| Date | 4 – 5 February 1972 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Mount Teine Bobsleigh Course, Mount Teine | |
| Participants | 42 from 11 countries | |
| Format | Four runs, total time determined placement. | |
| Details | Curves: 14 Length: 1563 m Start Altitude: 495 m Vertical Drop: 70 m | |
The title of world champion had changed hands at each championship since 1968. Firstly De Zordo of Italy then Floth of West Germany and finally, in 1971, Italian Gianfranco Gaspari had claimed the world crown but in hindsight the most important clue to Olympic form happened just a few weeks before the Games began. On January 14 in St. Moritz the two German crews dominated the European Championship with Wolfgang Zimmerer and Peter Utzschneider narrowly defeating compatriots Floth and Bader for the gold medal.
At Sapporo Zimmerer put in two spectacular performances on his first two runs and was virtually assured of the gold medal by the end of the first day. After a disappointing first day West Germany I driven by Horst Floth recovered to place ahead of Switzerland for silver for a repeat of the European Championship placings. At their first attempt at the Games Japan I finished a respectable fifteenth and ahead of crews from USA, Canada and Great Britain.
| Pos | Number | Pair | NOC | Time | Run #1 | Run #2 | Run #3 | Run #4 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Wolfgang Zimmerer / Peter Utzschneider |  FRG | 4:57.07 | 1:14.81 (1) | 1:14.56 (1) | 1:13.51 (1) | 1:14.19 (4) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 6 | Horst Floth / Pepi Bader | FRG | 4:58.84 | 1:16.04 (5) | 1:15.38 (4) | 1:14.35 (6) | 1:13.07 (1) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 9 | Jean Wicki / Edy Hubacher |  SUI | 4:59.33 | 1:15.61 (2) | 1:15.36 (3) | 1:14.36 (7) | 1:14.00 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 11 | Gianfranco Gaspari / Mario Armano |  ITA | 5:00.45 | 1:15.62 (3) | 1:16.52 (7) | 1:13.71 (2) | 1:14.60 (7) | |||
| 5 | 7 | Ion Panțuru / Ion Zangor |  ROU | 5:00.53 | 1:16.50 (7) | 1:15.31 (2) | 1:14.04 (3) | 1:14.68 (9) | |||
| 6 | 8 | Carl-Erik Eriksson / Jan Johansson |  SWE | 5:01.40 | 1:16.68 (9) | 1:16.81 (10) | 1:14.08 (4) | 1:13.83 (2) | |||
| 7 | 15 | Hans Candrian / Heinz Schenker | SUI | 5:01.44 | 1:15.89 (4) | 1:16.84 (11) | 1:14.38 (8) | 1:14.33 (5) | |||
| 8 | 17 | Herbert Gruber / Josef Oberhauser |  AUT | 5:01.60 | 1:16.48 (6) | 1:16.34 (5) | 1:14.44 (9) | 1:14.34 (6) | |||
| 9 | 13 | Patrick Parisot / Alain Roy |  FRA | 5:03.46 | 1:16.66 (8) | 1:17.17 (14) | 1:14.53 (10) | 1:15.10 (12) | |||
| 10 | 10 | Enzo Vicario / Corrado Dal Fabbro | ITA | 5:03.66 | 1:17.20 (12) | 1:16.77 (9) | 1:14.23 (5) | 1:15.46 (14) | |||
| 11 | 2 | Gérard Christaud-Pipola / Jacques Christaud-Pipola | FRA | 5:04.19 | 1:17.08 (11) | 1:17.25 (17) | 1:14.81 (12) | 1:15.05 (11) | |||
| 12 | 5 | Dragoș Panaitescu-Rapan / Dumitru Focșeneanu | ROU | 5:04.89 | 1:17.98 (14) | 1:17.00 (13) | 1:14.67 (11) | 1:15.24 (13) | |||
| 13 | 18 | Werner Delle Karth / Fritz Sperling | AUT | 5:05.35 | 1:16.99 (10) | 1:17.91 (18) | 1:15.84 (20) | 1:14.61 (8) | |||
| 14 | 12 | Bob Storey / Michael Hartley |  CAN | 5:05.70 | 1:18.49 (18) | 1:16.70 (8) | 1:14.90 (13) | 1:15.61 (15) | |||
| 15 | 19 | Susumu Esashika / Kazumi Abe |  JPN | 5:06.59 | 1:18.13 (=16) | 1:16.43 (6) | 1:15.17 (14) | 1:16.86 (18) | |||
| 16 | 21 | Paul Lamey / Howard Siler, Jr. |  USA | 5:06.62 | 1:18.13 (=16) | 1:16.93 (12) | 1:15.52 (15) | 1:16.04 (16) | |||
| 17 | 20 | John Hammond / Bill Sweet |  GBR | 5:06.96 | 1:18.09 (15) | 1:18.18 (19) | 1:15.71 (18) | 1:14.98 (10) | |||
| 18 | 14 | Hans Gehrig / Andrew Faulds | CAN | 5:08.90 | 1:18.82 (20) | 1:18.36 (20) | 1:15.66 (17) | 1:16.06 (17) | |||
| 19 | 3 | Bob Said / Tom Becker | USA | 5:08.94 | 1:17.34 (13) | 1:17.23 (=15) | 1:16.66 (21) | 1:17.71 (20) | |||
| 20 | 16 | Patrick Evelyn / Peter Clifford | GBR | 5:09.01 | 1:18.60 (19) | 1:17.23 (=15) | 1:15.80 (19) | 1:17.38 (19) | |||
| 21 | 1 | Akihiko Suzuki / Rikio Sato | JPN | 5:11.91 | 1:18.98 (21) | 1:18.46 (21) | 1:15.63 (16) | 1:18.84 (21) |
