1972 Munich Olympics

The 1972 Munich Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event, held in Munich, West Germany, between 26 August and September 11, 1972. 7,134 athletes (6,075 men and 1,059 women) from 121 countries participated, competing in 23 sports and 195 specialties.

Commemorative Coin of the Games, issued in 1972.

The 1972 Olympic Games were marred by an act of terrorism. On September 5, Palestinian terrorists first killed two Israeli athletes, and took nine others hostage, demanding the release of more than a hundred Palestinian prisoners. After a frustrated rescue attempt, a massacre broke out in which the nine Israeli hostages and one West German police officer, as well as five of the eight terrorists, were killed. Despite what happened, the Games continued as normal, after being suspended for just twenty-four hours. Some athletes left the Olympic village in Munich.

Candidate cities

On April 26, 1966, the 64th IOC Session was held in Rome, Italy. In the first vote, the American city of Detroit was eliminated. Then, already in the second ballot, the German city of Munich obtained an absolute majority and, therefore, was chosen as the Olympic venue. Second place went to Madrid's candidacy.

Election
City	Country	Round 1	Round 2
Munich	Western Germany	29	31
Madrid	Spain	16	16
Montreal	Canada	6	13
Detroit	United States	6	-

Sports

	Sports at the Olympic Games in Munich 1972
Athleticism Basketball Δ Balonmano Δ Boxing Δ Cycling Å Equivalent. Farming Δ 日本語 Gymnastics Halterofilia Δ Hockey 日本語 Judo ̄ Lucha ̄s Swimming 日本語 Modern Pentathlon Piragüismo Δ Remo LIC Salts LIC Tyre Δ Shooting with Arc 日本語 Vela. Volleyball Č Waterpolo ⋅

Olympic Torch

From July 28 to August 26, 1972, 6,000 relievers covered 5,532 kilometers carrying the Olympic torch along the following route:

• Greece: Olympia, Athens, Thessalonica.
• Turkey: Istanbul
• Bulgaria: Varna
• Romania: Bucharest, Timisoara.
• Yugoslavia: Belgrade
• Hungary: Budapest
• Austria: Vienna, Linz, Salzburg, Innsbruck.
• Germany: Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Munich.

Secondary relays carried the Olympic flame to Augsburg and Kiel.

Great moments

• It was the first Olympic Games to adopt a pet: Waldi, a dachshund dog.
• Mark Spitz gets 7 gold medals in swimming.
• Lasse Virén got a double in 5000 and 10 000 smooth meters.
• The USSR beats the United States at the end of basketball (51-50) with a basket in the last second.
• It was the first games in which the handball appeared, in its male category.

Participating countries

Participating countries (blue debutants).

These were the last Olympic Games South Vietnam participated in before the Fall of Saigon.

Medal table

Organizing country (West Germany)

No.	Country				Total
1	Soviet Union (URS)	50	27	22	99
2	United States (USA)	33	31	30	94
3	Eastern Germany (GDR)	20	23	23	66
4	Western Germany (FRG)	13	11	16	40
5	Japan (JPN)	13	8	8	29
6	Australia (AUS)	8	7	2	17
7	Poland (POL)	7	5	9	21
8	Hungary (HUN)	6	13	16	35
9	Bulgaria (BUL)	6	10	5	21
10	Italy (ITA)	5	3	10	18