The 1972 Munich Olympiad was the jubilee: the twentieth in the history of modern sports. It was held in Germany from August 26 to September 10. In addition to the bright sports victories and records that every Olympic Games are remembered for, these were also remembered for the tragedy that claimed human lives. But first things first.
Sports success
Traditionally, the two teams that fought in most disciplines were the USA and the USSR. The 1972 Munich Olympiad was no exception. At the same time, it should be noted that representatives of other states also showed bright sports results.
The 1972 Munich Olympiad was remembered especially for its large number of unique achievements. It set 100 Olympic and 46 world records.
One of the main stars of the competition was the American swimmer Mark Spitz, who won 7 gold medals. This record remained unbeaten until 2008, when Australian Michael Phelps broke it.
Amazing successaccompanied the Finnish athlete Lasse Viren, who won two gold medals at distances of 5 and 10 thousand meters. At the last one, his advantage over his rivals was so great that even if he fell in the middle of the distance, he was able not only to return to the race and win, but also to set a world record.
Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut became another triumphant of the games, performing the most difficult element, called the "Korbut loop".
Basketball Tournament
The real sensation happened in basketball at the 1972 Munich Olympics. For the first time in history, the US team, also called the "dream team", failed to win gold medals.
The way to the final did not foretell any special problems for the Americans. At the group stage, they scored 7 wins in 7 matches in their group, the Brazilians who put up the most resistance to them, lost with a score of 54:61.
The main rival of the US team was determined in the second qualifying group. It was the USSR national team, which also passed the preliminary tournament without losses.
In the semi-finals, the Americans were head and shoulders above the Italians, winning after the first half 33:16. The final score of the meeting - 68:38.
The USSR team's semi-final confrontation with the Cubans did not go so smoothly. By the break, Soviet basketball players were losing 35:36. And only a confident game in the second period allowed us to win with a score of 67:61.
Olympic Final
Basketball final on MunichThe 1972 Olympics are still remembered by many. The Americans were in the lead throughout the meeting, but their advantage was not overwhelming.
At the end of the game, Soviet athletes even managed to take the lead, 8 seconds before the final whistle, the score on the scoreboard was 49:48 in favor of the USSR national team. At that moment, Doug Collins intercepted Alexander Belov's pass, and Zurab Sakandelidze had to foul. The cold-blooded American converted both free throws, the score became 50:49 in favor of the USA.
Three seconds before the end of the meeting, the head coach of the Soviet national team Vladimir Kondrashin took a time-out. When the game resumed, Ivan Edeshko passed to Belov across the court, and he put the ball into the ring, earning 2 points.
Team standings
The team standings at the Munich Olympiad in 1972 was won by the USSR team. Soviet athletes won 50 gold, 27 silver and 22 bronze medals. The Americans had a total of only 5 medals less, but they received only 33 gold medals.
Third place in the team standings was taken by the German Democratic Republic, and the fourth by Germany, which was considered the host of the competition.
The top ten also includes teams from Japan, Australia, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Italy.
Terror attack at the Olympic Games
Many people remember these competitions as the fatal Munich Olympics in 1972, where a terrorist attack was committed on September 4.
Members of a Palestinian terrorist organization called "Black September" took hostage an Israelidelegation. At night, when everyone was sleeping, 8 members of the group, dressed in tracksuits, entered two apartments in the Olympic village where the Israelis lived. 12 people were taken hostage, including weightlifters, wrestlers, coaches in wrestling, athletics, shooting, fencing, judges in weightlifting and classical wrestling.
Already two people were killed during the initial firefight.
Death of hostages
Terrorists demanded the release of 234 Palestinians who were imprisoned in Israel and ensured their unhindered passage to Egypt, as well as two German radicals who were imprisoned in Germany, plus 16 prisoners in various countries of Western Europe. Otherwise, they promised to kill one Israeli per hour.
Israel immediately categorically refused any negotiations. This was motivated by the fact that by making concessions to terrorists, one can stimulate their subsequent attacks.
The German authorities tried to deceive the Palestinians. They developed a plan to free the hostages at the airport where the terrorists had taken them. But everything fell apart when the police, disguised as crew members, decided to leave the plane on which the Palestinians were supposed to fly out of the country. Having guessed everything, the terrorists decided to deal with the hostages.
In two helicopters 9 people were shot or blown up by a grenade. As a result of a firefight that ensued on the runway, a German policeman and five Palestinian terrorists were killed. Only survivedthree. Two of them were killed as a result of the Mossad operation. Presumably, one of the attackers may still be alive.
Everyone was shocked by the murder of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972, but despite this, the competition was decided to continue.
