Singles, Men

The competition was expected to come down to the artistic John Curry (GBR) against the powerful athleticism of the Soviet’s Vladimir Kovalyov. Prior to 1976, Curry had never defeated Kovalyov in a major event, but shortly before the Innsbruck Olympics, Curry won the European Championships, with Kovalyov second. European judges’ criticism of Curry’s skating was that it was too feminine and not athletic enough. By the time of the Olympics, Curry had supplemented his programs with enough jumps to satisfy the judges. In the competition, Sergey Volkov (URS) took the lead after the compulsories with Curry second and Kovalyov third. Curry then moved into the lead, placing second in the short program to Canada’s Toller Cranston. Kovalyov had problems in the short, placing only sixth, and dropping to fourth place overall, behind Curry, Volkov, and East Germany’s Jan Hoffmann. Curry won the free skating to secure the gold medal. Kovalyov placed only fourth in that phase but moved up to the silver medal as Volkov and Hoffmann struggled. Cranston, fifth after the short program, placed second in the free skate to win the bronze medal. Curry was an openly gay skater, as was Cranston, and would later die from AIDS in 1994. American Terry Kubicka performed a back flip, then still allowed and the first at the Winter Olympics, but he was not rewarded by the judges. Curry was coached by Carlo Fassi, who also coached the 1976 women’s gold medalist, Dorothy Hamill.