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The1972 Summer Olympics (German:Olympische Sommerspiele 1972), officially known as theGames of the XX Olympiad (German:Spiele der XX. Olympiade) and officially branded asMunich 1972 (German:München 1972;Bavarian:Minga 1972), were an internationalmulti-sport event held inMunich,West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the secondSummer Olympics to be held in Germany, after the1936 Games inBerlin, which had taken place under theNazi rule. Germany became only the second country at that point after the United States to have two different cities host the Summer Olympics.[2]
The West German government had been eager to have the Munich Olympics present ademocratic and optimistic Germany to the world, as shown by the Games' official motto,"Die Heiteren Spiele",[3] or "the cheerful Games".[4] The logo of the Games was a blue solar logo (the "Bright Sun") byOtl Aicher, the designer and director of the visual conception commission.[5] The hostesses wore sky-bluedirndls as a promotion of Bavarian cultural heritage.[6] The Olympic mascot, thedachshund "Waldi", was the first officially named Olympic mascot. The Olympic Fanfare was composed byHerbert Rehbein.[7] The Soviet Union won the most gold and overall medals.
The Olympic Park (Olympiapark) was based onFrei Otto's plans and became a Munich landmark after the Games. The competition sites, designed by architectGünther Behnisch, included the Olympicswimming hall, the Olympics Hall (Olympiahalle, a multipurpose facility) and theOlympic Stadium (Olympiastadion), and an Olympic village very close to the park. The design of these stadia was considered revolutionary, with sweeping canopies ofacrylic glass stabilized by metal ropes, used on such a large scale for the first time.[8]
The event was overshadowed by theMunich massacre in the second week, in which 11Israeliathletes and coaches and a West German police officer at the Olympic Village were killed by the Palestinian militant organisationBlack September.
Munich won its Olympic bid on 26 April 1966, at the 64thIOC Session inRome,Italy, over bids presented by Detroit, Madrid, and Montréal. Montréal would eventually host the followingOlympic Games in 1976.[10] Other bids, including one from the two cities that expressed interest alongsideParis, submitted a letter to the IOC to make an official bid, but it ultimately did not materialize.[11]
The Games were largely overshadowed by what has come to be known as the "Munich massacre". Just before dawn on 5 September, a group of eight members of the PalestinianBlack September militant organization broke into theOlympic Village and took eleven Israeli athletes, coaches and officials hostage in their apartments. Two of the hostages who resisted were killed in the first moments of the break-in; the subsequent standoff in the Olympic Village lasted for almost 18 hours.
Late in the evening of 5 September that same day, the terrorists and their nine remaining hostages were transferred by helicopter to the military airport ofFürstenfeldbruck, ostensibly to board a plane bound for an undetermined Arab country. The German authorities planned to ambush them there, but underestimated the numbers of their opposition and were thus undermanned. During a botched rescue attempt, all of the Israeli hostages were killed. Four of them were shot, then incinerated when one of the terrorists detonated a grenade inside the helicopter in which the hostages were sitting. The 5 remaining hostages were then shot and killed with a machine gun.
"Our worst fears have been realized tonight. They have now said that there were 11 hostages. Two were killed in their rooms, yesterday morning. Nine were killed at the airport, tonight. They're all gone."
—After a series of conflicting reports and rumours,Jim McKay ofABC brought the news at 3:24 a.m. local time.[12]
All but three of the terrorists were killed as well. Although arrested and imprisoned pending trial, they were released by the West German government on 29 October 1972, in exchange for thehijacked Lufthansa Flight 615. Two of those three were supposedly hunted down and assassinated later by theMossad.[13]Jamal Al-Gashey, who is believed to be the sole survivor, is still living today in hiding in an unspecified African country with his wife and two children. The Olympic events were suspended several hours after the initial attack for the first time in the modernOlympic Games history, but once the incident was concluded,Avery Brundage, theInternational Olympic Committee president, declared that "the Games must go on". A memorial ceremony was then held in the Olympic stadium, and the competitions resumed after a stoppage of 34 hours. Due to the suspension, the Games that were originally to close on 10 September were rescheduled to 11 September.[14] The attack prompted heightened security at subsequent Olympics beginning with the1976 Winter Olympics.[citation needed]
The massacre led the German federal government to re-examine its anti-terrorism policies, which at the time were dominated by a pacifist approach imposed after World War II. This led to the creation of the elite counter-terrorist unitGSG 9, similar to theBritish SAS. It also led Israel to launch theMossad assassinations following the Munich massacre, in which those suspected of involvement were systematically tracked down and assassinated.[citation needed]
The events of the Munich massacre were chronicled in the Oscar-winning documentary,One Day in September.[15] An account of the aftermath is also dramatized in three films: the 1976 made-for-TV movie21 Hours at Munich, the 1986 made-for-TV movieSword of Gideon,[16]Steven Spielberg's 2005 filmMunich.[17] In her film1972, ArtistSarah Morris interviews Georg Sieber, a former police psychiatrist who advised the Olympics' security team, about the events and aftermath of Black September.[18] A historical drama thriller centered around the television coverage of the massacre,September 5, was released in 2024.
Otl Aicher's signage pictograms designed for the Munich Olympic GamesProcession of athletes in the Olympic Stadium- 1972 Summer Olympics, Munich, Germany
These were the final Olympic Games under the IOC presidency ofAvery Brundage.
AmericanMark Spitz set aworld 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 inMexico City's Games four years earlier). BeingJewish, Spitz was asked 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 theMunich massacre. Spitz's record stood until2008, when it was beaten byMichael Phelps who won eight gold medals in the pool.
Olga Korbut, aSovietgymnast, 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 teammateLyudmilla Turischeva), and finally winning two gold medals in thebalance beam and thefloor exercise events.
In thefinal of the men's basketball, theUnited States lost to theSoviet Union in what is widely considered as the most controversial game in international basketball history.[19] In a close-fought match, the U.S. team appeared to have won by a score of 50–49. However, the final three seconds of the game were replayed three times by judges until the Soviet team came out on top and claimed a 51–50 victory.[20] Ultimately the U.S. team refused to accept their silver medals, which are believed to be held in a vault inLausanne,Switzerland.[citation needed] It has come to light since that five of the medals are missing and believed to be in the hands of a German Olympic official withNazi ties.[21]
The 100 metres event was notable for the absence of favorites and world record holdersEddie Hart andRey Robinson for their quarterfinal heats. American sprint coachStan Wright, had been given the wrong starting time. All three qualified American athletes were at theABC television headquarters watching what they thought were replays of their morning preliminary races. In fact, they were watching live coverage of the races they should have been in. Hart and Robinson, scheduled in the first two races, missed their heats. The athletes rushed to the stadium, withRobert Taylor hurrying to take off his warm up uniform before running the later heat.
Two American 400 m runners,Vincent Matthews (gold medalist) andWayne Collett (silver medalist), staged a protest on the victory podium, talking to each other and failing to stand at attention during the medal ceremony.[22] They were banned by the IOC, asTommie Smith andJohn Carlos had been in the1968 Summer Olympics. SinceJohn Smith had pulled a hamstring in the final and had been ruled unfit to run, the United States were forced to scratch from the 4×400 m relay where they would have been heavily favored to win.[23]
Dave Wottle won themen's 800 m, after being last 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 18 metres to win by 0.03 seconds ahead of the favorite, the SovietYevgeny Arzhanov. At the victory ceremony, Wottle forgot to remove his golf cap. This was interpreted by some as a form of protest against the Vietnam War, but Wottle later apologized.
Australian swimmerShane Gould won three gold medals, a silver, and a bronze medal at the age of 15.
HurdlerAbdalá Bucaram carried theEcuadorian flag at the opening ceremony. 24 years later he became thePresident of Ecuador. In Munich, he had to pull out of his event due to injury.
Handball (last held in 1936) andArchery (last held in 1920) returned as Olympic sports after a long absence.
Slalom canoeing was held for the first time at the Olympics.
Dan Gable won the gold medal inwrestling without having a single point scored against him. No other athlete has ever accomplished such a feat in Olympic wrestling.
For the first time, theOlympic Oath was taken by a representative of the referees.
AmericanFrank Shorter, who was born in Munich, became the first from his country in 64 years to win the Olympic marathon. As Shorter was nearing the stadium, German student Norbert Sudhaus entered the stadium wearing a track uniform, joined the race and ran the last kilometre; thinking he was the winner, the crowd began cheering him before officials realized the hoax and security escorted Sudhaus off the track. Arriving seconds later, Shorter was understandably perplexed to see someone ahead of him and to hear the boos and catcalls meant for Sudhaus. This was the third time in Olympic history that an American had won the marathon (afterThomas Hicks 1904 andJohnny Hayes 1908) — and in none of those three instances did the winner enter the stadium first.
Rick DeMont of the United States originally won the gold medal in the men's 400 metre freestyle swimming. Following the race, theInternational Olympic Committee (IOC) stripped DeMont of his gold medal[24] after his post-race urinalysis tested positive for traces of the banned substanceephedrine contained in his prescription asthma medication, Marax. The positive test following the 400-meter freestyle final also deprived him of a chance at multiple medals, as he was not permitted to swim in any other events at the 1972 Olympics, including the 1,500-meter freestyle for which he was the then-current world record-holder. Before the Olympics, DeMont had properly declared his asthma medications on his medical disclosure forms, but the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) had not cleared them with the IOC's medical committee.[25] TheUnited States Olympic Committee (USOC) has recognized his gold medal performance in the 1972 Summer Olympics in 2001, but only the IOC has the power to restore his medal, and it has refused to do so as of 2020.[26]
The men'spole vault field event at the games took place on 1 & 2 September.[25] Controversy arose when the newCata-Pole, used by defending championAmericanBob Seagren andSweden'sKjell Isaksson, was declared to be illegal, by theIAAF, on 25 July. The pole was banned based on the fact that the pole containedcarbon fibers; after anEast German-led protest revealed that it contained no carbon fibers, the ban was lifted on 27 August. Three days later the IAAF reversed itself again, reinstating the ban. The poles were then confiscated from the athletes. Seagren and Isaksson believed this gave other athletes, like the eventual gold medalist,Wolfgang Nordwig, an unfair advantage. Seagren and Isaksson were given substitute poles which they had never used before to jump with. Isaksson, who had lost theworld record to Seagren only two months earlier, didn't clear a height in the qualifying round and was eliminated. After Seagren's last vault he was so incensed by the way IAAF officials handled the event, he took the pole he had been forced to vault with and handed it back to IAAF PresidentAdriaan Paulen.[25] This was the first Olympics where the pole vault had not been won by an American. Prior to 1972, the United States had won 16 straight. Since 1972, the United States has won the men's pole vault only twice, equalling the record of Poland and former republics of the Soviet Union. France has won three times since 1984.
Olympic Stadium (Olympiastadion) – opening/closing ceremonies, athletics, equestrian (jumping team), football (final), modern pentathlon (running), memorial service for Israeli athletes
The Oxford Olympics Study established the outturn cost of the Munich 1972 Summer Olympics at US$1.0 billion in 2015-dollars.[27] This includes sports-related costs only, that is, (i)operational costs incurred by the organizing committee for the purpose of staging the Games, e.g., expenditures for technology, transportation, workforce, administration, security, catering, ceremonies, and medical services, and (ii)direct capital costs incurred by the host city and country or private investors to build, e.g., the competition venues, the Olympic village, international broadcast center, and media and press center, which are required to host the Games. Indirect capital costs arenot included, such as for road, rail, or airport infrastructure, or for hotel upgrades or other business investment incurred in preparation for the Games but not directly related to staging the Games. The cost for Munich 1972 compares with costs of US$4.6 billion for Rio 2016, US$15 billion for London 2012 (the most costly Summer Olympics to date) and US$51 billion for Sochi 2014 — the most expensive Olympic Games in history.[28] Average cost for Summer Games since 1960 is US$5.2 billion.
‡ No medals were awarded on 5 September as all Olympic competitions were suspended during that day although events that were being held at the time of the suspension were allowed to finish to their conclusion.
Note: The Memorial service was held in theOlympic Stadium on 6 September which was attended by 80,000 spectators and 3,000 athletes. Following this all Olympic competitions were then allowed to resume after a 34-hour suspension.
The report, titled"Doping in Germany from 1950 to today", details how the West German government helped fund a wide-scaledoping program.[32]Doping of East German athletes also, by the GDR government, was systematic and prevalent at the Munich Games of 1972.[33]
^"Ein Geschenk der Deutschen an sich selbst".Der Spiegel (in German). No. 35/1972. 21 August 1972. pp. 28–29.… für die versprochene Heiterkeit der Spiele, die den Berliner Monumentalismus von 1936 vergessen machen und dem Image der Bundesrepublik in aller Welt aufhelfen sollen
^Flyvbjerg, Bent; Stewart, Allison; Budzier, Alexander (2016).The Oxford Olympics Study 2016: Cost and Cost Overrun at the Games. Oxford: Saïd Business School Working Papers (Oxford: University of Oxford). pp. 9–13.arXiv:1607.04484.doi:10.2139/ssrn.2804554.S2CID156794182.SSRN2804554.
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