1972 Summer Olympics

The München Olympics began beneath the warm summer sun of a Bavarian afternoon and ended in the cool autumn twilight of a German evening. They began as The Games of Peace and Joy, in which the West German government attempted to atone for the militaristic Nazi image so associated with the 1936 Berlin Games. They ended as The Games of Terror and Tragedy.

Prior to the 1972 Olympics, the major controversy concerned the Rhodesian Olympic team. At its 71st Session in 1971, the IOC ruled that Rhodesian athletes could compete, but only using British uniforms, the Union Jack as the flag, and with the British anthem. Shortly before the 1972 München Olympics, the African nations threatened a mass boycott if Rhodesia was allowed to compete. Two days before the Opening Ceremony, the IOC voted (36-31 with three abstentions) to withdraw the invitation to Rhodesia for the 1972 Olympic Games.

The first eleven days of the 1972 Olympics were perhaps the most beautiful celebrations of Olympia ever seen. But on the morning of 5 September, the Games were interrupted when eight Arab terrorists, representing the militant Black September group, entered the Olympic Village and took hostage 11 members of the Israel Olympic team. While the world watched on television and waited, the terrorists occupied the building of Connollystraße 31, and demanded freedom for several Arabs held in Israel prisons. The Israel government refused this as a day of tense negotiations ensued.

Late in the evening of 5 September, the terrorists took their hostages to Fürstenfeldbruck, an Army air base near München. There, in a few quick minutes of fighting as the Germans tried to save them, all the remaining Israelis were murdered by a bomb the terrorists had set in the helicopter which was to take them to freedom. Several of the terrorists were killed, but most escaped. A few were later captured, and a few were killed by Israeli hit squads, but none ever came to trial. The American public watched the tragedy via ABC Television and saw host Jim McKay detail the events for most of the day. After the tragedy at Fürstenfeldbruck he summed up the incident in just a few sad words, “They’re all gone.”

There were some marvelous athletic performances at the 1972 Olympics, notably Mark Spitz winning seven gold medals, and setting seven world records, but they seemed of little consequence. The Games were halted for one day as a memorial service was held for the Israelis. At the memorial, IOC President Avery Brundage angered many when he declared, “The Games must go on.” The Olympics would be changed forever.

Bid voting at the 65th IOC Session in Roma on 26 April 1966.