Munich, 1972
August 26 to September 11.
121 countries; 7 134 athletes; 195 events
DETERMINED TO ERASE the memories of the 1936 Olympics which were held under the Nazi regime, organizers of the 1972 Games dubbed them The Happy Games. The number of participating countries, athletes and events were all record highs.
The set-up of the Olympic Park became a blueprint for future Games. Pictograms were introduced and the daschund Waldi was the first Olympic mascot to be officially named.
But all of that paled in comparison to the September 5 attack when eight Palestinians invaded the Olympic Village and killed nine Israeli athletes and coaches after taking them hostage. The members of Black September, a part of the Palestine Liberation Organization, demanded the release of more than 200 Arab prisoners in Israel.
After negotiations, it was agreed that the hostages and terrorists would be taken to helicopters and flown to an airfield to be taken to Egypt. The Israelis were taken by bus to the helicopters.
However, a botched attempt by the Germans to free the Israelis resulted in several of the hostages being shot to death and the others blown up when a grenade was detonated in the other helicopter. Five of the terrorists were killed and three others were captured.
One month later, a German Lufthansa aircraft was captured in demand for the release of three Palestinians. The Germans capitulated and they were freed.
It is said that Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir assembled a group of counter terrorists called Operation?Wrath of God to track down and kill the three. Two of them were subsequently killed.
This event, known as the Munich Massacre, sparked the commonplace security measures now in place for major games.
Highlights of the 1972 Munich Olympic Games
• Men’s individual handball, last played at the 1936 Olympic Games, made a return to the programme.
• Archery also made a return to the Games for the first time since 1920.
• Kayaking and slalom canoeing made their debut at the Games, while badminton and water skiing were demonstration sports.
• American Mark Spitz won seven gold medals and set an equal number of world records in swimming.
• American Dan Gable won the gold medal in the men’s 68kg freestyle event without having a single point scored against him.
• The United States thought they had won the basketball gold medal 50-49 but, after a timeout, the Soviet Union scored two points and won 51-50. The Americans refused to accept the medals, which are locked in a vault in Lausanne, Switzerland.
• Russian gymnast Olga Kolbut won gold in the team competition, balance beam and floor exercise, but was beaten in the individual all-around after a fall.
• Americans Rey Robinson and Eddie Hart, favourites in the men’s 100 metres, were given the wrong times for their quarter-final heats and missed the races. Valeriy Borzov of the Soviet Union won both the men’s 100 and 200m.
