1972 Summer Olympics

The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were held in Munich, West Germany (in what is now Germany), from 26 August to 11 September 1972. Munich won its Olympic bid in April 1966 over the cities of Detroit, Michigan, USA; Madrid, Spain; and Montreal, Canada. The 1972 Summer Olympics are one of 2 Olympic Games that had a significant criminal incident — the Munich massacre, in which a group of Palestinian terrorists kidnapped and killed several Israeli athletes. (The other Olympics with a significant criminal event was the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, USA — the Centennial Olympic Park bombing). A movie about the Israeli response to this was made called Munich.

Games of the XX Olympiad

280px Logo of the 1972 Summer Olympics
Host city	Munich, Bavaria, West Germany
Motto	The Cheerful Games (German: Heitere Spiele)
Nations	121
Athletes	7,134 (6,075 men, 1,059 women)
Events	195 in 21 sports (28 disciplines)
Opening	26 August
Closing	11 September
Opened by	President Gustav Heinemann
Cauldron	Günther Zahn
Stadium	Olympiastadion
Summer
← Mexico City 1968 Montreal 1976 →
Winter
← Sapporo 1972 Innsbruck 1976 →

1972 Summer Olympics Media

• Olympic games 1972 pictogramms olympic station 0877 a.jpg

  Otl Aicher's signage pictograms designed for the Munich Olympic Games

• Olimpiai Stadion, az olimpia megnyitóünnepsége. Fortepan 73767.jpg

  Procession of athletes in the Olympic Stadium- 1972 Summer Olympics, Munich, Germany

• Munich Olympics commemorative 10-mark coin, 1972

• Aerial view of the Olympiapark in 2014.

• 1972 Summer Olympic games countries.png

  SummerOlympicgamescountries

• 1972 Summer olympics team numbers.gif

  Number of competitors per nation.

• Diving pictogram.svg

  Pictograms of Olympic sports - Diving. This is unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.

• Swimming pictogram.svg

  Pictograms of Olympic sports - Swimming. This is unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.

• Water polo pictogram.svg

  Pictograms of Olympic sports - Water polo. This is unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.

• Archery pictogram.svg

  Pictograms of Olympic sports - Archery. This is unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.

Related pages

• Munich massacre
• 1972 Summer Paralympics

Other websites

• IOC page for the 1972 Summer Olympics

Olympic Games
Summer Games: 1896, 1900, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1912, (1916), 1920, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, (1940), (1944), 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024, 2028
Winter Games: 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, (1940), (1944), 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022
Athens 2004 — Turin 2006 — Beijing 2008 — Vancouver 2010 — London 2012 — Sochi 2014 — Rio 2016 — Pyeongchang 2018 — Tokyo 2020 Games in italics will be held in the future, and those in (brackets) were cancelled because of war. See also: Ancient Olympic Games