In Sapporo in 1972, Paquito Fernandez Ochoa won Spain's first-ever Winter Olympics medal in the slalom.
But fast-forward nearly 50 years, and Spain's modern-day footballers couldn't generate any downhill momentum of their own in Japan as they drew their opening game of the Olympics 0-0 with Egypt.
Spain had named a strong starting XI which included the likes of Pedri, Pau Torres and Marco Asensio.
But they couldn't find a way past the dogged Egyptians and will particularly rue Rafa Mir's missed header late on.
Injuries have also clouded the picture for Spain, who came into this tournament with such high expectations.
Both Dani Ceballos and Oscar Mingueza were forced off, and their absences meant that Spain lost some of their impetus, despite the fact that they still completely dominated the game and reduced Egypt to very few excursions from their own half.
Against a back five, De la Fuente had opted to play without a recognised striker - as had largely been the case for Spain in the European Championship.