURS1-20:42.7831-17:42.78 (28)017:46.40 (7)236:47.48 (19)154:07.94 (20)01-11:54.86 (11)
13Dieter SpeerGDR1-20:43.6371-13:43.63 (3)117:58.32 (9)135:08.64 (7)151:45.46 (6)41-12:31.90 (15)
14Peter KarnsUSA1-20:59.6721-18:59.67 (34)017:59.83 (10)035:23.96 (9)052:23.24 (10)21-12:02.91 (12)
15Günter BartnikGDR1-21:01.7351-16:01.73 (11)118:23.14 (18)136:14.32 (14)153:34.09 (18)21-12:37.21 (16)
16Willy BertinITA1-21:03.0451-16:03.04 (12)118:01.28 (12)034:32.34 (2)050:30.10 (1)41-12:24.34 (14)
17Miki ShibuyaJPN1-21:57.2751-16:57.27 (21)118:25.90 (19)136:43.63 (18)052:42.14 (14)31-13:14.45 (17)
18Kåre HovdaNOR1-22:20.3761-16:20.37 (14)118:30.83 (21)237:32.81 (24)154:50.45 (21)21-13:55.53 (20)
19Rinnat SafinURS1-22:22.5971-15:22.59 (9)320:26.82 (44)239:08.35 (33)155:58.49 (27)11-13:59.28 (21)
20Horst KoschkaGDR1-22:24.5851-17:24.58 (26)017:23.99 (5)338:00.53 (28)054:01.56 (19)21-13:32.02 (18)
21Holmfrid OlssonSWE1-22:28.7831-19:28.78 (42)018:08.15 (13)035:37.46 (10)153:22.74 (17)21-13:39.49 (19)
22Giovanni AstegianoITA1-22:45.9061-16:45.90 (20)320:28.41 (45)138:38.63 (30)155:53.00 (26)11-14:05.93 (22)
23Shozo SasakiJPN1-23:05.5451-18:05.54 (30)119:00.02 (26)339:21.71 (34)156:57.07 (31)01-14:37.34 (25)
24Dennis DonahueUSA1-23:20.3941-19:20.39 (39)119:14.76 (30)036:37.24 (17)356:37.25 (29)01-14:19.96 (23)
25Isao OnoJPN1-23:26.8371-16:26.83 (16)522:39.07 (52)039:45.63 (37)055:52.32 (25)21-14:46.16 (26)
26Jeffrey StevensGBR1-23:28.9541-19:28.95 (43)018:00.77 (11)237:45.17 (27)155:49.60 (24)11-14:32.00 (24)
27Mauri RöppänenFIN1-23:45.8871-16:45.88 (19)118:20.75 (17)237:01.37 (20)255:42.68 (22)21-15:00.38 (27)
28Victor FontanaROU1-24:17.8551-19:17.85 (37)017:50.31 (8)237:27.09 (23)357:21.47 (36)01-15:16.22 (28)
29Ragnar TveitenNOR1-24:19.9171-17:19.91 (24)219:37.93 (35)340:11.65 (41)056:45.43 (30)21-15:37.48 (29)
30Juhani SuutarinenFIN1-24:25.99101-14:25.99 (5)219:01.48 (28)237:34.27 (25)053:22.25 (16)61-15:55.25 (30)
31Pierantonio ClementiITA1-25:28.7461-19:28.74 (41)320:59.51 (48)140:12.80 (42)057:00.81 (32)21-16:54.35 (31)
32Vilmoș GheorgheROU1-25:52.2781-17:52.27 (29)219:32.82 (32)541:49.37 (47)058:25.39 (39)11-17:00.64 (32)
33Andrzej RapaczPOL1-26:21.0291-17:21.02 (25)219:16.69 (31)439:59.45 (38)056:26.91 (28)31-17:48.60 (33)
34Nicolae VeșteaROU1-27:08.2161-21:08.21 (48)018:09.60 (14)137:44.07 (26)155:48.47 (23)41-18:04.63 (34)
35Józef StopkaPOL1-27:18.6681-19:18.66 (38)219:46.75 (39)239:25.59 (35)157:05.53 (34)31-18:09.44 (35)
36Ladislav ŽižkaTCH1-27:36.81111-16:36.81 (17)623:34.17 (53)141:40.32 (45)159:04.83 (41)31-19:05.60 (36)
37René ArpinFRA1-27:52.6481-19:52.64 (44)119:01.53 (27)340:00.25 (39)157:52.12 (38)31-19:07.66 (37)
38Kazuo SasakuboJPN1-28:07.4391-19:07.43 (35)320:47.35 (46)442:44.87 (49)11-00:28.54 (47)11-19:10.72 (39)
39Arnošt HájekTCH1-28:22.3791-19:22.37 (40)321:08.51 (51)341:41.21 (46)21-00:44.36 (48)11-19:35.29 (41)
40Lino JordanITA1-28:26.09121-16:26.09 (15)219:51.31 (41)338:58.22 (32)257:10.92 (35)51-19:48.18 (42)
41Terry MorseUSA1-28:40.1471-21:40.14 (50)119:11.30 (29)138:21.34 (29)41-00:03.55 (45)11-19:09.90 (38)
42Olle PetrussonSWE1-28:40.58121-16:40.58 (18)219:35.53 (33)036:22.50 (15)557:44.72 (37)51-19:51.52 (43)
43Alan NotleyGBR1-28:48.7271-21:48.72 (51)119:42.23 (37)239:43.57 (36)41-01:11.57 (49)01-19:22.17 (40)
44Stanislav FajstavrTCH1-28:53.3391-19:53.33 (45)321:03.28 (49)140:04.76 (40)31-00:00.10 (44)21-20:07.91 (46)
45Jay BowermanUSA1-29:13.7171-22:13.71 (52)119:37.25 (34)340:56.87 (44)159:34.38 (42)21-20:06.37 (44)
46Josef NiedermeierFRG1-29:26.4481-21:26.44 (49)219:44.73 (38)037:08.41 (21)357:01.41 (33)31-20:06.93 (45)
47Pavel PlocTCH1-29:38.79111-18:38.79 (32)118:34.32 (23)642:05.69 (48)059:01.93 (40)41-20:52.08 (47)
48Andrzej FiedorPOL1-30:17.25111-19:17.25 (36)320:54.88 (47)442:49.60 (50)31-02:31.88 (51)11-21:14.97 (48)
49Torsten WadmanSWE1-30:17.56131-17:17.56 (23)219:40.23 (36)238:55.65 (31)51-00:21.41 (46)41-21:43.58 (49)
50Theo MerkelFRG1-30:58.17111-19:58.17 (46)220:05.45 (42)340:50.13 (43)259:45.93 (43)41-21:49.70 (50)
51Aimé Gruet-MassonFRA1-33:44.41151-18:44.41 (33)219:51.05 (40)643:16.74 (52)41-03:49.15 (52)31-24:53.67 (52)
52Constantin CarabelaROU1-33:45.95111-22:45.95 (53)321:05.47 (50)544:17.19 (53)01-01:40.63 (50)31-24:22.39 (51)
53Malcolm HirstGBR1-34:55.59141-20:55.59 (47)018:29.29 (20)642:56.43 (51)41-03:51.04 (53)41-25:58.90 (53)
DNFPaul ChassagneFRA– (–)– (–)– (–)– (–)– (–)