America flips for Dorothy Hamill and her gold-medal winning performance in figure skating.

Two Olympic flames burned brightly at Innsbruck; one each was lit for the Austrian city's host roles in 1964 and 1976. Denver originally was the odds-on favorite to be host to the 1976 Games, but concerns about the financial cost of the Games, the possible environmental effect and concerns over a negative effect on the state's winter tourism prompted the local population to reject hosting the Games through a referendum.

Highlights

West German fans got caught up in "Rosi fever," as 25-year-old Alpine skier Rosi Mittermaier's victories in the downhill and slalom, and silver in the giant slalom, made her an instant national hero.

In a sport traditionally dominated by Scandinavian athletes, Bill Koch won America's first Olympic Nordic cross-country skiing medal, taking the silver in the 30km cross-country event.

Figure skating team Ludmilla Pakhomova and Aleksndr Gorskov of the Soviet Union became the first gold medal winners in ice dancing.

The Soviet ice hockey team won its fourth consecutive gold medal in Olympic Winter competition.

Attendance	Male Athletes	Female Athletes	Most-Medaled	U.S. Rank
37 nations	900	228	USSR (27)	Third (tied)

Source: Knight-Ridder/Tribune