The following story, by correspondent Dave Dorr, appeared in the Sept. 23, 1972, issue of The Sporting News under the headline “Munich: Massacre, Mourning, Medals”.
MUNICH, W. Germany — Long before the Olympic flame slowly dwindled and finally disappeared in the eerie darkness of the Olympic Stadium, there was the unmistakable realization that a bit of the Olympic Games spirit also had died. Perhaps forever.
The ever-touching closing ceremonies were even more meaningful at Munich. The haunting memory of the 11 Israeli team members who had died only a few days before lingered in the minds of 84,000 spectators and before a shamed world that watched.
What had been planned as a festive moment was surrounded by sadness. For five years Germany had worked to make the Munich games the happiest of all Olympics, seeking to erase forever the stigma of 1936 at Berlin and Hitler's tyranny.
"We want these games to reflect the tenor of our times," said Willie Daume, millionaire industrialist who headed the German Olympic organizing committee.
Little did he know what a prophetic statement he had uttered. For while there is prosperity in the Federal Republic of Germany, there also is a frightening stream of violence permeating the cultures of other parts of the world.
A Bit of Shopping
Tuesday, September 5, was to have been a day of rest at the Olympic Games. A day to see the actors at Spielstrasse. Listen to the flutes. Catch the subway and shop in downtown Munich. But when this city awoke from a night of beer drinking and gemuetlichkeit, it found an army of uniformed men surrounding the eight-foot-high fence of the Olympic village.
That the Olympics could be used as a political tool and a public showcase for acts of terrorism was a fear which had been whispered quietly among members of the International Olympic Committee since violence erupted at Mexico City in 1968.
No one really believed, though, that a handful of grim desperadoes could disrupt what has been the epitome of brotherhood through sport. It was shattering to see that it did happen. And the rest of the world looked on in pitiful desperation.
The joyous spirit that vibrated through the rolling Olympic park gave way to the solemn spirit of the memorial service that was held in the Olympic Stadium. The Arab Black September movement had achieved what it set out to do — interrupt the Olympic Games. Israel's official statement that the Games should go on was interpreted politically. Had the Israeli government asked that the Games be called off, the terrorists' mass murder would have accomplished what only world wars have stopped, the cancellation of the Olympics, sports most exalted meeting
Some Frightful Memories
To an American visitor, that fateful day brought forth memories of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The mournful sounds of death marches were heard on German television. The memorial service was opened with the funeral march from Beethoven's Eroica Symphony by the Munich Philharmonic and closed with Beethoven's Egmont Overture. This city, indeed the entire world, was in shock.
After the day of interruption, the Games were resumed. But everything was changed. Joy was restrained.
America's Rod Milburn, after winning the Gold Medal in the 110-meter high hurdles and equaling the world record of 13.2 seconds, noted that the events of the past two days had an effect on the athletes.
"Man," he said quietly. "it was like a bad dream. You don't ever believe that things like this could happen here. Man, this is the Olympic Games, I don't understand it. I don't see how this could have happened."
New Crisis Every Day
From the time Rhodesia was booted out of the competition because of threatened boycott by some black nations, the Games were doomed. Each day seemed to bring a new crisis.
After a time, the Games looked more like a political convention than an athletic event. Athletes and spectators alike were questioning the motives of the Olympic movement.
Perhaps a reappraisal of international athletics is needed. In recent years, international spectaculars such as the Olympics and Pan-American Games have become riddled with politics. They have become tools for the proclamations of nationalism.
There are those who feel strongly that the Olympics as they are known today should be eliminated. Many athletes who competed here are supporting a movement that would call for international championships of each sport in a different city. For example, a world track meet would be held each two years at a different site and the same would be true for all other sports. Proponents of this movement say the Olympics have become too large, unwieldy and unworkable.
U.S. marathoner Kenny Moore said, "The IOC doesn't even understand their own games. The IOC is run by crotchety old men."
U.S. distance standout Steve Prefontaine said, "The IOC must realize that it is dealing with a new generation, one that doesn't think as its members did years and years ago. Times have changed. Our only hope is that the IOC won't continue to think as Avery Brundage did. If it does, you can forget the Olympics. They'll be dead after 1976, if not sooner."
Moore said the biggest farce of the Games were the victory ceremonies, the raising of the flags and the playing of the national anthems.
"Insisting on a division of where people come from is the problem," said Moore. "This is what I'm here for? I'm sick. I'd rather run with a white shirt with my name on it. Coming from America has nothing to do with being a world-class athlete."
U.S. Takes It on Chin
These Games will be remembered as the ones which severely bruised America's ego. The U.S. men's track and field team, which long has had a stranglehold on Olympic competition, won six gold medals, its lowest total ever. The U. S. women's track team won no gold. The U.S. basketball team was beaten for the first time in history. Only the swimmers could be said to have performed according to pre-Olympic expectations in the so-called major sports. But before somebody asks for a congressional investigation of U.S. amateur athletics, it should be remembered that the rest of the world is improving rapidly on all levels.
For the first time in 36 years, the U.S. did not win the gold medal in the shot-put. America's George Woods, second at Mexico City, missed by half an inch of winning at Munich and again took home the silver medal. Woods was asked if the U.S. track-and-field program has hit bottom.
U.S. Must Wake Up
"For years and years, the U.S. has relied on the natural ability of its athletes to win at the Olympics," said Woods. "Now the rest of the world has taken a scientific approach to track and other sports, What the U.S. needs to do is wake up to the fact that it takes years of hard work to win. We need to reevaluate our track program. We need a national effort, one in which everyone would pull together instead of relying on just the athletes. People seem to say, 'Leave it up to the athletes. They're the best in the world and they'll win anyway.’
"It's getting too hard for an athlete in the U.S. to compete on a big-time amateur level and support a family at the same time. The price is too great to pay."
Two-Thirds Are Pros
Should the Games be thrown open to professionals and amateurs alike?
"I'm in favor of what I call a semi-amateur," said Woods. "That would be someone who gets some form of aid. Probably close to two-thirds of the athletes in this Olympics would be classified as pros in America. It's no secret that in the Iron Curtain countries, athletics is a job. Half the guys on our track team have been away from home for two months. What's wrong with the USOC paying them two months' salary,
"In addition, the AAU needs to make drastic changes, quick changes. The poor showing of our teams here could spell the doom of the AAU if changes are not made.
"These were controversial Olympics. It seemed there was one thing after another. There were political issues, we can't get our sprinters to the track at the right time, there were hassles over which poles the vaulters were supposed to use. It went on and on.
If the Olympic movement is to continue, we are going to have to find a way to keep the politics out. Otherwise ... well, who knows?"