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| Event type

4 × 7.5 kilometres Relay, Men

Date11 February 1972 — 9:00
StatusOlympic
LocationMakomanai Biathlon Site, Sapporo
Participants52 from 13 countries
FormatEight shots for each group of five targets. Penalty loop (200 metres) skied for each missed target.
DetailsCourse Length: ?
Height Differential: 44 m
Maximum Climb: 33 m
Shooting 1: Prone at 2.5 km, 150 m range
Shooting 2: Standing at 5.0 km, 150 m range
Total Climbing: 224 m

The defending champion Soviet Union was a heavy favorite for the relay gold after winning all three World Championships from 1969-1971. Norway was expected to be their closest rivals, having won silver behind the Soviets in that period. Finland and East Germany were considered as medal contenders.

The first leg gave some unexpected results. Home favorite Isao Ono hit all his targets and skied fast enough to reach the first exchange 36 seconds ahead of his closest rival, East Germany’s silver medalist from the individual event, Hansjörg Knauthe. In third place was another big surprise, Great Britain’s Malcolm Hirst, only 8 seconds behind East Germany, but closely followed by Sweden and Norway. Finland and the Soviet Union were further behind, as the Soviet’s lead-off man Aleksandr Tikhonov had to ski two penalty loops and was 1:19 behind the leader. On the second leg Japan’s Shozo Sasaki was penalized five penalty loops and dropped from first to 13th and last place at the second exchange. After an excellent race Rinnat Safin advanced the Soviet team from ninth place into a clear lead, over one minute ahead of East Germany. Allen Morse had brought the USA team from seventh to third place, and Giovanni Astegiano moved Italy from 11th to fourth, both passing Sweden and Norway.

On the third leg, Soviet’s Ivan Byakov, in spite of skiing a penalty loop, increased the Soviet lead over East Germany to 1:40, and Sweden’s Torsten Wadman, with the fastest leg time, was only nine seconds behind the East Germans. USA was still doing well in fourth place, but Italy had dropped back to eighth. Finland had started to move and was fifth, over half a minute ahead of Norway. The Soviet anchor man Viktor Mamatov safely brought his team a gold medal, almost three minutes ahead of Finland. Mauri Röppänen had the fastest time on the last leg and advanced from fifth position to a silver medal, 20 seconds ahead of East Germany. Olympic champion Magnar Solberg was too far behind at the exchange, but passed Sweden and USA on the last leg and brought his team up to fourth place.

PosCompetitorsNOCTimeMissesExtra ShotsShooting 1 MissesShooting 1 Extra ShotsShooting 1Shooting 2 MissesShooting 2 Extra ShotsShooting 2Exchange
1Soviet UnionURS1-51:44.9239– (–)– (–)– (–)Gold
Lead-OffAleksandr Tikhonov 28:54.482401– (–)23– (–)28:54.48 (9)
2nd LegRinnat Safin 26:48.520101– (–)00– (–)55:43.00 (1)
3rd LegIvan Byakov 28:15.901313– (–)00– (–)1-23:58.90 (1)
AnchorViktor Mamatov 27:46.020101– (–)00– (–)1-51:44.92 (1)
2FinlandFIN1-54:37.25313– (–)– (–)– (–)Silver
Lead-OffEsko Saira 28:52.041300– (–)13– (–)28:52.04 (8)
2nd LegJuhani Suutarinen 29:37.332613– (–)13– (–)58:29.37 (7)
3rd LegHeikki Ikola 28:45.790301– (–)03– (–)1-27:15.16 (5)
AnchorMauri Röppänen 27:22.090101– (–)00– (–)1-54:37.25 (2)
3East GermanyGDR1-54:57.67412– (–)– (–)– (–)Bronze
Lead-OffHansjörg Knauthe 28:11.720101– (–)00– (–)28:11.72 (2)
2nd LegJoachim Meischner 28:35.860301– (–)02– (–)56:47.58 (2)
3rd LegDieter Speer 28:50.722502– (–)23– (–)1-25:38.30 (2)
AnchorHorst Koschka 29:19.372301– (–)23– (–)1-54:57.67 (3)
4NorwayNOR1-56:24.41721– (–)– (–)– (–)
Lead-OffTor Svendsberget 28:23.861603– (–)13– (–)28:23.86 (5)
2nd LegKåre Hovda 29:43.803402– (–)33– (–)58:07.66 (6)
3rd LegIvar Nordkild 29:41.972501– (–)23– (–)1-27:49.63 (6)
AnchorMagnar Solberg 28:34.781603– (–)13– (–)1-56:24.41 (3)
5SwedenSWE1-56:57.40618– (–)– (–)– (–)
Lead-OffLars-Göran Arwidson 28:23.091613– (–)03– (–)28:23.09 (4)
2nd LegOlle Petrusson 29:32.783433– (–)02– (–)57:55.87 (5)
3rd LegTorsten Wadman 27:52.030201– (–)02– (–)1-25:47.90 (3)
AnchorHolmfrid Olsson 31:09.502603– (–)23– (–)1-56:57.40 (5)
6United StatesUSA1-57:24.32114– (–)– (–)– (–)
Lead-OffPeter Karns 28:50.370301– (–)02– (–)28:50.37 (7)
2nd LegTerry Morse 28:43.560403– (–)01– (–)57:33.93 (3)
3rd LegDennis Donahue 29:01.970302– (–)01– (–)1-26:35.90 (4)
AnchorJay Bowerman 30:48.421401– (–)13– (–)1-57:24.32 (6)
7PolandPOL1-58:09.92418– (–)– (–)– (–)
Lead-OffJózef Różak 29:36.152401– (–)23– (–)29:36.15 (12)
2nd LegJózef Stopka 29:21.631300– (–)13– (–)58:57.78 (8)
3rd LegAndrzej Rapacz 29:05.750603– (–)03– (–)1-28:03.53 (7)
AnchorAleksander Klima 30:06.391513– (–)02– (–)1-58:09.92 (7)
8JapanJPN1-59:09.48518– (–)– (–)– (–)
Lead-OffIsao Ono 27:35.730503– (–)02– (–)27:35.73 (1)
2nd LegShozo Sasaki 33:46.085623– (–)33– (–)1-01:21.81 (13)
3rd LegMiki Shibuya 27:59.800201– (–)01– (–)1-29:21.61 (9)
AnchorKazuo Sasakubo 29:47.870502– (–)03– (–)1-59:09.48 (8)
9RomaniaROU1-59:30.61517– (–)– (–)– (–)
Lead-OffNicolae Veștea 28:47.960300– (–)03– (–)28:47.96 (6)
2nd LegVictor Fontana 32:19.634613– (–)33– (–)1-01:07.59 (12)
3rd LegIon Țeposu 28:47.130503– (–)02– (–)1-29:54.72 (10)
AnchorVilmoș Gheorghe 29:35.891300– (–)13– (–)1-59:30.61 (9)
10ItalyITA1-59:47.62620– (–)– (–)– (–)
Lead-OffWilly Bertin 29:06.562423– (–)01– (–)29:06.56 (11)
2nd LegGiovanni Astegiano 28:43.420503– (–)02– (–)57:49.98 (4)
3rd LegCorrado Varesco 30:58.591603– (–)13– (–)1-28:48.57 (8)
AnchorLino Jordan 30:59.053502– (–)33– (–)1-59:47.62 (10)
11Great BritainGBR2-01:38.84516– (–)– (–)– (–)
Lead-OffMalcolm Hirst 28:19.400202– (–)00– (–)28:19.40 (3)
2nd LegKeith Oliver 31:58.853623– (–)13– (–)1-00:18.25 (11)
3rd LegJeffrey Stevens 30:53.972401– (–)23– (–)1-31:12.22 (12)
AnchorAlan Notley 30:26.620401– (–)03– (–)2-01:38.84 (11)
12CzechoslovakiaTCH2-03:08.17320– (–)– (–)– (–)
Lead-OffLadislav Žižka 28:59.510503– (–)02– (–)28:59.51 (10)
2nd LegPavel Ploc 30:38.691513– (–)02– (–)59:38.20 (9)
3rd LegJán Húska 31:29.790403– (–)01– (–)1-31:07.99 (11)
AnchorArnošt Hájek 32:00.182623– (–)03– (–)2-03:08.17 (12)
13FranceFRA2-03:08.90419– (–)– (–)– (–)
Lead-OffRené Arpin 30:04.711502– (–)13– (–)30:04.71 (13)
2nd LegNoël Turrel 29:34.230302– (–)01– (–)59:38.94 (10)
3rd LegDaniel Claudon 32:05.942523– (–)02– (–)1-31:44.88 (13)
AnchorAimé Gruet-Masson 31:24.021613– (–)03– (–)2-03:08.90 (13)