The , officially known as the '''Games of the XX Olympiad''', were held in
Munich , in what was then
West Germany , from
26 August to
11 September 1972 . Munich won its Olympic bid in April 1966 over the cities of
Detroit ,
Madrid and
Montreal .
The 1972 Summer Olympics were the second
Summer Olympics held in Germany, after the
1936 Summer Olympics in
Berlin . The Munich Olympics were intended to present a new, democratic and optimistic Germany to the world, as shown by its official motto, "the Happy Games." The emblem of the Games was a blue solar logo (the "Bright Sun"). The Olympic mascot, the
Dachshund "
Waldi ", was the first officially named Olympic mascot. The games also saw the introduction of the now universal sports
Pictograms designed by
Otl Aicher . However, this joyful mood was ruined by the killings of several
Israel i athletes by
Palestinian Terrorists in an event known as the "
Munich Massacre ."
The Olympic Park (''Olympiapark'') is based on
Frei Otto 's plans and after the Games became a Munich landmark. The competition sites, designed by architect
Günther Behnisch , included the Olympic swimming hall, the Olympics Hall (''Olympiahalle'', a multipurpose facility) and the
Olympic Stadium (''Olympiastadion''), and an Olympic village very close to the park. The design of the stadium was considered revolutionary, with sweeping canopies of
Acrylic Glass stabilized by metal ropes, used on such a large scale for the first time.
See Also: Munich massacre
The games were marred by what has come to be known as the
Munich Massacre . On 5 September a group of eight Palestinian terrorists belonging to the
Black September organization broke into the
Olympic Village and took eleven Israeli athletes hostage in their apartment, soon killing two of them in the apartment; the subsequent standoff in the Olympic Village lasted for almost 18 hours. During a badly botched German rescue attempt at the military airport of
Fürstenfeldbruck , where the captors with their hostages had been transferred by helicopter ostensibly to board a plane bound for an undetermined Arabic country, all the surviving Israeli hostages were killed by the Palestinians. All but three of the Palestinianians were killed as well. Two of those three were supposedly killed by the
Mossad . Jamal Al Gashey is the sole survivor. The Olympic events were briefly suspended but
Avery Brundage , the
International Olympic Committee president, decided that "the Games must go on" and the games resumed a day later.
The events of the Munich massacre were chronicled in the Oscar-winning documentary, ''
One Day In September ''. A fictional account of the aftermath was dramatized in
Steven Spielberg's 2005 Film ''
Munich ''. The massacre led the German federal government to realize the inadequacy of its post-
World War II pacifist approach to combatting terror, and to the creation of the elite counter-terrorist unit
GSG 9 . It also led Israel to launch an aggressive
Counterterrorism campaign known as
Operation Wrath Of God . The attack prompted heightened security at future Olympics beginning with the
1976 Winter Olympics .
- Mark Spitz , a swimmer from the United States, set a World Record when he won seven gold medals (while on the way to setting a new world record for each of his seven gold medals) in a single Olympics, bringing his lifetime total to nine (he had won two golds in Mexico City's Games four years earlier). As a Jew , Spitz was forced to leave Munich before the closing ceremonies for his own protection, after fears arose that he would be an additional target of those responsible for the Munich Massacre .
- Olga Korbut , a tiny Soviet Gymnast , became a media star after winning a gold medal in the team competition event, failing to win in the individual all-around after a fall (she was beaten by Lyudmilla Turischeva ), and finally winning two gold medals in the Balance Beam and the Floor Exercise events.
- In ''.
- Lasse Virén of Finland won the 5,000 and 10,000 m (the latter after a fall), a feat he would repeat in the 1976 Summer Olympics . The late United States middle-distance legend Steve Prefontaine finished a disappointing fourth in the 5,000 m after swapping the lead multiple times with the victorious Virén
- Valeri Borzov won both the 100 m and 200 m in Track And Field . The top two US sprinters and medal favorites in the 100 m, Rey Robinson and Eddie Hayes, won their first rounds. But they were given the wrong starting time for the next round by their coach and missed the race, eliminating them.
- Also in track and field, two Black American 400 m runners, Vincent Matthews and Wayne Collett, acted casually on the medal stand, twirling their medals (gold and silver, respectively) and joking with one another as " The Star-Spangled Banner " was being played during the award ceremony. They were banned from the Olympics for life, as Tommie Smith and John Carlos were in the 1968 Summer Olympics .
- , Wottle immediately dropped to the rear of the field, and stayed there for the first 600 m, at which point he started to pass runner after runner up the final straightaway, finally grabbing the lead in the final metres to win by just 0.03 seconds ahead of the favorite, the Soviet Yevgeny Arzhonov. This gained him the nickname of "The Head Waiter." At the victory ceremony, Wottle unconsciously forgot to remove his golf cap. This was interpreted by some as a form of protest, but Wottle later apologized.
- Australia n swimmer Shane Gould won three gold medals a silver and a bronze medal at the age of 15.
- Handball (last held in 1936) and Archery (last held in 1920) returned as Olympic sports after a long absence.
- Slalom Canoeing was held for the first time at the Olympics. Silvered by US Olympian, Christian Carbonara
- Dan Gable won the gold medal in Wrestling without having a single point scored against him.
- Wim Ruska became the first Judoka to win two gold medals.
- For the first time, the Olympic Oath was taken by a representative of the referees.
- On 11 September a small plane was stolen in Stuttgart and authorities received information that Arab terrorists were planning to drop a bomb on the final ceremonies. IOC officials and Chancellor Willy Brandt , who were attending the ceremonies, were informed. Defense minister Georg Leber had two fighter planes follow the stolen plane, with the intent of shooting it down should it approach Munich. Radar contact to the plane was lost. A short while later, radar contact to an unknown plane was established, but it turned out to be a civilian passenger aircraft. The stolen plane was never found.
- Badminton and Water Skiing were the demo sports.
coin, 1972]]
- Venues in Greater Munich
- ---Regatta Course (''Regattastrecke''), Oberschleißheim - rowing
- --- Basketball Hall (''Basketballhalle''), Siegenburger Straße - basketball, judo
- ---Fairgrounds, Fencing Hall 1 (''Messegelände, Fechthalle 1'') - fencing
- ---Fairgrounds, Fencing Hall 2 (''Messegelände, Fechthalle 1'') - fencing
- ---Fairgrounds, Weightlifting Hall (''Messegelände, Gewichtheberhalle'') - weightlifting
- ---Fairgrounds, Judo and Wrestling Hall (''Messegelände, Judo- und Ringerhalle'') - judo, wrestling
- ---Dante Swimming Pool (''Dantebad'') - water polo
- ---Shooting Facility (''Schießanglange''), Hochbrück - shooting
- ---Archery Facility (''Bogenschießanlange''), Englischer Garten - archery
- ---Riding Facility, Riem - equestrian events
- --- Dressage Facility Nymphenburg - equestrian events
- Other Venues
- ---Olympic Yachting Center, Kiel-Schilksee - water skiing, yachting
- --- Nürnberg - football/soccer preliminaries
- --- Regensburg - football/soccer preliminaries
- --- Passau - football/soccer preliminaries
- --- Ingolstadt - football/soccer preliminaries
- --- Augsburg - canoeing, football/soccer preliminaries, handball preliminaries
- --- Ulm - handball preliminaries
- --- Göppingen - handball preliminaries
- --- Böblingen - handball preliminaries
See the medal winners, ordered by sport:
See Also: 1972 Summer Olympics medal count
These are the top ten nations that won medals at these Games.
