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1972 Sapporo Winter Games
1128 Athletes, 36 Countries, 35 Events

The 1972 Winter Olympics were the first to be held outside of Europe or the United States. The ice hockey competition was marred by a boycott from Canada, protesting the IOC's decision to allow Soviet ice hockey players to compete as amateurs. Many believed that the Soviets had a squad of professionals since they were employees of the government.

With the Canadians out of the picture, the United States was able to return to winning form with a silver medal. The Soviets won the gold after beating Czechoslovakia in the championship game. Second place was awarded to the US since they had already beaten Czechoslovakia in the tournament. Larry D. Bader (Penn, 1967) was on that U.S. team, which was recently inducted into the Massachusetts Hockey Hall of Fame. According to the Massachusetts Hockey Hall, the 1972 team was predicted to lose in the first round. The silver medal would have been better recognized, though, if the country paid attention to the Olympics that year. All across the country, eyes were fixated on television coverage of Vietnam, not Sapporo.

The Dartmouth skiing contingent included: W. Scott Berry (1971), Timothy Caldwell (1976), David H. Currier (1974), and Walker T. Weed (1971). Berry competed in ski jumping events, Caldwell and Weed in crosscountry events, and Currier in downhill events. Caldwell would see action in three more Winter Olympics after Sapporo. Currier would also return for the 1976 Innsbruck Games.

The Harvard figure skaters in Sapporo were John Misha Petkevich (1973) and Suna Murray (1977). Petkevich placed fifth in the men's individual competition, improving from his sixth place finish at the 1968 Grenoble Games. In his career, Petkevich also won the U.S. and North American Figure Skating Championships. As a Rhodes Scholar, he would earn a doctorate in cell biology from Oxford. He returned to Harvard as a fellow in the music department. Today, Petkevich is Chairman and CEO of The Petkevich Group. He has also authored two books on skating called 'The Skater's Handbook' and 'Figure Skating: Championship Techniques.'

Murray placed 12th in the womens' individual figure skating competition at Sapporo. Today, she lives and coaches in Pittsburgh, Pa. Her daughter, Kylie Gleason, appeared at the 2004 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in the pairs' competition.