XI Olympic Winter Games Held in Sapporo, Japan

The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XI Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated from February 3 to February 13, 1972 in Sapporo, Japan.

It was the first Winter Olympics to be held outside Europe and North America, and only the 3rd games (summer or winter) held outside those regions over all, after Melbourne (1956) and Tokyo (1964). Since then the Olympic Games have been held outside of Europe and North America in Seoul (1988), Nagano (1998), Sydney (2000), and Beijing (2008). Sapporo was the largest city to host a Winter Games at the time.

35 nations participated in the 1972 Winter Olympics. The Republic of China and The Philippines participated in their first Winter Olympic Games.