Spitz, Korbut, Belov… ten acts of Munich’72 that still shine after 50 years

The Munich ’72 Games celebrate half a century this Friday with no time to make great achievements sports like those previously signed by Mark Spitz, Teófilo Stevenson, Olga Korbut or Alexander Belov.

In an appointment marked by the September 5 Palestinian attack against the Israeli delegation participating in the GamesHowever, there were outstanding sporting results that made the 1972 edition unique.

7,134 athletes participated (6,075 men and 1,059 women) from 121 countries and in the final medal table the Soviet Union prevailed, with 99 medals, 50 of which were gold, ahead of the United States with 93, 33 gold, and the German Democratic Republic with 66, 20 gold.

Here are ten memorable results from the Munich ’72 Games:

SEVEN GOLD AND SEVEN WORLD RECORDS FOR MARK SPITZ

Never seen before: in eight days, American swimmer Mark Spitz won seven gold medals in Munich and set world records in each of seven events: 100, 200, 4×100 and 4×200 free, 100 and 200 butterfly and 4×100 styles .

For 36 years he was the athlete with the most gold medals in a single edition of the Games. Another swimmer, his compatriot Michael Phelps, stole the mark from him with his eight wins at Beijing 2008.

After winning the 200 free, his third medal in Munich, Spitz appeared on the podium holding Adidas shoes, to look good, a challenge to the rules of amateurism that governed the Games at the time. He said he didn’t have time to wear them. The USSR filed a claim, which was unsuccessful.

OLGA KORBUT, THE STAR THAT CHANGED GYMNASTICS

Women’s artistic gymnastics has a pre- and post-Soviet Olga Korbut, winner of four medals in Munich ’72 and author of new difficulties that are still benchmarks for the elite of this sport today. The code of points is full of elements that bear his name.

He won the team gold with such a good performance that his victory in the individual event was also taken for granted. But her mistakes on the uneven bars gave the title to a teammate, Ludmilla Tourisheva. Korbut made up for this disappointment in the apparatus finals: gold on floor and balance beam and silver on uneven bars.

Twenty-seven years after the victory in Munich, he confessed that during that period he suffered abuse and rape by his coach, Renald Knysh.

THE HISTORICAL BASKET OF BELOV

Fifty years later, the United States still hasn’t gotten over losing to the Soviet Union in the Olympic basketball final.

The protagonists still face each other in the final step, which has to be repeated three times.

After a game dominated by the USSR, Doug Collins scored two free throws that put the USA ahead for the first time (50-49). The referee forgot to signal a timeout requested by Soviet coach Vladimir Kondrashin, so the play was replayed. According to the Americans, that time was not requested within the deadline.

In the second repetition, the table judges did not notice that the clock had mistakenly marked 53 seconds, so it was necessary to go back down.

Finally, in the final replay, with the Americans already claiming victory, point guard Ivan Yedeshko delivered an incredible 100-foot pass to Alexandr Belov, who outran two defenders and scored. 50-51 is specific.

The United States team, which reached the final without losing any of the 62 games it played in its Olympic history, was awarded the silver medal.

SHANE GOULD, MULTI-MEDALIST AND 15 YEARS OLD

Among the great names in Australian swimming history, Shane Gould occupies a prominent place thanks to his exhibition at the Munich Games, which he attended when he was just 15 years old.

He arrived as a star: since December 1971 he holds all the freestyle records, from 100 to 1,500 meters, as well as the 200 m styles. No one has ever dominated the record books again.

In the Munich pool he won three gold medals, in the 200 and 400 freestyles and in the 200 m styles, bettering his universal records, as well as a silver in the 800 freestyle and a bronze in the hectometer.

He retired at 16, a victim of pressure. Decades later, he returned to compete in the Masters category and was also tired of breaking records.

VALERI BORZOV, DOUBLE IN 100 AND 200

As in basketball, as well as speed tests in the Olympic Stadium, the American runners were surprised by a Soviet athlete, the Ukrainian Valeri Borzov.

In the 100 m, luck was on their side, as Americans Eddie Hart and Reggie Robinson made mistakes and missed the quarterfinals. In the final, Borzov beat American Robert Taylor with a score of 10.14, silver with 10.24.

200 m was easier for him: he set the best time of his life, 20.00, and beat the North American Larry Black, 20.19, and the Italian Pietro Mennea, 20.30, on the podium.

“He reminds me,” said the legendary Jesse Owens when asked about Borzov.

LASSE VIRÉN, FIRST PART OF HIS DOUBLE BET

The Finnish long-distance runner won the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at both the 1972 and 1976 Games, an unprecedented feat that was not repeated until Britain’s Mo Farah did the same in 2012 and 2016.

In Munich, she broke the world record of 10,000, despite collapsing in the middle of the trial, and the Olympic record of 5,000.

His poor results in other competitions, his hermetic character and the practices admitted by other athletes from his country spread over him the shadow of blood doping, which will never be proven.

IAN MILLAR, THE BEGINNING OF A RECORD

Canadian jockey Ian Millar holds the record for participation in the Olympic Games, with his appearance in ten editions. The first was in Munich.

With him on the team, Canada is ranked sixth in the vaults.

Between 1972 and 2012 he only missed the Moscow ’80 Games, which his country boycotted.

Millar’s only medal in her ten Games was won at Beijing 2008, silver in the team vault.

LISELOTT LINSENHOFF, FIRST GOLD FOR AN AMAZON

German federal Liselott Linsenhoff was, in the dressage event, the first woman to win an individual gold in a mixed competition.

In Mexico’68 he already achieved success, although through teams.

TEOFILO STEVENSON, THE BIRTH OF A MYTH

The best boxer in the history of amateur boxing, Cuban Teofilo Stevenson, won the first of his three heavyweight Olympic medals in the Bavarian city.

Last year he achieved a bronze at the Pan American Games in Cali, stopping his way to gold by American Duane Bobick. Both crossed gloves again in the Olympic ring, in the quarterfinals, and it was a very different story: in the middle of the third round the fight had to be stopped due to the massive beating Bobick was receiving.

Stevenson defeated West German Peter Hussing in the semi-finals and did not have to play in the final, before Romanian Ion Alexe was injured with a broken thumb.

LATO: GOLD MEDAL BEFORE GOLD BOOT

Grzegorz Lato was declared Olympic football champion with Poland at the Munich Games, two years before winning, also in Germany, the Golden Boot as top scorer at the 1974 World Cup.

Poland won the final 2-1 against Hungary, under heavy rain and a strong wind that favored the Poles’ attack in the second half. Two goals from Kazimierz Deyna turned the game around and prevented the Hungarians from winning a third straight gold.