1972 Summer Olympics medal table

Last updated
1972 Summer Olympics medals
Location Munich, Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany
Highlights
Most gold medalsFlag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union  (50)
Most total medalsFlag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union  (99)
Medalling NOCs48
  1968  · Olympics medal tables ·  1976  
The Munich Olympic Stadium (Olympiastadion) with the Radstadion, site of the cycling events, in the background Olympiastadion Muenchen.jpg
The Munich Olympic Stadium (Olympiastadion) with the Radstadion, site of the cycling events, in the background

The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, took place in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August through 11 September 1972. A total of 7,134 athletes from 121 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competed in 195 events from 23 sports. [1]

Contents

Men's indoor handball, slalom canoeing and kayaking all made their Olympic debuts, while archery returned to the Olympic program after a 52-year hiatus. [1] Rhodesia, like South Africa, was still segregated in 1972 and yet the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to invite Rhodesia to the 1972 Games. Eventually, African nations protested this invitation and threatened to boycott the Games. Three days before the opening ceremonies the IOC voted to rescind their invitation and exclude the Rhodesian athletes. [2]

The Games were largely overshadowed by what has come to be known as the Munich massacre. On September 5, a group of eight Palestinian 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 of the hostages who resisted were killed in the first moments of the break-in; the subsequent standoff in the Olympic Village lasted for almost 18 hours. Late in the evening of September 5, 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 number of terrorists and were thus undermanned. During a botched rescue attempt, all of the Israeli hostages were killed. Four of them were shot, then incinerated when one of the terrorists detonated a grenade inside the helicopter in which the hostages were sitting. The five remaining hostages were then machine-gunned by another terrorist.

Athletes from 48 NOCs won medals, leaving 73 NOCs unrepresented on the medal table. The Soviet Union edged the United States in total (99 to 94) and gold medals (50 to 33). [3] Another notable rivalry took place between East and West Germany. Led by gymnast Karin Janz, who won two golds, two silvers and one bronze, East Germany (66 total and 20 gold medals) beat hosts West Germany (13 gold and 40 total medals) to third place in the medal count. [3] [4] East Germany would nearly overtake the United States in 1976, and then finish second in the medal count in 1980 and 1988. [5] [6] [7] American swimmer Mark Spitz won seven events, breaking the record for most gold medals by a single athlete in a single Olympic Games. [3] Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut delivered another memorable performance. She entered the Olympics as an alternate on the Soviet gymnastics team, and replaced an injured teammate before the start of the competition. Korbut performed magnificently during the team competition and captured the global television audience with her personality. [8] She helped the Soviet team win its sixth straight Olympic title and went on to win two more individual gold medals and one silver. [9] Japanese gymnast Sawao Kato won three gold and two silver medals, including the men's individual all-around title. This was the second individual all-around title for Kato, after 1968. Kato would go on to take silver in the all-around competition in 1976 to cap an Olympic career medal total of eight golds, three silvers and one bronze. [10] Finnish runner Lasse Virén won both the 5,000 and 10,000 metre races. The 10,000 metres was won in dramatic fashion after he recovered from a fall to win and set a world record. He would repeat the double at the 1976 Games. [11]

Medal table

The East German delegation marching in the opening ceremonies of the 1972 Summer Olympics Bundesarchiv Bild 183-L0827-207, Munchen, XX. Olympiade, Eroffnungsfeier, DDR-Mannschaft.jpg
The East German delegation marching in the opening ceremonies of the 1972 Summer Olympics
Olga Korbut receiving her silver medal after tying Erika Zuchold in the uneven bars Bundesarchiv Bild 183-L0901-0201, XX. Olympiade, DDR-Turnerinnen, Karin Janz, Goldmedaille.jpg
Olga Korbut receiving her silver medal after tying Erika Zuchold in the uneven bars
East German Karin Janz during her gold medal-winning uneven bars routine Bundesarchiv Bild 183-L0828-201, Munchen, Olympische Sommerspiele, Karin Janz.jpg
East German Karin Janz during her gold medal-winning uneven bars routine
Mark Spitz in 2008; he won seven gold medals in swimming at the 1972 Games Mark Spitz Jul 2008-2.jpg
Mark Spitz in 2008; he won seven gold medals in swimming at the 1972 Games

The medal table is based on information provided by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and is consistent with IOC convention in its published medal tables. By default, the table is ordered by the number of gold medals won by an NOC. The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If nations are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically. [3]

  *   Host nation (West Germany)

1972 Summer Olympics medal table
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 50272299
2Flag of the United States.svg  United States 33313094
3Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 20232366
4Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany*13111640
5Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 138829
6Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 87217
7Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 75921
8Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 6131635
9Flag of Bulgaria (1971-1990).svg  Bulgaria 610521
10Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 531018
11Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 46616
12Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 45918
13Flag of Romania (1965-1989).svg  Romania 36716
14Flag of Cuba (3-2).svg  Cuba 3148
Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 3148
16Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 3115
17Flag of France.svg  France 24713
18Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 2428
19Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 2349
20Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg  Yugoslavia 2125
21Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 2114
22Flag of North Korea (1948-1992).svg  North Korea 1135
23Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 1113
24Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda 1102
25Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 1001
26Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 0303
27Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 0235
28State Flag of Iran (1964-1980).svg  Iran 0213
29Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 0202
Flag of Greece (1970-1975).svg  Greece 0202
31Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 0123
Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 0123
33Flag of Argentina (1861-2010).svg  Argentina 0101
Flag of Lebanon.svg  Lebanon 0101
Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 0101
Flag of the Mongolian People's Republic (1945-1992).svg  Mongolia 0101
Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan 0101
Flag of South Korea (1949-1984).svg  South Korea 0101
Flag of Tunisia (1959-1999).svg  Tunisia 0101
Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 0101
41Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil 0022
Flag of Ethiopia (1897-1974).svg  Ethiopia 0022
43Flag of Ghana.svg  Ghana 0011
Flag of India.svg  India 0011
Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 0011
Flag of Niger.svg  Niger 0011
Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria 0011
Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain 0011
Totals (48 entries)195195210600

Medal changes

Rick DeMont originally won the gold medal in the 400m freestyle swimming, but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stripped him of his gold medal [12] after his post-race urinalysis tested positive for traces of the banned substance ephedrine contained in his prescription asthma medication, Marax. The positive test also deprived him of a chance at multiple medals, as he was not permitted to swim in any other events at the 1972 Olympics, including the 1,500-meter freestyle for which he was the then-current world record-holder. Before the Olympics, DeMont had properly declared his asthma medications on his medical disclosure forms, but the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) had not cleared them with the IOC's medical committee. [13] The USOC recognized his gold medal performance in the 1972 Summer Olympics in 2001, [14] but only the IOC has the power to restore his medal, and it has, as of 2023, refused to do so.

OlympicsAthleteCountryMedalEventRef
1972 Summer Olympics Bakhvain Buyadaa Flag of the People's Republic of Mongolia (1945-1992).svg  Mongolia Silver medal icon.svg Judo, Men's 63 kg (X) [15]
Cycling team (Aad van den Hoek)Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands Bronze medal icon.svg Cycling, Men's team time trial (X) [16]
Jaime Huélamo Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain Bronze medal icon.svg Cycling, Men's individual road race (X) [16]
Rick DeMont Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Gold medal icon.svg Swimming, Men's 400 m freestyle

See also

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References

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  2. Buchanon and Mallon (1999), p. 329
  3. 1 2 3 4 Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "1972 München Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 28 August 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-08.
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  5. Wilkinson Johnson (2008), p. 205
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  8. Elliott, Helene (2002-08-28). "Taking a Tumble". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-09-14.
  9. Woolum (1998), pp. 166–167
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  11. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Lasse Virén". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17. Retrieved 2010-09-09.
  12. Amdur, Neil (September 4, 1972). "Of Gold and Drugs". archive.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
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  14. "Better late than never". sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Associated Press. January 30, 2001. Archived from the original on May 7, 2001.
  15. Black Belt magazine January 1973
  16. 1 2 Historical Dictionary of Cycling By Bill Mallon, Jeroen Heijmans. Scarecrow Press. 2011. p. xxiv