121 countries. 7134 athletes (1059 women). 23 kinds of sports. Leaders in the unofficial team event: 1. USSR (50-27-22); 2. USA (33-31-30); 3. GDR (20-23-23)
The first attempts to introduce the concept of "Olympic talisman" into the Olympic movement took place only in 1968. In the old days, the Olympics did without mascots - the official toy characters symbolizing the hospitable host of the Games. Before that, the people got by with rings and official emblems that distinguished each Olympiad from the previous ones. Historians still cannot figure out who was the first symbol of the Olympics. Some believe that a glorious family olympic mascots comes from the funny skier Schuss, who became the symbol of the White Olympics in Grenoble, others - from the jaguar that accompanied the Games in Mexico City. Both of them converge on one thing: the first official mascot - the colorful dachshund Waldi - appeared at the Summer Olympics in Munich in 72nd year.
Dachshund, more precisely, dachshund (in German the word "dachshund" is masculine) was chosen because, according to the International Olympic Committee, the qualities of a real athlete are inherent in it: stamina, perseverance and dexterity. The dachshund was put on a motley jersey to emphasize the festive mood of the competition. Since this year, new talismans have been born every year. The mascot images have become a source of commercial income. Shops offer souvenir jerseys, baseball caps, posters, key chains, flags, mascot mugs and the show business industry offers funny performances featuring this character
In the spring of 1966, at the Excelsior Hotel in Rome, members of the International Olympic Committee, who gathered for their regular session, chose the largest city of Germany, Munich, as the venue for the XX Olympic Games 1972. It is a quiet city - the capital of Bavaria, a city of museums, galleries, book depositories, the cultural center of Germany, which was called the theatrical and musical center of the country. A record number of participants and national teams gathered in Munich.
For the first time, Albania, Upper Volta, Gabon, Dahomey, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (its representatives started before that at the 1964 and 1972 Winter Olympics), Lesotho, Malawi sent their delegates to the largest sports forum in the world. Saudi Arabia, Swaziland, Somalia and Togo.
The acute situation at these Games arose in connection with the problem of the participation of the Rhodesian team, which persistently asked to be admitted to participate in the Olympics, guaranteeing the participation of black athletes. After discussions and in accordance with the requirements of the Supreme African Sports Union, the IOC decided to allow the Rhodesian national team to participate in the Olympics under unusual conditions: Rhodesia should act as "Southern Rhodesia", and its athletes as representatives of Great Britain. It was assumed that the government of Rhodesia would not accept these conditions, but it agreed with the demands put forward. But when the Rhodesian team, including 7 black athletes, arrived in Munich, it became clear from their equipment that they intend to compete as a Rhodesian team, and as for the flag and anthem, the team leader said: "We are ready to go under any flag, including the flag of the Boy Scouts or Moscow ".
In response to Rhodesia's actions, Ethiopia and China have announced that they will not participate in the Games if Rhodesian athletes are allowed to participate. However, the President of the IOC Avery Brandage and the Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Games V. Daume spoke in support of Rhodesia. The situation escalated to the extreme when black athletes from the United States announced that if Rhodesia were allowed to compete, they would side with their black brothers from Africa. This statement gave reason to expect any surprises. The International Olympic Committee was forced to discuss this issue at its meeting on August 22: by 36 votes to 31, with three abstaining, Rhodesia was barred from participating in the Olympics. On this incident, Avery Brandage summed up "The political pressure on Olympism is becoming unbearable."
These Games were goodbye to Avery Brandage, a talented man who did a lot for Olympic sports as President of the International Olympic Committee. After the closing ceremony of the Games, the sign appeared on the scoreboard: "Thank you, Avery Brandage!"
The hosts of the Munich Olympics tried to do everything to surpass their predecessors in the scale and quality of the Olympic facilities. Huge funds were invested in the improvement of the city. The metro was built here for the first time, the city center was almost completely reconstructed, the number of rooms in hotels increased from 16 to 150 thousand, the system of access roads was practically created anew.
The new complex of sports facilities included, in particular, the Olympic Village for 10-15 thousand inhabitants: the bulk of modern houses of bizarre architecture, combined with relatively small cottages, the Olympic Stadium for 80 thousand seats, the Sports Palace for 15 thousand seats, a swimming pool for 10 thousand seats, a cycle track for 13 thousand seats and other gyms and playgrounds. The shooting complex, the rowing canal and the hippodrome received good reviews. All Olympic venues in Munich were equipped with fairly sophisticated media (scoreboards, computers, laser measuring devices, modern duplicating technology for press bulletins, etc.). Never before have there been so many state-of-the-art equipment at the Games, installed in literally all sports arenas as in Munich. Television was widely used, thanks to which viewers Olympic competitions has become over a billion sports fans on all continents.
The games in Munich were extremely sporting. They covered 23 kinds of sports and 195 kinds of competitions. Women competed in eight sports. Many Olympic and world records have been set. Olympic records have been updated in all 29 sports swimming disciplines - 23 world records were set during the competition. In athletics, 25 Olympic records and 12 world records were recorded, in weightlifting, 32 Olympic records and 7 world records, shooting - 6 Olympic records and 4 world records, archery - 2 Olympic records.
Let's start our story about the Olympic battles with the queen of sports - athletics.
The athlete from the USSR Valery Borzov became the hero of the track and field competitions. In Munich, for the first time in many years, the monopoly of American athletes in the Olympic sprint was broken. This was done by a graduate student from Kiev Valery Borzov. Two gold medals at the fastest running distances - 100 and 200 meters - are convincing proof of this. The famous French sports newspaper "Equip" wrote about Borzov many times. Here are just two quotes. One about Borzov's next victory in 1970: "This is a victory of high intelligence. Borzov comprehends running, he knows how to control speed for ten seconds that he is able to change his tactics several times during this time. He opened a new era in sprint." ...
But Valery himself was ready for a bitter struggle. In the semifinals, he showed best result at a hundred-meter distance, 10.07 seconds. During the final, the Olympic Stadium, which can seat 80,000 people, was overcrowded. In addition to Borzov and another of our sprinters, Alexander Kornelyuk, American R. Taylor, L. Miller and M. Frey from Jamaica, D. Hirsht from Germany, Pole Z. Novososh and G. Crawford from Trinidad went to the start. A shot from the starting pistol, and the runners were blown off the blocks like a wind. In literally one breath, Borzov flew these hundred meters and finished first. He was so confident in his victory that almost at the finish line he allowed himself to turn around and throw up both hands. So he ended this victorious run. He was the first Soviet sprinter to receive an Olympic gold medal.
Before the final 200m race, the stadium was packed to capacity. People were sitting in the aisles, on the stairs. Everyone came to see the fastest man on the planet Valery Borzov. In those days in Munich, where every day a new hero was born, Borzov was one of the most popular champions, he was, if I may say so, a hero of heroes. Every day, both morning and evening newspapers wrote about him, a photograph of his magnificent finish at the hundred-meter race went around almost all newspapers and magazines in the world, his smiling face looked from all the stands in the Olympic village and from many shop windows in the city. Experts before the start of the 200-meter races animatedly discussed the lists of the best runners of the season. The first on these lists was American Larry Black - 20.0 seconds. Borzov was eighteenth with 20.7 seconds.
The final brought together all the real contenders for the victory. Together with Borzov, three Americans fled - L. Black, L. Barton and N. Smith - and the Italian P. Mennea. When the announcer announced that Valery Borzov was starting on the fifth track, the stadium exploded with a storm of applause. Before reaching the straight line, everyone ran almost side by side, but suddenly, as if switching speed, Borzov rushed swiftly towards the rapidly approaching finish. All rivals were left behind. Valery won the second gold medal and installed new record Europe - 20.0 seconds.
For a long, very long time, the applause at the Olympic Stadium did not stop. The newspaper Abend Zeitung, published an hour after the final race of 200 meters, wrote on the front page: "Valery Borzov confirmed the class of the best sprinter in the world for the second time. In 20 seconds at a distance of 200 meters, the Russian won the second gold medal. Larry Black, who took second place. , tried to save the honor of American sprinters, who had no chance in the 100m against the elegantly running Borzov. "
In addition to Borzov, seven more Soviet athletes became the winners of the XX Olympiad. The second gold medal in the triple jump was won by Viktor Saneev. The high jump was won by the student of the Faculty of Economics of the Leningrad State University Yuri Tarmak.
For many, his victory was unexpected. After qualifying competitions, nineteen athletes got to the finals, among them three Soviet ones - the champion of the country K. Shapka, A. Akhmetov and Y. Tarmak; two Hungarians - A. Sepesi and I. Major; two-meter tall S. Junge from the GDR; American D. Stones. At a height of 205 centimeters, only the Japanese X. Temizawa stopped. Four more got off after 210 centimeters. And fourteen overcame the line of 215! It seemed that such a massiveness could be a prelude to a record. But only five did not knock down the bar at the height of 218. For H. Magerl from Germany and A. Sepesha, it was the last. Junge and the Stones have risen by another three centimeters, and only the Leningrader has obeyed the height of 223 centimeters.
No less impressive was the performance of Nikolai Avilov, an athlete from the USSR team, who won the decathlon with a huge advantage and a new world record of 8454 points. The victory in hammer throwing by Anatoly Bondarchuk, who set a new Olympic record, was convincing.
An athlete from Krasnodar, Lyudmila Bragina, started three times at the Games in Munich at a distance of 1500 meters and improved the world record all three times. During the Olympics, Lyudmila increased the record by 5.5 seconds. During a press conference she was asked if women would be able to run longer distances. “In my opinion, it was not difficult to notice,” answered Lyudmila, “that despite the high results the participants in the 1500 meters race did not look exhausted at all. It seems to me that the distance of 3000 meters for women also has a right to exist.”
The best in shot put was the Russian athlete - from Leningrad Nadezhda Chizhova and in discus throw - the Muscovite Faina Melnik.
Dramatic events took place in the javelin-throwing sector. On the eve of the Olympic Games in Stockholm, the 1968 Olympic champion Janis Lusis set a world record in javelin throwing by sending a projectile at 93 m 80 cm.However, at the Munich Olympics, he lost 2 cm in a dramatic duel to West German athlete Klaus Wolferman, who took away from the Latvian athlete the following year and a world record.
Two medals in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters race went to a Finnish runner, a police officer from the small town of Mürskylä, Lasse Viren, the heir to the great Finnish stayers.
For the first time in more than 70 years, an African athlete took the lead in the 400-meter hurdles. Ugandan athlete John Akii-Bois performed brilliantly. He won the competition with a new world record of 47.8 seconds, immediately improving his personal achievement by 1.2 seconds. The 3000 meter hurdles race was won by another African athlete - the champion of the XIX Olympiad Kipchy Keino from Kenya. Another medal, but a silver one, was won by the Kenyan at a distance of 1500 meters.
The gold double in the women's sprint was made by the athlete from the GDR Renate Stecher. On the last day of the Olympics, she added a silver medal in the 4 x 100 meter relay.
When another German athlete Ulrike Mayfarch was 16 years old, she was third in the pre-Olympic high jump qualifiers for the FRG team. In Munich, she broke her best result by seven centimeters, repeating the world record, and won the gold medal. On that day, she was the youngest participant to win the athletics competition. In 1976, Ulrika, unfortunately, did not make it to the final, and in 1980 Germany boycotted the Moscow Olympics. However, she did return to the 1984 Olympics and jumped 2.02 meters and earned her second gold medal, becoming the second athlete to win a gold medal 12 years later.
The sensation of the boxing tournament was the performance of the Cuban masters, who were trained for the Olympics by the Soviet trainer Andrei Chervonenko. Three athletes took the highest step of the podium, and heavyweight Teofilo Stevenson, together with the champion's gold medal, received the challenge prize established for best boxer Olympiad - Val Barker Cup. Since then, any tournament with Stevenson's participation has invariably attracted many spectators. This boxer impresses everyone with an elegant manner of fighting. Physically very gifted, Teofilo resembles the young Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) - the undisputed world champion among professionals. The same ease of movement in the ring, the same speed in strokes.
Stevenson prefers ranged combat, but he can vary tactics. So it was in the Munich ring in a fight with the American Duan Bobik. Many believed that an American heavyweight would rise to the top of the podium in Munich. The draw brought the boxers together in the semifinals. And when everyone, including Bobik himself, was confident that Stevenson would prefer to work at long distance, Teofilo suddenly turned sharply into close combat and seized the initiative. In the third round, due to Teofilo's clear advantage, the fight was stopped.
Soviet boxers also created a worthy competition for the Cubans. They won two gold medals. The champions of the Munich Olympics were: Vyacheslav Lemeshev from Moscow and Boris Kuznetsov from Astrakhan. Three of Lemeshev's four rivals collapsed under a lightning-fast, barely perceptible right-handed counter blow, and only one, Brauske from the GDR, managed to hold out all three rounds to the end. Kuznetsov had five fights in the Munich ring. The fifth and final one was the most difficult. The best amateur boxer in the world, the Val Barker Cup winner, the famous "black dynamite" from Kenya Philip Waruinghi competed against him. The Kenyan jumped into the ring, raising his hands high, as if rehearsing the end of the upcoming fight. Kuznetsov silently crawled under the ropes and bowed to the judges and spectators. The battle began abruptly, with almost no reconnaissance. It was really beautiful boxing. Twelve minutes later, the referee in the ring raised Kuznetsov's hand. Victory!
On September 5, 1972, the course of the Munich Olympics was suspended by terrorists of the Arab extremist organization "Black September", who at 4:30 entered pavilion 31 of the Olympic village, took several members of the Israeli delegation as hostages and killed 11 hostages. For the first time, blood shed at the Olympics shocked the whole world. In retaliation, the Israeli Air Force raided 10 terrorist bases in Arab countries. The atmosphere of enmity, war and terror that existed between Arabs and Jews since the formation of the State of Israel has been carried over to the Olympic Games.
In those tragic hours, the Olympics stopped their impetuous run. Some have started talking about the temporary suspension of the Games in connection with the incident. But these proposals were strongly rejected by the IOC at an emergency session. This was announced at the Olympic Stadium by German President Gustav Heinemann and IOC President Avery Brandage, who said: cooperation ". A day later, the competition continued. However, a number of delegations - Egypt, Kuwait and Syria - left Munich, fearing reprisals.
Rostov student Lyudmila Turishcheva became the absolute champion of the Games in gymnastics. And yet ... Each Olympiad has its own heroes. Sports fortune selects them from among the winners. The hero of the Olympics is a very special person, almost legendary. Firstly, because at each Olympiad there are no more than three or four such heroes, and secondly, because most often their appearance is unexpected: quite recently, on the eve of the starts, one name was declined, and suddenly someone, before that almost not mentioned, became the object of universal sympathy and admiration. It is almost impossible to predict the appearance of a hero or heroine, no knowledge of sports will help here. And this is understandable: in addition to purely sporting phenomenality, a hero is also required to have such valuable human qualities as charm and bright individuality. Can you guess who will be at the height of all the requirements! But it is precisely in this surprise that one of the secrets of the attractiveness of big sport is.
Who, for example, could have guessed that one of the most beloved heroines of the Munich Olympics would be determined in the very first days of the Games, in the midst of gymnastics competitions, and it would not be the world champion Lyudmila Turischeva, not the athlete from the GDR Karin Yants, not the American Kathy Rigby, already the winner of the "Most Charming Participant" awards, and the tiny, funny and spontaneous Olga Korbut! True, even in Moscow, discussing who to represent the national team of the country, our coaches said: "Olya ka-a-ak will spin her somersault, she will conquer everyone at once!" However, these were still more dreams than strict confidence. Although Olya Korbut has already successfully performed in international meetings, no one could determine the degree of the effect of her Olympic debut.
The next day, after Olya demonstrated her extraordinary combination on the uneven bars to the Sporthall, who was holding her breath in amazement, the Munich newspapers opened a competition in delight at the Soviet athlete. As soon as Olya was not called! And the "favorite of the Olympics", and "the chicken of the Soviet team, with his somersault jumped right into the heart of the audience," and "prodigy" ... Each of her new appearances on the platform was greeted with applause. And then, when gymnastic fights ended long ago and new events, it seemed, should have supplanted the impressions of the first Olympic days, Olya Korbut did not disappear from the television screens for a long time.
Olga took the lead on the second day - after the free program on the carpet. The audience applauded her for a long time. She went to the uneven bars together with Lazakovich and Tsuchold. The rivals did not frighten her, because the uneven bars were her favorite projectile, it was here that they, by coach Ronald Ivanovich Knysh, “did something”. But an irreparable, terrible thing happened, as it seemed to many. Two points taken by the judges for exercises on the uneven bars, like a tsunami, smashed the plans of Knysh and Korbut. So it seemed to those who had even the slightest relation to Korbut's speech. Knysh sat down in his chair, and his face became even more impenetrable. Erika Zuchold, a friend from the GDR team, Olga, burst into tears. As if the national team coach Polina Astakhova had turned to stone - she immediately remembered her own fall in the distant now Olympic Rome, and she shuddered at the thought of what a childish test fell on the soul of the young gymnast. The hall fell silent in confusion. And only the operator - a bearded giant in a black leather jacket - drove the camera to Olga Korbut, trying to look into the girl's face in order to mercilessly show the world every tear, wrinkle, grimace of pain and resentment, internal discord. She had to go to the log, and she pulled away from Erica Zuchold and, looking straight ahead, ran up the steps to the platform, froze at the shell. In the all-around, Korbut became only fifth.
But on the last day of the competition, Korbut established herself in world gymnastics as a star of the first magnitude. Olga on the same uneven bars, which yesterday brought her so much grief, perfectly coped with her task and lost only to Karin Yants. But on the balance beam and in floor exercises, she got a taste and was the first. She was especially impressed by her floor exercises. Olya surpassed both European champions here - Lazakovich, who was called the most graceful gymnast of the Games, and Turischeva, whose freestyle is her favorite type of program.
Of course, three Olympic gold medals - for the team championship and for victories in individual apparatus - for the Olympic debutante was an unprecedented success, to be sure, and Olga left the Olympics happy! If we take the general opinion of the audience, then the heroine among the gymnasts in those days was a schoolgirl from Grodno Olga Korbut. It was she who managed to completely capture the attention of the audience, make them shut up, and then, after dismounting, blow up the hall in a long and noisy ovation.
But there was another athlete at the Olympics who overshadowed the glory of our gymnast. American swimmer Mark Spitz was named a hero of the Munich Games. Mark Spitz is the only person to have won seven gold medals in one Olympics. He won at distances of 100 and 200 meters freestyle, 100 and 200 meters butterfly and three relay races: 4x100 meters and 4x200 meters freestyle and combined - 4x100 meters.
Spitz managed to block the success of his compatriots at the previous Olympics - Don Schollander and Johnny Weissmuller. In addition, he set seven world records. Almost every start ended with a world record. Newspapers wrote a lot about the "super swimmer", television and radio correspondents interviewed him, autograph lovers and newsreels hunted him. He was one of the most popular figures in the Olympics.
Back in 1968, Spitz boldly predicted that he would win six gold medals in Mexico City. Although he brought home two relay gold medals, he performed worse in individual competitions. Spitz was third in the 100m freestyle, second in the 100m butterfly, and last in the final in the 200m butterfly. In Munich, Mark tried his hand again. And his triumph exceeded all expectations. In eight days, Spitz participated in seven types of the program, won all seven and set a world record in each of them!
Unfortunately, after the Games, this talented athlete ended his sports career. However, as his coach, the world-renowned authority in the field of swimming D. Kounsilman, argued not without reason, if Spitz had remained in the sport, then he would have had no equal for several more years. Interestingly, at the age of 40, Spitz began to train hard and made an unsuccessful attempt to return to Olympic sports.
There were other phenomenal athletes in swimming. Australian Shane Gould was a swimmer of immense talent who became the first woman to hold world records in freestyle at all distances from 100 meters to 1,500 meters. She achieved such remarkable success in December 1971, three weeks after her fifteenth birthday. During her short career, she set and repeated world records 11 times and became the Australian champion 14 times.
Shane Gould was such a clear-cut leader at the Munich Olympics that even American swimmers wore a T-shirt with a slogan recognizing her leadership. In Munich she received 3 gold, silver and bronze medals... Shane won the 200m and 400m freestyle and 200m combined, setting a new world record each time. She also received a silver medal at a distance of 800 meters and a bronze medal at a distance of 100 meters in freestyle.
In 1973, at the age of 16, she retired from the sport, but managed to become a legend in her short career. At the 2000 opening of the Sydney Olympics, she was one of several Australian athletes to carry the Olympic torch.
All but one medal in kayaking and canoeing, both for men and women, went to Soviet rowers. In single kayak rowing for men, Alexander Shaparenko from the Ukrainian city of Sumy became the champion, for women - a nurse from Odessa Yulia Ryabchinskaya. Nikolay Gorbachev from the city of Rogachev and Viktor Kratasyuk from the Georgian city of Poti won the rowing in a double kayak. Lyudmila Pinaeva and Kharkiv Yekaterina Kuryshko won in women at this distance. The best were the Soviet kayak-four and the crew of the canoe-two: Vladas Chesiunas from Vilnius and Yuri Lobanov from Dushanbe. 4 out of 7 gold medals in rowing went to athletes from the GDR.
Italian Klaus Dibiazi won a silver medal in diving back in 1964, and then at three Olympics in a row (1968, 1972, 1976) he won gold medals in these competitions. In total, he won five Olympic awards.
Klaus was born in Austria to an Italian family. When he was a child, his parents returned to Italy. Klaus was coached by his father, a former champion of Italy (1933-1936), and a participant in the 1936 Olympics. Klaus Dibiazi later coached the Italian team.
Typically, representatives of Olympic sports have been preparing for the next games for four years. However, the judokas had twice as much time this time. The fact is that judo, first included in Olympic program in 1964 in Tokyo, Mexico City was not represented. World Championships 1965, 1967, 1969 and 1971 clearly defined the table of ranks in judo. There was no doubt that the Japanese were still the strongest. And here in Munich the Japanese suffered a major defeat for the first time. They were able to win only 3 gold medals. Dutchman Billem Ryuska, undoubtedly the strongest judoka in the world, managed, not without the help of his European colleagues, to take away 2 gold medals from the Japanese - in heavy weight and in the absolute category. The Japanese lost another gold medal in the light heavyweight division, where the Soviet wrestler Shota Chochishvili emerged victorious.
The athletes of the USSR had an overwhelming advantage in freestyle and classical wrestling, having managed to win 9 gold medals. However, among these achievements, the success of the three-time world champion Anatoly Roshchin, who managed to win olympic gold among heavyweights in classical wrestling and a convincing victory, which was won by Alexander Medved.
Soviet freestyle wrestler Alexander Medved is a three-time Olympic champion and a seven-time world champion. The hero of Tokyo and Mexico City in Munich won his third medal in the heaviest weight category. Alexander is outwardly quite an ordinary person. Yes, tall, yes, it is clear that he is strong. But not the superhuman that many super-heavy heavyweight wrestlers seem to be. And when Alexander Medved sealed such a miracle hero to the carpet, there was no limit to the delight and admiration of the public. Rarely did any of the wrestlers manage to captivate the audience in such a way. Alexander, with his honest and uncompromising struggle, invariably aroused sympathy even for the most biased public.
In Munich, the tournament began for the Bear with a difficult fight. Against him came the Olympic champion in body weight, American Chris Taylor - 187 kilograms. Before Munich, Alexander met him three times: he won two fights, and a draw was fixed in one. The Olympic fight was especially hard. The bear won it. After that, Alexander defeated his old rivals - the Turk G. Yylmaz and V. Dietrich from the Federal Republic of Germany. The last meeting was with an old friend and rival Bulgarian Osman Duraliev. Even a draw suited the bear. But this is the last fight. And only the victory should sound the final chord of his magnificent sports biography. And until the last moment, the Bear remained true to himself - he boldly fought a sharp, full of attacks duel and won a convincing victory.
To thunderous applause that shook the vaults of the Ring Hall, mortally tired (Alexander was struggling with a serious shoulder injury he received in a meeting with Taylor), the wrestler knelt down and kissed the carpet. Three-time Olympic champion, seven-time world champion said goodbye to great sports.
Another Russian wrestler Ivan Yarygin was also remembered for his excellent performance at the Olympics. He also competed in freestyle wrestling - light heavyweight. Ivan's performances in Munich can be entered into the Guinness Book of Records. Yarygin won clear victories in all seven bouts, that is, he put out rivals on the Olympic carpet. On the way to the Olympic summit, Ivan Yarygin set a kind of record - he spent less time on all fights than the duration of one fight.
In freestyle wrestling, wrestlers from only 3 countries received champion titles: the USSR (5), the USA (3) and Japan (2). The success of the Japanese wrestler Hideaki Yanagida (weight category up to 57 kg) was noted in philately.
Again, as in the three previous Olympics, the title of the strongest person was won by the Russian weightlifter. This time Vasily Alekseev. Having lifted 640 kilograms in triathlon in total and set a new Olympic record, he became unattainable for rivals. The only person in the world who twice managed to defeat Alekseev before the Olympics was a twenty-year-old fair-haired strongman from the FRG team, Rudolf Mang. He played at home, and many believed that Mang would beat Alekseev this time.
But Alekseev himself, naturally, had a different opinion. The fight was fierce, but after the second movement it became clear that no one would be able to catch up with Alekseev. An attempt to explain Alekseev's success was made by Fritz Heymann, a columnist for the West German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung: “Now everything is decided by the level of fitness and preparedness of the weightlifter. And the calmness was reflected on his face. Especially when 230 kilograms hung on the bar. He smiled and then, friendly and affable, to the pale, nervous Mang ... "And the newspaper" Stuttgarter Zeitung "wrote:" How do the strong smile? was to see weightlifters on Wednesday evening on a memorable holiday. That was how the Russian Vasily Alekseev, the strongest and kindest man, smiled. "
In equestrian sports, the English rider Richard Mead on Lauriston became a hero. He received 2 gold medals, winning both individual and team eventing.
The Olympics in Munich and Kiel were a record in relations - in terms of the number of countries (121), participants (7134) of disciplines in which medals were played (195), TV viewers (a billion!), Record achievements (swimmers updated Olympic records in all numbers of the program, technical perfection of measuring and information technology.
But there were also huge losses! For everything, especially ambitious sports facilities, taxpayers had to pay for a long time. Politics increasingly intervened in the international Olympic movement. Big business has suffered a painful defeat. And therefore, at the end of the winter and summer Olympic battles, in which the USSR regained the title absolute leader, began a frontal attack on the IOC in order to force it to change the rules of the "game" in favor of the losing politicians and businessmen.
The press began to exaggerate the problem of amateurism, which at the beginning of the century Coubertin called "a constantly resurrected mummy." Lord Killanin, for whom the countdown of the first 100 presidential days has just begun, barely fought off interviewers! Irritated no less than their proprietors, the journalists directly asked the new president if he would allow professionals to speak in Montreal in four years? The answer was not given, but a little later the era of rather illusory amateurism in sports ended.
In the spring of 1966, at the IOC session in Rome, Munich was chosen to host the 1972 Olympic Games.
Prior to that, Germany hosted the Olympic Games in 1936, and this was the only time when the Winter and Summer Olympics were held in one country in the same year.
The Olympic Games in Berlin were remembered for their pomp, gloomy solemnity, and widespread propaganda of the ideas of fascism.
According to the organizers of the competition, the 1972 Munich Olympics was supposed to be the complete opposite, to symbolize the revival of the main principles Olympic movement, freedom, independence of sport from politics, unity of athletes from all over the world.
This is exactly what the German artist Otto Eicher, the author of the official emblem of the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, wanted to say with his work.
However, the alternation of black and white stripes in the crown of the rays of light turned out to be darkly prophetic. The terrorist attack in Munich in 1972 became one of the darkest chapters in the history of world sports.
Preparation for the 1972 Munich Olympics
The organizers of the games did a great job of preparing for the 1972 Munich Olympics.
There were practically no sports facilities in the city suitable for holding international competitions, which is why almost all Olympic facilities were built specifically for the XX Games.
The main of these structures were:
- Olympic stadium, designed for 80 thousand spectators.
- Swimming pool with stands for 9 thousand people.
- A universal sports hall with a capacity of 14 thousand seats.
- Velodrome with a capacity of 5 thousand fans.
- A sports hall for boxing competitions with a capacity of over 7 thousand people.
In addition, the Olympic Village, a press center, a television tower and many other structures were built.
Great attention was paid to the transport problem. 34 kilometers of new roads were built, transport interchanges were built, and even a metro was built, from the city center to the Olympic Park.
The bowl of the Olympic flame was placed on a hill so that it could be seen from all sports facilities.
Opening of the Olympiad in Munich
The opening ceremony of the XXth Olympic Games in Munich took place on August 26, 1972, at the main Olympic stadium.
The two-time Olympic freestyle wrestling champion Alexander Medved became the standard bearer of the Soviet Union's Olympic team.
By this time he was already 35 years old, and he was not going to take part in the Olympics in Munich in 1972, but succumbed to the persuasion of the leaders of the Soviet Olympic Committee.
As a result, the great wrestler won his third Olympiad.
The Olympic flame was lit and the games began.
More than 7 thousand athletes from 121 countries took part in the Olympics, among which there were more than 1 thousand women. Competitions were held in 23 sports in 195 disciplines (at the previous Olympics in Mexico City in 1968 - 172). These Olympic Games have broken all the records of the previous Olympics. A record number of countries participated in them, there were the most participants, the number of world and Olympic records was set more than at other Olympiads. Competitions of the Olympic Games were held at a high level. During the Games, 100 Olympic and 46 world records were set.
At the Olympics in Munich, much was the first time.
Never before have there been such technical equipment at the Olympiads. The latest electronic fixation systems have been installed at literally all Olympic venues.
For the first time, it became possible to set the result, in swimming and athletics, with an accuracy of one hundredth of a second.
The power of television has never been more widely used. For the first time, more than a billion spectators were able to watch the games in all corners of the world.
For the first time, the official Waldi Dachshund mascot has appeared at the Games. Dachshund is an extremely popular breed of dog in Bavaria, and Waldi is a common noun for these four-legged dogs.
USSR national team at the Olympic Games in Munich
Now, after decades have passed, one can treat the Soviet Union differently, but the fact that our athletes had no equal on the world stage is undoubtedly.
Athletes of the USSR took the first team place, winning a total of 50 gold, 27 silver and 22 bronze medals.
In second place were athletes from the United States with 94 medals of various denominations, in third were athletes from the GDR (66 medals).
Young Olga Korbut from Belarus became a real sensation at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
The world press called her "the Russian miracle with pigtails." 
Her dizzying tricks on the uneven bars and on the balance beam literally stunned both the audience and the judges, rightly bringing the 17-year-old gymnast three gold and one silver medals in Munich 1972.
At those competitions, the gymnast first demonstrated an element on the uneven bars, later called the "Korbut loop". Now the element is recognized as "too dangerous injury" and is prohibited for execution at official competitions.
Soviet athlete Valery Borzov won the sprint races of 100 and 200 meters, leaving behind the long-term leaders in this type of US athletes.
Our athletes performed no less brilliantly in other types of competitions. Read more about our team here.
But the victory of the USSR national basketball team over the "invincible" American team became a real sensation, which is remembered even today, 45 years later.
Munich 1972 basketball
The famous "three seconds" of that game forever entered the history of world basketball.
Munich Olympics 1972 basketball.
The final match of the USSR - USA. At the last minute of the match, the USSR national team players, with the score 48:49, break the rules and the Americans get the right to free throws. Both shots reached the goal, and three seconds before the end of the match the score was 50:49.
Ivan Edeshko throws in the ball from his ring. The attack chokes, the final siren sounds.
The Americans are making a real bunch of malas on the court, the stands roar. America once again becomes Olympic champion.
But at this time, confusion arises at the judges' table.
The referee-timekeeper categorically refused to sign the protocol, because according to his chronometer, the game was stopped three seconds earlier.
This was due to the fact that the countdown was turned on at the moment when Ivan Edeshko was giving the pass, and not at the moment the ball was touched by the player receiving the pass, as required by the rules.
The timekeeper was supported by the President of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Abdel Moneim Ouabi.
The teams return to the site. Ivan Edeshko passes the perfect pass to Alexander Belov across the entire area, who throws the ball into the basket !!!
Victory!!! The USSR national team for the first time in history becomes the champion of the Olympic Games in basketball !!!
The Americans tried to protest the result of the match and refused to receive the silver medals of the tournament, which are still kept at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne.
We have the opportunity to show you the end of a truly historic match. Commentator Nina Eremina
Basketball Munich 1972 USSR. The most significant event in the history of Soviet basketball.
At the end of 2017, a feature film "Moving Up" was released, dedicated to that legendary victory, which will forever go down in the history of world basketball.
"Throw of the century". THE HISTORY OF THE LEGENDARY FIGHT
The 1972 Olympics left a noticeable mark on the history of world sports. Along with the enchanting victories of the Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut, the fantastic triumph of the USSR men's basketball team, the tragedy of the hostage-taking of Israeli athletes, this Olympic tournament was also remembered for "David's victory over Goliath."
For German wrestler Wilfried Dietrich, the 1972 home Olympics in Munich was unsuccessful.
For the first time in his long career, he was left without medals. But ironically, it was this tournament that brought the heavyweight world fame. Thanks to the famous "throw of the century", he defeated the American "mass monster" Chris Taylor.
A successful photograph of the move, taken by Swedish correspondent Olle Seybold, was voted the best shot of the entire Olympic tournament.
There were no restrictions for heavyweights at the time. Imagine a situation where 39-year-old Dietrich is 184 cm tall and weighs a little over 100 kilograms on the carpet.
Against him, an American who is 17 years younger, 12 cm taller and twice as heavy
Earlier, the American heavyweight had easily dealt with the German freestyle. And in Greco-Roman wrestling, with its emphasis on mass, Dietrich had even less chances. Taylor was superior to his rival in every way.
The first minutes of the duel, the 200-kilogram American confirmed the predictions and dominated the carpet. But on the 4th minute, everything suddenly changed. Dietrich caught the attacking enemy, grabbing and hooking under him.
With an incredible effort, after a brilliant and risky deflection, Dietrich managed to tear off a 200 kilogram carcass from the ground and throw it onto the carpet, and immediately keep it on his shoulder blades.
Later, sitting in the locker room after his sensational defeat, Taylor told his teammate that he did not believe in his defeat in this way.
“I didn't think there was a person in the world who could tear me off the carpet and throw me. But I was wrong. "
As in life, in sports everything is not always fair.
Dietrich's brilliant victory did not significantly affect his standings, and as a result, as already mentioned, he was left without medals.
But Taylor received a bronze medal in freestyle wrestling competitions.
This success became the most significant in his short career. After 5 years, in the same year as Dietrich, he retired from the sport. The reason for this was health problems. At the age of 29, Taylor passed away after a heart attack.
Wilfried Dietrich is still considered the best German wrestler to this day.
In 1960, he took gold at the Rome Olympic Games. Then he won the 1961 World Championship in Yokohama. And in 1967 he became the best at the European Championship in Istanbul.
The heavyweight competed in two wrestling styles at once - freestyle and Greco-Roman. Therefore, it is not surprising that Dietrich got into the Guinness Book of Records for participating in 8 tournaments for 5 consecutive Olympiads, having won 5 awards.
For a long time he had no equal in Germany. For 17 years in a row, Wilfried was recognized as the best freestyle in the country. Also becoming the 14-time German Greco-Roman champion.
Later, after his death, Dietrich's name graced the German Sports Hall of Fame. In honor of the famous heavyweight, a museum was organized and a gym in his hometown of Schifferstadt was named.
Munich Olympics 1972, terrorist attack
September 5, 1972, the most tragic event in the history of the modern Olympic Games took place
The organizers of the Olympics in Munich wanted to show in every possible way its diametrical opposite to the notorious Games in Berlin in 1936.
At the Olympic Games in Munich, an informal, friendly atmosphere reigned.
In the Olympic Village, athletes often traveled to their places of residence without presenting passes.
Some of them simply climbed over the fence, with the complete connivance of smiling and unarmed guards. 
On Tuesday, September 5, 1972, at 4.30 am, 8 people in tracksuits climbed over the fence of the Olympic Village.
Terrorists of the Palestinian organization "Black September" entered Pavilion No. 31 of the Olympic Village and took several members of the Israeli delegation hostage.
The Bavarian police and the German army special forces acted extremely unprofessionally.
As a result, 11 hostages were killed.
For the first time blood was shed at the Olympics. At an emergency meeting of the IOC, it was decided to continue the Games.
For the first time in history, the Olympics were interrupted.
The break lasted about a day.
At the central Olympic stadium, a mourning ceremony was held in memory of the fallen Olympians from Israel. The memory of the killed Olympic athletes was honored with a minute of silence, a mourning ceremony and a rally at the central stadium.
A delegation from the Soviet Union did not take part in this event, since the USSR did not recognize Israel as an independent sovereign state.
Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir ordered the Mossad special services to find and destroy all those involved in the attack, wherever they were hiding. The order was carried out. 
In 2005, the worldwide release of the film "Munich" by the famous American filmmaker Steven Spielberg, dedicated to the terrorist attack at the 1972 Munich Olympics and the subsequent retaliation action.
The matches of the Olympic basketball tournament were held in the “Olympia-basketball-hall” hall. A huge hall - 12 meters high, lighting - 1,500 lux, 5587 seats, 218 chairs for guests of honor. Sectors for the press, guests of honor and participants are temporary structures that, after the end of the Olympics, were to be dismantled, and the hall was to be transformed so that tennis players, handball players, volleyball players could compete in it.
As always, the US team was considered the main contender for gold medals. The coach of this team was the famous coach Henk Aiba. He turned 70 in 1972. The composition of the team was amazing - the average age of the players did not reach 21 years, there were no pronounced stars, Bill Walton, the strongest center of that time in student basketball, did not get into the team. But the US team included the tallest basketball player in the Olympics - Tommy Barleson (223 cm) and 6 more tall and powerful strikers.
The first day of the Olympics did not bring any surprises. Brazil-Japan 110: 55. USSR-Senegal 94:52. USA-Czechoslovakia 66:35.
Of all the games of the first day, the Italy-Yugoslavia match stood out. The match was played in an equal fight. Only in the second half of the game, after a series of mistakes made by the Italians, the initiative passed to the Yugoslavs. The match score 78:85. Among the Yugoslavs, the center Kreshemir osic stood out.
The first misfire happened among the Yugoslavs in the match with the Puerto Rico team. Having won 7 points in the first half, the Puerto Ricans brought the match to victory - 79:74.
The USSR-Puerto Rico match was replete with personal remarks. 47 went to Puerto Ricans and 37 to the USSR. Ten players, five Puerto Ricans and four Soviet, received five fouls. Ivan Edeshko was punished twice by technical means. The Puerto Rico team was distinguished by good technique and accurate shots from any distance. The USSR national team stood out Alexander Belov, who scored 35 points in this match. The final result of the match is 100: 87.
To reach the final, Soviet athletes had to defeat the main sensation Olympic tournament- the Cuban team. The Cubans beat Brazil, Czechoslovakia and Spain with relative ease. Easy and casual handling of the ball, natural and unconventional deception, hidden passes and excellent jumping ability The disadvantage of this team was an excessive love of theatricality.
From the first minutes of the match, the Cubans resorted to very tough pressure and therefore in the first half have already received 26 fouls. But they responded with sharp and swift counterattacks. On the 10th minute, thanks to the efforts of Juan Domego and Miguel Calderon, the Cubans took the lead - 22:19. In a few minutes the score is already 31:25. The USSR national team is losing. Calderon's passage - 36:28. The turning point in the game was made by Sergey and Alexander Belov. The score is already 36:32. Water passage - 36:34.
The USSR national team played the second half very confidently and won 67:61. Sergey Belov 16 points, Zharmukhamedov - 15, Alexander Belov - 14, Paulauskas - 11.
Once again, the teams of the USSR and the USA met in the final. The Americans easily defeated all previous rivals: Australia - 81:55, Cuba - 67:48, Brazil - 61:54, Egypt - 96:31, Spain - 72:56, Japan - 99:33, Italy - 68:38.
Coaches of the USSR national team Kondrashin and Bashkin released an unusual starting lineup - Sakandelidze, Korkiya, Zharmukhamedov and both Belovs. The American defense could not cope with the fast play of the Soviet national team. Sakandelidze scored 4 points, and the score became 7: 1. Especially the Americans "guarded" Sergei Belov. At first, Thomas Henderson took care of him, but to no avail. Doug Collins replaced him. The result is the same. The next guardian was Kevin Joyce. By this time, Sergei Belov scored 12 points and was replaced. By the end of the first half, the pace of the game subsided, which played into the hands of the Americans. Henderson played out for them. The first half ended 26:21 in favor of the Soviet basketball players.In the second half, the USSR had almost the same five as in the first. Only Paulauskas came out instead of Sergei Belov. Aiba also made a number of substitutions, but these changes were forced.
At first, Jim Brever played, but he was quickly shut down. Kevin Joyce narrows the gap to 2 points - 42:40. Sakandelidze misses 2 free throws. But Paulauskas gets 3 points in the next attack - 47:42. The Americans score 2 goals in a row. Sakandelidze scores a free kick - 49:48. Throw by Sergei Belov - 49:46. The Americans responded with a James Forbes throw - 49:48.
A mistake by Alexander Belov, a foul by Sakandelidze and Doug Collins, having scored both free throws 3 seconds before the end of the match, takes their team forward. But in 3 seconds Ivan Edeshko gave a magnificent pass across the entire area to Alexander Belov and he, in spite of the tutelage of two Americans, sent the ball into the ring along with a siren.
It was the first time that the US team had lost at the Olympics. And for the first time, it was not the US team that won the gold medal. The Americans showed in Munich that they do not know how to lose with dignity - they filed a protest immediately after the match. The International Basketball Federation decided the question - to replay the match or to recognize the victory of the USSR national team? Only after nightly debates and meetings was the decision made: the USSR is the Olympic Champion !!! The Americans did not even go to the awards ceremony and flew home without medals.
In the match for 3rd place, the Cubans won the Italians - 66:65.
Match for 5th place: Yugoslavia-Puerto Rico - 86:70.
Match for 7th place: Brazil-Czechoslovakia - 87:69.
Match for 9th place: Australia-Poland - 91:83.
Match for 11th place: Spain-West Germany - 84:83.
Match for 13th place: Philippines-Japan - 82:73.
The match for the 15th place between the teams of Senegal and Egypt did not take place - it was not the first time that the Egyptian team flew home without finishing the tournament.
Final arrangement of teams:
1. USSR: Anatoly Polivoda, Modestas Paulauskas, Zurab Sakandelidze, Alzhan Zharmukhamedov, Alexander Boloshev, Ivan Edeshko, Sergei Belov, Mikhail Korkiya, Ivan Dvorny, Gennady Volnov, Alexander Belov, Sergei Kovalenko.
2. USA: Ken Davis, Doug Collins, Thomas Henderson, Michael Banffom, Robert Jones, Dwight Jones, James Forbes, James Brever, Tommy Barleson, Thomas McMillen, Kevin Joyce, Ed Rattleef.
3. Cuba: Juan Domengo, Roberto Herrera, Juan Rocha, Pedro Chape, Jose Alvarez, Rafael Canizares, Conrado Perez, Miguel Calderon, Tomas Herrera, Oscar Varona, Alejandro Urgelles, Franklin Standard.
4. Italy.
5. Yugoslavia.
6. Puerto Rico.
7. Brazil.
8. Czechoslovakia.
9. Australia.
10. Poland.
11. Spain.
12. Germany.
13. Philippines.
14. Japan.
15. Senegal.
16. Egypt.
1972 Olympics video:
XX Summer Olympics were held in Munich from August 26 to September 10, 1972.
Before the 1972 Olympics in Munich, the problem of choosing the standard-bearer of the USSR national team was not. The name of the hero was on everyone's lips - two-time Olympic champion in freestyle wrestling Alexander Medved... It should be noted that the 35-year-old wrestler was not even going to his third Games, but he was persuaded. And he won again.
Of the 99 medals won by Soviet athletes in Munich, there were 50 gold, 27 silver and 22 bronze. For the first time, our basketball players beat the Americans, and literally in the last seconds of the final. Won the Olympics for the first time and volleyball players, water polo players, judoka Chochishvili, yachtsman Mankin in tempest class, Vladimir Vasin in diving. Elena performed brilliantly in equestrian sports Petushkova on a horse Ashes, Kalita on horseback Tariff and Kizimov on horseback Ichor.
The Munich Olympics were remembered not only for the sporting events themselves, but also for the high-profile terrorist attack.
"Games of happiness and joy"
It was the second week of the Munich Olympics. World War II ended almost 30 years ago, but Germany was aggressively trying to shake off its Nazi past. "Games of happiness and joy" - under this slogan the new Germany showed the world the appearance of an open and friendly country.
The arrival in Munich of a team from Israel, which included former prisoners of Nazi concentration camps, once again emphasized the transition from the militaristic past to a carefree and happy life.
A small Israeli delegation at the Games consisted of three dozen people - 15 athletes and 15 officials, including coaches, referees, and sports officials. In the new Olympic village, they were given the first floor of a small building at number 31 on the eastern outskirts, not far from the central gate.
Even before the Olympics, the Israelis were worried about their safety. The head of the delegation, Shmuel Lalkin, was embarrassed by the location, his excessive vulnerability, worried about the lack of armed guards and access control in the Olympic village.
The organizers dismissed the claims - they contradicted the philosophy of "Happy Games" declared by the Germans. In them, the role of the police, armed with only radios, was reduced to the fight against ticket speculators and drunks.
"Black September"
The Black September terrorist organization, created in the early 1970s by radical Palestinian Arabs, was not numerous; its ideological inspirer Ali Hassan Salameh is the closest associate of the future Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
The group took its name "Black September" after the September armed conflict in Jordan, where numerous Palestinian refugees expelled by Israel lived. In that war, according to various estimates, about 10 thousand Palestinians died, and another 150 thousand had to flee to neighboring Lebanon.
Before the start of the Olympics, the Black September militants arrived in Germany in two groups using false documents via Italy and Bulgaria. All weapons and ammunition (8 Kalashnikov assault rifles, 30 magazines for them with full ammunition, several TT pistols and 24 hand grenades) were delivered to Munich through the diplomatic mail of the Libyan embassy.
Several decades later, when the documents about the operation were declassified, it turns out that three weeks before the Games, the German authorities received information from an informant from Lebanon about the terrorists' plans during the Olympics, but frivolously ignored it.
USSR Super Series - Canada
On the night of September 4-5, eight terrorists in Adidas tracksuits with trunks filled to the brim with weapons stood at the 2-meter mesh fence of the Olympic village. Many athletes later said that they rarely used the usual entrance to the village - it was much easier to jump over a low fence in the right place.
That night, at the fence, the terrorists met Canadian water polo players who had sat up late in the media center watching the USSR-Canada hockey super series. The Canadians returned to the village in high spirits (4-1, victory for the "Maple"). They and the militants helped each other to get over the fence and dispersed in different directions - the clock was about 4:20 am local time.
“They came with us. We thought they were other athletes. Five or ten minutes later, we heard the sound of gunshots, but we thought that someone had won a medal and was launching fireworks, ”recalled Canadian water polo player Robert Thompson.
Only in the morning will they be told about the hostage-taking in the building opposite.
Capture
The Israeli athletes were asleep. The day before they had a busy evening - the Olympians went to the musical "Fiddler on the Roof", had dinner with a famous Israeli actor, and walked around Munich at night.
In total, the Israeli delegation occupied five rooms on the first floor of building 31. True, not everyone lived there. Barrierist Esther Shahamarov and swimmer Shlomit Nir settled in another part of the Olympic village, and three yachtsmen settled in the town of Kiel, where sailing races took place.
The terrorists were well versed in the Olympic village - they spent several weeks observing and studying the situation, and two of them, allegedly, were even hired as handymen there. Having quickly overcome 70 meters from the fence to the building in which the Israelis lived, they, with their keys (one of the invaders had cleaned the building the day before and had access to the keys), opened room No. 1, in which the Israeli coaches and judges lived.
The rustle in the keyhole woke up the referee for wrestling Joseph Gutfreund and immediately rushed to the opening door. With his considerable weight, for some time he held back armed people in balaclavas on the doorstep - one of his roommates, weightlifting coach Tuvier Sokolovsky, was enough to escape through the broken window. The six remaining residents of the first room were destined to be held hostage and perish.
“I was awakened by the screams of Gutfreund, jumped out of bed and through the half-open door, which he was desperately trying to hold, saw people with black masks on their faces and with weapons. At that moment, I realized that I had to run. I broke the glass, jumped out the window and ran towards the neighboring building. The terrorists fired after me so that I could hear the sounds of flying bullets, ”Sokolovsky said immediately after his happy release.
The invaders demanded that the six hostages show them the rest of the rooms in which the Israelis were sleeping. Wrestling coach Moshe Weinberg, already wounded in the cheek during a fight with one of the terrorists, led them past room 2 (where shooters, fencers and athletes lived) to room 3 to six wrestlers and weightlifters - apparently counting on their strength and rebuff, but they, caught in a dream, did not offer resistance. So the number of hostages increased to twelve - the rest of the Israelis managed to quietly leave the seized building.
The first victims were Weinberg and weightlifter Yosef Romano. On the way back to the first room, they attacked the militants and rescued another hostage - the lightweight wrestler Gadi Tsobari, taking advantage of the confusion, escaped through the underground parking lot. However, Weinberg was shot on the spot, his body was thrown out of the window by the terrorists. And the seriously wounded Romano was taken into the room and subjected to torture, leaving the corpse to the end as a warning to the rest of the hostages.
The terrorists set out their demands on a printed piece of paper thrown out of the window - the release and transfer to Egypt of more than two hundred Palestinians from the prisons of Israel and Western Europe.
Israel's response was lightning-fast - there will be no talks with terrorists.
The Israeli authorities offered the Germans to carry out an operation to liberate the forces of their own special forces, trained specifically for such situations. The detachment was already ready to fly, but a refusal followed - the foreign military did not receive the right to operate in Germany.
The Olympics did not stop
Until 4 pm on September 5, the Games continued sport competitions- only after the death of two hostages did the organizers take a break. Life in the Olympic village was in full swing all day - athletes watched the seized building from their balconies, journalists filmed reports, officials and negotiators circled around.
“We had to keep silent about the terrible hostage-taking by terrorists. All countries then broadcast live reports. And we came to the scene of the tragedy and pretended to be transmitting too, “filming” with the camera turned off. Our correspondent Tolya Malyavin and I secretly went to the village where all this was happening. It was scary when the terrorists looked out of the windows, just awful Crazy. I dreamed of going home as soon as possible, ”said sports commentator Nina Eremina.
“The USSR national team lived in a nearby building. We saw the terrorists when they were walking around the loggias in masks, ”doctor Savely Myshalov recalled in an interview.
The militants did often appear on the balcony, inspecting the surrounding area. In the middle of the day, at gunpoint, they took two hostages out to the window - coaches Andre Spitzer and Keat Shor to demonstrate that they were still alive.
There were still few police forces - a small armed group of German border guards cordoned off the alert area of the Olympic village, awaiting further instructions, but no release plan existed at the German crisis headquarters.
New requirements
By evening, the terrorists announced new conditions - a plane with a crew to Cairo. To get to the airport, they demanded two helicopters to the Olympic village, to which they were to be taken from the seized building by buses.
“From the ninth floor window we could clearly see how two buses arrived. Four athletes got out of the first, blindfolded and arms crossed, and they were put into the first helicopter. Then five more hostages got off the second bus and climbed onto the second helicopter. It was the last picture we saw, ”- Israeli swimmer Shlomit Nir was not even twenty then, but she still has not been able to forget the terrible events of more than 40 years ago.
At the Fürstenfeldbruck military airfield, a Boeing-727 was awaiting terrorists, inside which police officers disguised as crew members were supposed to be. According to the plan, they were to eliminate two militants who would rise to inspect the side, and the neutralization of the rest was assigned to snipers. The crisis headquarters were led by Bavarian Interior Minister Bruno Merck, West German Interior Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher and Munich Police Chief Manfred Schreiber.
Failure
But the operation failed due to a mediocre organization and a chain of negligent and incompetent actions:
- the police, disguised as pilots, got scared of the terrorists at the last moment and, refusing to take part in the operation, left the plane without permission;
- it was assumed that there were four or five terrorists - the assessment was based on observations;
- five snipers (in fact, ordinary police officers who visited the shooting range on weekends) were armed with rifles with a conventional telescopic sight, which in poor visibility conditions were ineffective;
- the armored personnel carriers were late for the operation due to a traffic jam on the way to the airport;
- the airfield was not lit;
- shooting at terrorists began prematurely and disorganized;
- there was no communication between the snipers and the leaders of the operation.
After the first shot at the terrorists returning from the empty plane, a chaotic exchange of fire and grenade explosions began, as a result of which all nine hostages, who were tied up in the helicopters, and one policeman were killed.
Of the eight terrorists, five were killed at the airport, three were taken alive.
Retribution
The bodies of five killed terrorists were sent by Germany to Libya at the insistent demand of Muammar Gaddafi - there they were buried by a crowd of 30,000 with heroic honors. The Germans refused to extradite the three survivors to Israel, promising to judge according to local laws, but they released them a couple of months later, fulfilling the requirements of the hijackers of the Beirut-Ankara flight of the German airline Lufthansa. All three were greeted with enthusiasm in the same Libya.
Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir instructed the Mossad (Israel's special task force) to develop a secret operation called "The Wrath of God" to destroy everyone involved in organizing the terrorist attack at the Munich Olympics.
Twenty years of continuous hunt for members of "Black September", as a result of which 13 militants were killed in different parts of the world - Rome, Paris, Athens, Lillehammer.
Jamal al-Ghashi is the only one of the three freed terrorists who escaped retaliation. Now 64 years old, he is hiding from the ongoing Israeli persecution in one of the North African countries.
“I am proud of what I did in Munich because it helped the Palestinian cause a lot. Before Munich, the world did not know about our struggle, but on that day the word “Palestine” sounded all over the world, ”al-Gashi said at a press conference in Libya after his solemn return.
Mourning
The day after the tragedy, a mourning ceremony was held at the Munich Olympic Stadium with the participation of 3,000 athletes and 80,000 spectators. Only ten Arab countries and the USSR refused to participate in it.
“All delegations were there, except for the Soviet one. Our country did not recognize Israel, but our wrestlers and weightlifters were outraged that they were not allowed to enter the stadium, because many of the dead were from the Soviet Union, "admitted the doctor Savely Myshalov.
Israeli athletes killed in Munich:
Moshe Weinberg, 32 years old. Wrestling coach.
Yosef Romano, 32 years old. Weightlifter, born in Libya, participant in the 1967 Six Day War.
Zeev Friedman, 28 years old. Weightlifter, born in Poland.
David Berger, 28 years old. Weightlifter, born and raised in the United States.
Yaakov Springer, 51 years old. Weightlifting judge, born in Poland.
Eliezer Halfin, 24 years old. A wrestler, born in the USSR, in Riga. He emigrated to Israel in 1969.
Josef Gutfreund, 40 years old. Classic wrestling judge, born in Romania.
Kehat Shor, 53 years old. Shooting coach, born in Romania.
Mark Slavin, 18 years old. Wrestler, born in Minsk, emigrated to Israel 4 months before the Games in Munich.
Andre Spitzer, 27 years old. Fencing coach, born in Romania.
Amitsur Shapira, 40 years old. Athletics coach.
Text: Alexey AVDOKHIN
The Games of the XX Olympiad were held on August 26 - September 10, 1972 in Munich, Germany. Competitions of the Olympic Games were held at a high level. During the Games, 94 Olympic and 46 world records were set. The Soviet delegation consisted of 373 people.
Unfortunately, this Olympic holiday was overshadowed by a tragedy - on September 5, members of the Palestinian terrorist organization Black September took Israeli athletes hostage. While trying to free them at the airport, 11 athletes and coaches were killed. At an emergency meeting of the IOC at the Games, mourning was declared, but it was decided to continue the Games.
A distinctive feature of the Games in Munich was the widespread use of the latest developments in the field of technology. All Olympic venues in Munich were equipped with the latest information technology (scoreboards, electronic computers, laser measuring devices, modern duplicating technology for press bulletins, etc.). Television was widely used, thanks to which more than a billion sports fans on all continents became spectators of the Olympic competitions.
The national team of the Soviet Union performed successfully, winning 50 gold, 27 silver and 22 bronze medals. The athletes of the USSR national team won awards in 21 sports. 9 gold each was won in athletics and fight, 6 each artistic gymnastics and rowing and canoeing, 3 gold - in weightlifting... Gold medals were also won in rowing, sailing, equestrian sports, cycling, boxing, fencing, modern pentathlon, shooting.
Olga Korbut and Lyudmila Turischeva (gymnastics), Valery Borzov ( Athletics), Vasily Alekseev (weightlifting), Lyudmila Bragina and Faina Melnik (athletics), Alexander Medved (freestyle wrestling).
A sensation at the Games was the defeat of the American team in basketball - 3 seconds before the end of the match, A. Belov threw the decisive goal into the opponents' basket, which brought the USSR national team victory. The Olympic record in swimming was set by the American swimmer Mark Spitz - 7 gold medals. For the first time, Cuban Teofilo Stevenson entered the boxing ring, becoming an Olympic champion at two subsequent Olympics.
