The 20th Summer Olympic Games were held in Munich, West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972.

The Games were interrupted in the early morning hours of September 5 when a group of eight terrorists belonging to the Black September organization broke into the Olympic Village and took nine Israeli athletes, coaches and officials hostage in their apartments; two other members of the Israeli team were killed during the initial break-in. After an 18-hour standoff in the Olympic Village, the terrorists and their hostages were transferred by helicopter to the military airport of Fürstenfeldbruck, ostensibly to board a plane bound for an undetermined Arab country. The German authorities planned to ambush them there, but underestimated the numbers of their opposition and were thus undermanned. All nine of the hostages were killed during the rescue attempt, as were five of the terrorists and one policeman. The Games were suspended for 34 hours and a mass was held in the main stadium to commemorate the victims, but the Games continued at the insistence of IOC President Avery Brundage, who famously said "The Games must go on!"

The Games were also marred by a dispute that arose during the basketball game between the Soviet Union and the United States. With one second left on the clock, and the score in favor of the Americans at 50-49, the horn sounded. The Soviet coach had called a time-out. The clock was reset to three seconds and played out. The Soviets still hadn't scored and, for some reason, the clock was again set back to three seconds. This time, Soviet player Alexander Belov made a basket and the game ended at 50-51 in the Soviet's favor. Although the timekeeper and one of the referees stated that the additional three seconds was completely illegal, the Soviets were allowed to keep the gold medal.

Other Facts and Highlights

A total of 7,134 athletes (6,075 men and 1,059 women) from 121 countries participated in 195 events in 23 sports, making them the largest Games to that date.

Mark Spitz dominated the swimming events by breaking seven world records and winning an unprecedented seven gold medals.

Men's indoor handball, slalom canoeing and kayaking all made their Olympic debuts in 1972, and archery returned after an absence of 52 years.

West German Liselott Linsenhoff, competing in the dressage event, became the first female equestrian ever to win a gold medal.

The "media star" of the Games was Soviet gymnast, Olga Korbut, whose dramatic cycle of success in the team competition, failure in the individual competition, and renewed success in the apparatus finals captured the attention of fans worldwide.

The 1972 Summer Games became the first at which officials also swore an oath.

International Olympic Committee http://www.olympic.org/munich-1972-summer-olympics

Mark Spitz

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