1972: Terrorists attack the Israeli delegation in Munich.
When the Olympics returned to Germany in 1972 the West Germans were eager to put their country’s history of anti-semitism behind them.
But through little fault of the games’ German organizers (you can blame them for low security, but it’s uncertain whether another host would have done differently), the 1972 Olympics in Munich were the site of the worst tragedy in Olympic history. And the victims were Jewish athletes, coaches, and officials from Israel.
During the second week of the Games, members of a Palestinian terrorist group called Black September infiltrated the Olympic village and broke into an apartment housing members of the Israeli delegation. Wrestling coach Moshe Weinberg and weightlifter Yossef Romano were killed in a struggle with the terrorists.
Black September then took nine people hostage:
- wrestlers Eliezer Halfin and Mark Slavin
- weighlifters David Berger and Ze’ev Friedman
- fencer Andre Spitzer
- sharpshooting coach Kehat Shorr
- track and field coach Amitzur Shapira
- wrestling official Yossef Gutfreund
- weightlifting official Yakov Springer.
Black September demanded the release of 234 Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel. Israel refused to negotiate with the terrorists. West German officials offered Black September large sums of money in exchange for the hostages, but the terrorists weren’t interested.
During the negotiations some of the hostages told German authorities that they would be willing to be taken to an Arab country, so long as the Germans made arrangements to guarantee their safety.
Israeli hostages, shooting coach Kehat Shorr (left) and fencer Andre Spitzer (right), speak with German authorities. (From footage used in the film One Day in September via Wikipedia.)
German authorities pretended to agree to let the terrorists take the hostages to Cairo, Egypt and allowed them to travel to a nearby NATO airbase. German police and snipers planned to take down the terrorists and rescue the hostages at the airport.
Due to a breakdown in communication and a missed shot by one of the snipers, the rescue attempt failed. In the chaos that followed, all nine Israeli hostages were killed. German police killed five of the eight terrorists and apprehended the other three.
Less than two months later, terrorists hijacked a West German passenger jet and demanded the release of the three surviving Black September operatives. The West German government agreed. The trio was taken to Libya, where they received a hero’s welcome and held a press conference to give their side of the story.
Furious, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir secretly ordered the Mossad (Israel’s intelligence agency) to track down and kill anyone involved in planning the attack in Munich. For more than a decade, the Mossad found and killed dozens of Black September leaders and other Palestinian terrorists.
This AP photo of a Black September terrorist who had infiltrated the Olympic Villiage is one of the most recognizable images from the 1972 Olympics.
The Games continued, though the remaining Israeli athletes and other Jewish athletes—including American swimmer Mark Spitz, who’d won seven gold medals and set seven world records the 1972 Olympics—left Munich.
Other athletes and teams left because they felt it was inappropriate to continue the Olympics after a tragedy of that scale. The Israeli government and Olympic officials endorsed the decision to resume competition.
* * * * *
1972: Officials do all sorts of shady things during the final three seconds of the basketball gold medal game.
Three days after the Munich Massacre, the United States faced the Soviet Union in the basketball gold medal game.
Since basketball had become an Olympic sport in 1936, the American team had never lost a game. But over the previous two decades, the Soviet Union had established itself as the world’s second best team. The Soviet Union won silver in basketball in 1952, 1956, 1960, and 1964 and bronze in 1968.
The Soviets in 1972 went undefeated in group play and beat a very good Cuba team—whose only loss to that point was to the U.S. and who would go on to win the bronze medal—in the semifinals of the medal round. The Soviets faced the Americans in the gold medal game. Both teams were 8-0 in Olympic play.
With only seconds remaining on the clock, the Soviets had a 49-48 lead and possession of the ball. American Doug Collins (yes, the Doug Collins who currently coaches the 76ers) stole the in-bounds pass. Soviet guard Zurab Sakandelidze fouled Collins hard to prevent an easy layup. Collins went to the foul line and hit his first free throw, tying the game.
As he began his shooting motion for the second free throw, the horn sounded. Collins hit the shot anyway, giving the Americans a one-point lead and the Soviets three seconds to go the length of the court and answer.
According to the rules in place at the time, the ball was live following a made free throw. But that didn’t stop Soviet assistant coach Sergei Bashkin from leaving the bench and walking over to the scorer’s table to argue that head coach Vladimir Kondrashin had called for a timeout prior to the second free throw. (According to then secretary general of FIBA Renato William Jones, the scorer recognized the timeout but didn’t inform the referees until Collins was in the process of shooting his second foul shot. Thus the ill-timed horn.)
Bashkin was not successful in convincing officials to retroactively award the Soviet team a timeout. But he was successful in creating enough of a disturbance that led referee Renato Righetto to stop play with one second on the clock. And Bashkin somehow avoided getting a technical foul for leaving the bench area.
While the officials sorted things out, the Soviet coaches and players designed an in-bounds play.
Instead of resuming play with one second on the clock. FIBA’s Jones came out of the stands and told officials to reset the clock to where it was following the second made free throw. The officials agreed, even though Jones had no authority to make such a decision. The Soviets, meanwhile, substituted Ivan Edeshko for Alzhan Zharmukhamedov, which should have been illegal since there was never technically a dead ball.
Edeshko was to attempt a full-court pass to Soviet center Alexander Belov. But the Americans defended him well and he was only able to get the ball to Modestas Paulauskas in the backcourt. The Americans appeared to have denied the Soviets a chance at a buzzer-beater, but one second after Paulauskas caught the ball, the horn sounded again. Somehow, during all the confusion prior to the play, the clock had been set to 0:50 instead of 0:03.
So the Soviet team got a third chance. This time (perhaps with assistance from referee Artenik Arabadjian who gestured to American center Tom McMillen to give Edeshko more space on the in-bounds pass), Edeshko got the ball to Belov, who scored an easy layup as time expired.
The United States filed a formal protest, but to no avail.
After the completion of the 1972 Olympics, the United States Olympic Committee filed another appeal, which was also unsuccessful.
The members of the U.S. team voted amongst themselves not to accept their silver medals and were absent for the medal ceremony. Since then, the players have had many opportunities to end their protest and accept their medals. While center Tommy Burleson and wing Ed Ratleff told Sports Illustrated in 1992 that they would vote to end the protest, the other ten members of the team have not forgiven the injustice. The basketball silver medals from the 1972 games remain unclaimed.
The United States basketball team refused to participate in the medal ceremony following the controversial finish in the gold medal game.
* * * * *
Click the red button below to continue reading about…
- Dozens of countries boycott the Games.
- Soviet modern pentathlete Boris Onishchenko rigs his épée to register points he didn’t score.
- Ben Johnson breaks the world record in the 100 then gets busted for doping.
About Josh Tinley
ha ha ha like Lewis wasn’t doping too in ’88 a ha ha ha ha ha
The article mentions that, genius.
Ben johnson is barry bonds of track and field
We shall change the rules back to old of the famous Olympics and limit the age back to 20′s or younger…. then create new Olympic-like events for older players or…. maybe just into three groups of Teen-Olympic; Adult-Olympic; Senior-Olympic for all of us….and.probably even with regular special Olympic,too. Then it is being fair for everyone equally. We will profit from doing this way in greater way! And Good Luck to you, all for the best thrills of World Famous Olympics, D.
P.S. Think for better economy for every country of the World!
I’m wondering if the 1972 silver medals for the USA Basketball Team are still unclaimed-The needs to be updated.
They are still unclaimed. Most of the other players still feel cheated and the rest of the team doesn’t want to go against them. It’s pretty much an all or nothing stance.
I would ask for their gold medals back from that dirty Russian team that got the gold given to them by the refs. Those would be the only medals I would except. Greatest travesty in Olympic history.
The events in the modern pentatholon represent the skills vital to a military officers of the time. You lose alot of credibility with me when you say they were so arbitrarily selected.
Racism…. alive then and still going on today. Shame on all of you racist.
The 1972 silve medal in basketball remains unclaimed.
Mr. Tinley, the events of the Modern Pentathlon are not from a grab-bag as you speculate, but represent the skills historically necessary to a military dispatch courier who, in order to successfully get through enemy pickets had to be able to ride, shoot, fence, swim,and run.
How could you leave off the Black Power protest of John carlos and Tommie Smith at the Mexican Olympics?
Lee Banks, be advised the 1972 silver medals for our cheated athletes are still unclaimed. As a matter of fact, some of the players from that ill fated event have gone so far as to stipulate in their will to not have the silver medal accepted, even after their passing.
Dear Friends:
Oh what a historical moment that the next Olympics for the American team our own designer will come to the plate and be hero! I can not applaud or say enough hurrays!!!!!!!! Thank you! Thank you!!! Thank you!!!! …
Dear Friends:
Olympians, Good Luck each and everyone of you! You are all winners! You have been selected and completed what it takes to be at the Olympics! May the USA Team bring home the Gold! Silver! and Bronze! Like the Red, White and Blue that waves for you!
The responses here appear to be from special Olympians. Or, at the very least, writing English as a foreign language. Good times, good times.
So….grammar nazi,
Because I’m Québécois,I’m a paralympian ,right?
Stupido (thats Spanish…I think…smh…)
Hey chum, “Académie française” ring a bell? What a hoot, the term “grammar nazi” being tossed around by a speaker of French – most especially a friggin “I DEMAND a legal mandate REQUIRING that my language have parity everywhere!” Québécois.
I cannot recall the boxer but the USA boxer knocked out his man after that the referee disqualified the USA boxer so that the gold was given to a boxer from his country without a gold medal match. Talk about miscarriage.
I think the robbed US boxer was Evander Holyfield. The boxer who was knocked out was not able to fight in the following match because he had been knocked out creating the winner by default scenario. The gold medal “winner” was from the same country as the referee. At least the “winner” brought Holyfield onto the top level of the podium during the medal ceremony to in essence acknowledge that Holyfield should have been there instead.
And all the Soviets get a bye! Look at what has happened will ya! The whole Soviet system gets away with it and you guys argue over a few pro athletes!
Thought the same thing! That’s racist!
“The Olympics are a pinnacle of human achievement.”
Um, no.
Maybe because it’s NOT relevant in an article than has nothing to do with the Mexican Olympics?
Overshadowed by the terrorist attack in 1972 was the Vaulting Poles I designed being banned the day before the games leaving many of us to compete on light weight practice equipment, removing any chance of being competitive.
The disappointment led to my increased motivation and 7 world indoor records
Actually, the comments written here, compared to many other sites, are not too bad.
“Black American sprinter and long jumper Jesse Owens famously made a mockery of Nazi notions of Aryan superiority by winning four gold medals.” Check the medal count and see which country won the most medals.
To your point Realist, Nazi Germany was the host nation and top medal recipient for the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.
But look closer at the facts:
Germany won 33 Gold, 26 Silver and 30 Bronze
The United States won 24 Gold, 20 Silver and 12 Bronze
But Germany sent 433 competitors, 389 men and 44 women, who took part in 143 events in 22 sports.
The US only sent 358 competitors, 313 men and 46 women, took part in 127 events in 21 sports.
Thats 75 more Olymians competing in 16 more events
Does the use of sheer numbers define “Superiority”?
May none of these be repeated although I believe we are capable of doing greater evils to each other.
.
Ok. Ben Johnson was stripped of the gold medal at the 1988 Seoul olympics. Why then is Carl Lewis not stripped of his medals as well? Carl Lewis was tested by USA track and field many times and failed many tests including those tests before Seoul. USA track and field buried the results and they were only made public knowledge in the last couple of years. Carl Lewis’ entire athletic career is a sham. He should lose all medals.Period.Finito.
Hey..i am not black but JESSIE OWENS is the greater famous and first black american athlet in the whole damn olympics and US history who had been discriminated against,he had to raise horses for living back then
i have a lot respect for jessie owens he never back down or let his family down what a man
You really need to ask – or have you forgotten “news” “stories” like the Don Imus affair?
So, jujigatame, you’re admitting that you can’t forgive a white man who has apologized for a stupid remark? You are a retard if you think the rest of us don’t know that you yourself have said things you regret (or maybe not) that were racist and hateful. And you also want us to forget the story of the young white couple who were brutally sexually assaulted and murdered by 4 blacks in one of the worst black on white hate crimes of this century? Carjackings do not take over 24 hours – they take mere minutes. If you can drag up Imus then this story http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,542564,00.html needs refreshing in the publics eyes also.
They left out John Carlos and Tommy Smith’s protest with a Black Power salute in Mexico City in 1968. I very poignant and moving moment protesting the struggles of African Americans in free America.
Roy Jones losing to Korean in 1988 was highway robbery.
To your point, Nazi Germany was the host nation and top medal recipient for the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.
But look closer at the facts:
Germany won 33 Gold, 26 Silver and 30 Bronze
The United States won 24 Gold, 20 Silver and 12 Bronze
But Germany sent 433 competitors, 389 men and 44 women, who took part in 143 events in 22 sports.
The US only sent 358 competitors, 313 men and 46 women, took part in 127 events in 21 sports.
Thats 75 more Olymians competing in 16 more events
Does the use of sheer numbers and a hom field advantage define “Superiority”?
Another day, another example of American whining, hypocrisy and selective memory and historical revisionism.
First, Eric Rudolph is a _christian_ terrorist. He made bombs because of rabid christian ideology, the same as muslim terrorists.
Second, 1972 was forty years ago. Get over it. The English got screwed in the 1986 World Cup and they got past it within a year.
Third, Johnson wasn’t the only dirty runner in 1988. Carl Lewis was just as dirty as Johnson, just as guilty of cheating, and the USOC covered it up. And Lewis and Marion Jones aren’t the only dirty US competitors, there are many who were caught but whined that surprise drug testing was “unfair”.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2003/apr/18/athletics.comment
Fourth, whining about Roy Jones losing in South Korea requires ignoring what happened in 1984 in Los Angeles. The US was desperate to beat the USSR’s record 80 gold medals in 1980, so the US rigged the officiating in numerous events, several of them in boxing.
In 1984, South Korean boxers got screwed over in fights against US boxers. 1988 was simply payback, and payback is a bitch…or at least, the US is a collective whiny bitch about it. The US got 83 gold medals in 1984, so without the US’s fixing of many events (e.g. boxing, synchronized swimming, etc.) the US would never have beaten the record. The US cheated for political ideology.