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Luge at the 1972 Sapporo Winter Games:

Men's Singles

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Events:
Phases:

Host City: Sapporo, Japan
Venue(s): Mount Teine Luge Course, Mount Teine
Date Started: February 4, 1972
Date Finished: February 7, 1972
Format: Four runs, total time determined placement.

Gold: GDR Wolfgang Scheidel
Silver: GDR Harald Ehrig
Bronze: GDR Wolfram Fiedler

Summary

East Germany’s dominance in this event was unprecedented, with their four lugers taking places 1 through 4. While the Germans had been favourites, a complete sweep was unexpected, especially considering that the East Germans had not won a World or Olympic title in the event since 1967. The winner was Wolfgang Scheidel, who had been runner-up at the European Championships in 1971 and 1972. He had won his only international title prior to Sapporo in 1965, winning the doubles at the World Championships. Scheidel built up a decent lead on run 1 and 2, with two wins. He then kept his lead without much trouble. Behind him, his compatriots Harald Ehrig (European Champion in 1970), and Wolfram Fiedler (European Champion in 1972) divided the other medals. Outside the podium, the fourth East German and two West Germans confirmed Germany’s dominance of the sport.

Final Standings

Rank Athlete Age Team NOC Medal T
1 Wolfgang Scheidel 28 East Germany GDR Gold 3:27.58
2 Harald Ehrig 22 East Germany GDR Silver 3:28.39
3 Wolfram Fiedler 20 East Germany GDR Bronze 3:28.73
4 Klaus-Michael Bonsack 30 East Germany GDR 3:29.16
5 Leonhard Nagenrauft 33 West Germany FRG 3:29.67
6 Josef Fendt 24 West Germany FRG 3:30.03
7 Manfred Schmid 27 Austria AUT 3:30.05
8 Paul Hildgartner 19 Italy ITA 3:30.55
9 Karl Brunner 20 Italy ITA 3:30.87
10 Josef Feistmantl 32 Austria AUT 3:31.32
11 Emilio Lechner 31 Italy ITA 3:31.41
12 Janusz Grzemowski 24 Poland POL 3:31.44
13 Lucjan Kudzia 30 Poland POL 3:32.83
14 Christian Strøm 24 Norway NOR 3:33.01
15 Wolfgang Winkler 31 West Germany FRG 3:33.08
16 Rudolf Schmid 20 Austria AUT 3:33.76
17 Hans Wimmer 24 West Germany FRG 3:33.80
18 Masako Eguchi 22 Japan JPN 3:33.81
19 Ryszard Gawior 28 Poland POL 3:34.94
20 Kazuaki Ichikawa 22 Japan JPN 3:34.99
21 Leo Atzwanger 27 Italy ITA 3:35.33
22 Stephen Sinding 20 Norway NOR 3:35.41
23 Franz Schachner 21 Austria AUT 3:35.62
24 Masatoshi Kobayashi 23 Japan JPN 3:36.39
25 Larry Arbuthnot 24 Canada CAN 3:36.57
26 Satoru Arai 24 Japan JPN 3:37.31
27 Mirosław Więckowski 19 Poland POL 3:37.61
28 James Murray 25 United States USA 3:37.93
29 Yury Yegorov 24 Soviet Union URS 3:38.00
30 Bjørn Dyrdahl 27 Norway NOR 3:38.05
31 Terry O'Brien 28 United States USA 3:38.24
32 Ralph Havens 28 United States USA 3:38.32
33 Sergey Osipov 21 Soviet Union URS 3:38.99
34 Jonnie Woodall 26 Great Britain GBR 3:40.15
35 David McComb 25 Canada CAN 3:40.43
36 Pierre Larchier 24 France FRA 3:41.76
37 Viktor Ilyin 20 Soviet Union URS 3:42.08
38 Doug Hansen 23 Canada CAN 3:42.22
39 Werner Sele 20 Liechtenstein LIE 3:42.38
40 Jeremy Palmer-Tomkinson 28 Great Britain GBR 3:43.61
41 Yury Svetikov 24 Soviet Union URS 3:43.69
42 Richard Liversedge 31 Great Britain GBR 3:46.49
43 Rupert Deen 33 Great Britain GBR 3:55.54
44 Bob Rock, Jr. 22 United States USA 3:59.04
AC Paul Nielsen 24 Canada CAN DNF