1972 Summer Olympics

The 1972 Summer Olympics were held in Munich, West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972. This was the second time Germany hosted the Summer Olympics, after the 1936 Games in Berlin. The West German government wanted to show the world a peaceful and happy Germany, using the motto "the cheerful Games." The Games had a special logo, a blue sun, and a mascot named Waldi, a dachshund, which was the first official Olympic mascot.

Many countries took part in the events, and the Soviet Union won the most gold medals. The Olympic Park in Munich was designed by architect Frei Otto and became a famous landmark. It included many special buildings, like the Olympic Stadium and a swimming hall, with unique designs that were new at the time.

Unfortunately, the Games were marked by a sad event known as the Munich massacre. During the second week, members of a group called Black September took some Israeli athletes and coaches as hostages, and this led to the loss of many lives.

Host city selection

Munich was chosen to host the 1972 Summer Olympics on April 26, 1966, during the 64th IOC Session in Rome, Italy. It beat out bids from Detroit, Madrid, and Montréal. Montréal later hosted the Olympic Games in 1976. Some other cities, including Paris, showed interest but did not officially bid.

Munich massacre

Main article: Munich massacre

The 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich were deeply affected by a tragic event known as the Munich massacre. On September 5, a group from the Palestinian Black September organization entered the Olympic Village and took eleven Israeli athletes and officials hostage. During the standoff, two hostages were harmed right away.

Later that evening, the group and their hostages were moved to a military airport. There, a rescue attempt by German authorities failed. Sadly, all the hostages lost their lives during this attempt. The Olympic Games were paused for a short time, but continued after a memorial service. This event led to changes in security for future Olympics and had a lasting impact on international relations.

The story of these events was told in several films and documentaries, including One Day in September and Munich.

Highlights

These were the final Olympic Games led by Avery Brundage.

American Mark Spitz set a world record by winning seven gold medals in a single Olympics, bringing his total to nine. Olga Korbut, a Soviet gymnast, became very popular after winning several medals.

In the men's basketball final, the United States lost to the Soviet Union in a very close and debated game. Lasse Virén of Finland won gold in the 5,000 and 10,000 m races. Valeriy Borzov of the Soviet Union won both the 100 m and 200 m in track and field.

The 100 metres had some surprises when some top runners missed their races because of a mix-up with their start times. Dave Wottle won the men's 800 m in a close race. Australian swimmer Shane Gould won three gold medals at just 15 years old.

Handball and Archery returned as Olympic sports after many years. Slalom canoeing was held for the first time. Dan Gable won the gold medal in wrestling without any points scored against him. Wim Ruska became the first judoka to win two gold medals.

American Frank Shorter, born in Munich, won the Olympic marathon. This was the third time an American had won this race.

Venues

Main article: Venues of the 1972 Summer Olympics

The 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich had many different places where athletes could compete. Most of the events happened in Munich Olympic Park. This big area had special buildings for different sports like running, football, swimming, and more.

Some events took place in other cities around Munich. For example, sailing happened in Kiel, and football games were in places like Nuremberg and Augsburg. There were also spots for archery, shooting, and cycling outside the main park.

Cost

The Munich 1972 Summer Olympics cost about US$1.0 billion when adjusted to 2015 dollars. This money was used for things like technology, transportation, and building venues needed for the Games. It does not include extra costs like improving roads or airports. Compared to other Olympics, Munich’s cost was lower than Rio 2016, London 2012, and Sochi 2014.

Sports

The 1972 Summer Olympics had many different sports where athletes could compete. There were 195 events in 21 sports, such as diving, swimming, water polo, archery, athletics, basketball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, equestrian, fencing, field hockey, football, gymnastics, handball, judo, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, volleyball, weightlifting, and wrestling.

There were also two demonstration sports shown at the Olympics: badminton and water skiing. These were special sports that were not part of the main competition but were displayed for the audience to enjoy.

Participating National Olympic Committees

Eleven nations joined the Olympics for the very first time in Munich: Albania, Dahomey (now Benin), Gabon, North Korea, Lesotho, Malawi, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Swaziland, Togo, and Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso).

Rhodesia was not allowed to join the 1972 Summer Games after some African countries, like Ethiopia and Kenya, protested against its government. However, Rhodesia still joined the 1972 Summer Paralympics earlier in Heidelberg. The People's Republic of China did not compete because they had left the Olympic group years before due to a disagreement about who should represent China.

Number of athletes by National Olympic Committees

Calendar

All times are in Central European Time (UTC+1)

‡ No medals were awarded on 5 September because all Olympic competitions stopped that day. Events that were already happening could finish, though.

Note: A memorial service took place in the Olympic Stadium on 6 September. It had 80,000 spectators and 3,000 athletes. After this, the Olympic competitions started again after a break of 34 hours.

Medal count

These are the top ten nations that won medals at the 1972 Games.

Key

  *   Host nation (West Germany)

Doping

A report called "Doping in Germany from 1950 to today" shows that the West German government supported a large program that gave special substances to athletes to improve performance. The government of East Germany also gave similar substances to its athletes, and this happened often during the 1972 Munich Games.