Lebanon competed at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan, which were held from 2 February to 13 February 1972. This marked Lebanon's seventh appearance in a Winter Games since their debut in 1948. The delegation consisted of a single male alpine skier, Ghassan Keyrouz, who competed in two events. His best finish was 45th in the giant slalom event, thus failing to win a medal.
Background
The Lebanese Olympic Committee was founded in 1946 and officially recognised by the International Olympic Committee on 22 November 1947.[1] A few months later, the nation made its debut in the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.[2] Up to this point, Lebanon had not missed a Games except for the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, which they boycotted along with Egypt and Iraq in protest of the Suez Crisis.[3]
The 1972 Winter Olympics were held in Sapporo, Japan, from 2 to 13 February 1972. The Games in Sapporo hosted 1,006 athletes in 35 events from 35 different nations.[4] Lebanon's participation marked their seventh consecutive appearance in a Winter Games.[2]
Lebanon sent a single athlete for these Games, 20-year old alpine skier Ghassan Keyrouz, returning after appearing in the previous 1968 Winter Olympics.[5] In addition, Lebanon sent Michel Samen to serve as an official in the jury of the men's giant slalom event,[6] along with two other officials, bringing their delegation to a total of four members.[7]
Alpine skiing
Ghassan Keyrouz represented the nation in two alpine skiing events: the men's giant slalom event and the men's slalom event. In the first run of the giant slalom on 9 February, Keyrouz posted a time of 2 minutes, 5 seconds, ranking 53rd in the field. The following day, he skiied with a time of 2 minutes, 11 seconds. With a total time of 4 minutes, 16 seconds, Keyrouz finished 45th in a field of 48, 1 minute and 7 seconds behind gold-medal winner Gustav Thöni of Italy.[8][10] On 12 February, Keyrouz placed 6th in Group E of the classification round after posting a total time of 2 minutes, 10 seconds, after two runs.[11] The following day, Keyrouz posted a did not finish in the final of the slalom event.[9]
- Men
| Athlete | Event | Race 1 | Race 2 | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | ||
| Ghassan Keyrouz | Giant slalom | 2:05.10 | 54 | 2:11.20 | 45 | 4:16.30 | 45 |
- Men's slalom
| Athlete | Classification | Final | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Rank | Time 1 | Rank | Time 2 | Rank | Total | Rank | |
| Ghassan Keyrouz | 2:10.04 | 6 | DNF | – | – | – | DNF | – |
References
Citations
- ^ "About Us". Lebanese Olympic Committee. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
- ^ a b "Lebanon (LBN)". Olympedia. OlyMADMen. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
- ^ "Politics and Protest at the Olympics". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
- ^ "Sapporo 1972". Olympics. International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
- ^ "Ghassan Keyrouz". Olympedia. OlyMADMen. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
- ^ The XI Olympic Winter Games 1972, p. 471
- ^ The XI Olympic Winter Games 1972, p. 445
- ^ a b The XI Olympic Winter Games 1972, p. 470–471
- ^ a b The XI Olympic Winter Games 1972, p. 473
- ^ "Giant Slalom, Men". Olympedia. OlyMADMen. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
- ^ "Slalom, Men". Olympedia. OlyMADMen. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
Sources
- The XI Olympic Winter Games (PDF). Sapporo: The Organizing Committee for the XIth Olympic Winter Games. 1972. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2007.
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