1972 Munich

Munich 1972

Artistic Gymnastics

Athletics

Basketball

Boxing

Diving

Equestrian

Rowing

Swimming

Wrestling

Australia

Cuba

Czechia

Finland

Germany

Great Britain

Hungary

Israel

Japan

New Zealand

Norway

Sweden

Ukraine

United States

USSR

More than 40 years have elapsed since Australia’s Shane Gould lit up the pool at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, winning five medals – three of them gold - before deciding to quit swimming shortly afterwards. In the latest of our “Words of Olympians” series, she looks back on her fleeting but hugely successful Olympic career.  (Still image: Getty Images)

Shane GOULD

Munich 1972 | Olympic Games

Relive Munich 1972 with swimming superstar Shane Gould_thumbnail.jpg

Relive Munich 1972 with swimming superstar Shane Gould

For as long as people talk about basketball, they will talk about the 1972 Olympic final, one of the most contentious and discussed sporting matches in history\.

Americans refuse silver as USSR steal controversial basketball final

The powerful story of how a revolutionary boxing experiment produced Teofilo Stevenson and a legacy of Cuban success at the Olympic Games.

Originals

Thumbnail_People_Fighters2_1581514660762.jpg

The People’s Fighters | Five Rings Films

As an elite athlete you work hard at being the best\. The best in your school, your town, your state, your country\. For the truly outstanding, the best in your continent or even the world\.

Gary Hall Sr, the three-time Olympian whose roommate put him in the shade

&ldquo;I look kind of mean and aggressive looking,&rdquo; Spitz said of the mesmerising photograph above\. &ldquo;Not mean in a personality way, but powerful\.&rdquo;

Mark SPITZ

USA's Mark Spitz won a remarkable seven out of seven swims at Munich 1972 

Snapped: Mark Spitz on his remarkable seven-in-seven at Munich 1972 

The USA’s Mark Spitz \- winner of seven gold medals in the Olympic pool in Munich \- was not the only multiple medallist to cause a splash at the 1972 Games\. Doing her best to upstage the American was Australian teenager Shane Gould, who was still some way short of

Swimming legend Shane Gould recalls Munich 1972 triumph

Meanwhile, the defending champion Madeline Manning, like many others in the competition, was running with an eye on conserving energy\. She slowed at the finish of her heat, apparently assured of qualification, but it turned out to be a profound error\. She was passed on the line and failed to

Hildegard FALCK-JANZE

Home favourite Falck puts on unstoppable 800m show

&nbsp;The decathlon of 1972 was associated with tragedy\. It was the event that reopened the Olympic Games after the postponement to mourn the murders of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches, and so it carried a sombre responsibility\. The world had been shocked by the deaths; now it wanted solace through

Avilov honours the dead with fine decathlon win

The favourite for gold was the Ukrainian sprinter Valery Borzov, now&nbsp; running for the Soviet Union\. But he was expected to face a strong challenge from Americans Eddie Hart and Rey Robinson, both of whom had been timed at 9\.9secs in the US Olympic Trials\.

Valeriy BORZOV

Borzov times it right with history-making sprint double

You could always spot Dave Wottle when he ran\. He always took part in races wearing an old golf cap, as if daring his opponents to underestimate him, and perhaps they did\. Certainly it looked as if his chance of victory had gone after 600m, when Wottle was stranded in

Cap fits for last-gasp 800m winner Wottle

Stevenson, a heavyweight, beat strong opponents in the quarter\-final and semi\-final of the tournament, impressing with every fight\. In the quarter\-final, he was losing on points to the American Duane Bobick when the bout reached its third round\. Stevenson responded by flooring his well\-considered opponent three times, causing the referee

Teofilo STEVENSON

Teofilo Stevenson, an Olympic boxing legend

This was the Olympic Games of the swimming prodgies\. Mark Spitz dominated for the men, while women's swimming was highlighted by two 15\-year\-olds\.

Record-breaking Belote adds her name to list of swimming prodigies

But, of all the close races ever, has there ever been a more unfortunate silver medallist than America's Tim McKee? During his Olympic career, McKee won three Olympic medals, all of them silver, and in Munich he had the closest near\-miss one could imagine\.

Silver McKee misses out in closest medley race ever

When you're expected to win, nerves can affect you profoundly\. But if you're an outsider – if you yourself don't even really believe that you're going to win – the nerves aren't such a hindrance\. And so it was for Knut Knudsen\.

Knudsen speeds from the shadows to win 4,000m gold

It was not a straightforward task\. For one thing, the New Zealand crew were all proud amateurs, and raising the money that they needed was not easy\. They responded by holding a series of bingo games and selling book after book of raffle tickets with a &ldquo;dream kitchen&rdquo; up for

Bingo-playing Kiwi rowers see their numbers come up

She competed in the national championships at the age of just 15 but a combination of illness and injury often prevented her from entering competitions over the next couple of years\. When she arrived in Munich for the 1972 Olympic Games, Korbut was something of an unknown quantity, unaccustomed to

Olga KORBUT

Tears turn to joy for phenomenal gymnast Korbut

Her victory on the uneven bars was perhaps her most noticeable\. This was supposed to have been Olga Korbut's favourite event, but Janz was not to be outdone\. Certainly her pedigree in the event was strong, for just a year before she had produced a new element to her routine

Karin JANZ

Korbut no bar to success for impeccable Janz

If Mark Spitz was the outstanding male swimmer of these Games, Australia's Shane Gould was the female equivalent\. Like him, she had achieved global renown and had posted some remarkable results\. But the big difference was age – Spitz was 22 when he competed in Munich; Gould was 15\.

Teenage talent Shane sets Gould standard in the pool

We often talk about big stars in sport, but very few of them live up to the billing in the way that Chris Taylor did\. He was big in size rather than fame\.

Immoveable Taylor stands firm to win wrestling bronze

There was probably no point, other than during the final 20 metres of her race, the 400m individual medley, when Gail Neall really was the favourite to take the gold medal\.

Unheralded Neall defies odds for medley success

The Games in Munich brought an end to one of the longest winning streaks that Olympic Athletics has known\. Competitors from the United States had won every pole vault competition since the Modern Games began in 1896, but in 1972 the streak came to an end as East Germany's Wolfgang

Rule change helps Nordwig end US pole vault dominance

For the third time, an American won the Marathon and, for the third time, someone got into the stadium ahead of the winner\.
Back in 1904, Thomas Hicks had been leading the race, only for an imposter to jump on to the track just before the athletes reached the stadium\.

Shorter proves himself to be genuine article in the marathon

It was twenty years after women were admitted to the Dressage competition, making it one of the only Olympic events in which men and women compete on equal terms\. In that time, women riders had won silver and bronze medals, but had never reached the top step\. That, though, was

Linsenhoff becomes first woman to win dressage gold

Unfinished business always preys on your mind, and America's Micki King arrived in Munich still pondering her bad fortune in the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico\.

Sep 1972:  Closing Ceremony of the 1972 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium, Munich, West Germany. \ Mandatory Credit: Tony Duffy /Allsport

GettyImages-1046556

Diving King reigns supreme to banish ghosts of 1968

In Mexico, four years before, the women's high jump had produced a surprise winner in the shape of Miloslave Režková, just 18 years old and inspired to produce a performance that dwarfed anything she had achieved before\. Few imagined anything could follow that, and they were wrong\. Instead, there was

High jumper Meyfarth leaps to individual age record

After being Modern Pentathlon world champion five times, Hungarian typewriter mechanic Andras Balczo was missing only one significant honour\. He had won gold medals in the 1960 and 1968 Olympic Games, both times in the Team event, but had always missed out on an individual gold\. In 1960, he'd finished

Andras BALCZO

Balczo makes last chance count in the modern pentathlon

She was not exactly an unknown, for Lyudmila Bragina had competed in two European Championships before and was 29 by the time she competed in Munich\. And yet her exploits at the 1972 Olympic Games did shake the sporting world\.

Lyudmila Bragina of the Soviet Union (no 335, centre) on her way to a gold medal in the final of the women's 1500 metres at the Munich Olympics, West Germany, 9th September 1972. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Lyudmila Bragina sets pace in 1,500m revolution

Peters defiantly set off for the Olympic Games determined to bring some cheer: &ldquo;The silver medal is no good to me,&rdquo; she said\. &ldquo;It has to be gold or nothing; a gold medal for Belfast, because something good has to happen in our city\.&rdquo;

Mary PETERS

Mary Peters - Athletics

Japan was one of the world's strongest swimming nations in the first half of the century, but it was now 16 years since the last Japanese swimming gold medal\. Hope of a return to the top of the podium rested on the shoulders of Nobutaka Taguchi, a 21\-year\-old breaststroke specialist

Taguchi ends Japanese wait for gold in the pool

His name is now familiar to fans of distance running, but in 1972 Lasse Viren was not a household name, and nor even the favourite to win either the 5,000m or the 10,000m\. Nevertheless, when you look back on his career, you see an athlete who completely focused on preparing

Finland's Lasse Viren achieves Olympic double in Munich

When Mark Spitz was two years old, his family moved from California to Hawaii\. He swam in the water at Waikkiki Beach almost every day, developing a prodigious childhood talent\. Four years later, the family returned to California, but the swimming continued in earnest and at remarkable speed\.

Seven events, seven wins and seven world records for Mark Spitz

Munich 1972 - Stories Mosaic

Welcome to This Week in Olympic Sports History, where Olympics.com remembers the most significant sports events of the past. This week, we'll cover 2-9 September.
On this day – 4 September 1972: Spitz’s seventh heaven
Before the modern day legend of Michael Phelps, there was the great Mark Spitz.
Spitz

Mark Spitz of the US in action swimming the butterfly during Munich 1972.

This week in Olympic history: Spitz wins seven golds in one Games

The Olympic Channel Original series '72 – A Gathering of Champions’ is among the nominees for the 44th annual Sports Emmy® awards, in the Outstanding Documentary Series category.
Ahead of the awards ceremony on 22nd May 2023, you can watch the whole series right now, for free, here on Olympics.com

72 - A Gathering Of Champions - Olympic Channel Series Poster Image

Watch the Sports Emmy® nominated Olympic Channel series '72 - A Gathering of Champions' now 

IOC President Thomas Bach was one of the speakers at the ceremony in Fürstenfeldbruck, which was hosted by the German government. The ceremony was attended by the German Federal President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and the President of Israel, Jitzchak Herzog, who both addressed the audience. The families of the victims and

2022-09-05-Munich-featured

“Darkest day in Olympic history” commemorated in Munich – victims of 1972 terrorist attack remembered

It is 50 years since the Olympic Games Munich 1972.
While swimmer Mark Spitz and gymnast Olga Korbut produced legendary individual performances, the Games are also remembered for the tragic terror attack which led to the deaths of 11 members of the Israeli team delegation and a local police officer.

'72 – A Gathering of Champions' series takes the stars of Munich 1972 back to the scene of triumph and tragedy - Watch now

Mark Spitz was the standout male star of the Olympic Games Munich 1972.
He competed in seven swimming events at Munich 1972 - four individual and three relays - and won seven golds, all in world record times.
It wasn't until Michael Phelps came along 36 years later that Spitz

Olympic Games Munich 1972

Munich 1972Stories

All Stories

This week in Olympic history: Spitz wins seven golds in one Games

Watch the Sports Emmy® nominated Olympic Channel series '72 - A Gathering of Champions' now

“Darkest day in Olympic history” commemorated in Munich – victims of 1972 terrorist attack remembered

'72 – A Gathering of Champions' series takes the stars of Munich 1972 back to the scene of triumph and tragedy - Watch now

Mark Spitz returns to the scene of his 1972 Olympic triumph in Munich for emotional episode of '72 – A Gathering of Champions' - Watch now