PHOENIX, Arizona, September 10. FORTY years ago today marks the final day of the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. Although Mark Spitz's record-setting seven Olympic gold medals brought publicity to the sport of swimming, the Olympiad is forever tarnished by the tragic terrorist attacks that took place on September 5, 1972.
The Games were brought to a standstill after a group of eight Palestinian terrorists broke into the Olympic Village, taking hostage nine Israeli athletes, coaches and officials. Two hostages resisted, and were killed immediately, followed by an 18-hour standoff in the Olympic Village. The rest of the hostages were killed in a botched rescue attempt. Today, this horrific event is known as the “Munich Massacre.”
Tomorrow, September 11, ESPN Classic will broadcast the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. Segments of the Games will be streamed continuously throughout the day. Highlights include an hour special featuring Mark Spitz from 9-10:00am and again from 9-10:00pm. Segments about USA Swimming and Diving will run from 7-9:00am and from 2-3:00pm. The day will conclude with a two-hour segment about the Tragedy at Munich from 10-12:00pm.
The timing of the broadcast coincides with the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorists attacks on United States soil in 2001.
On a side note, although Mark Spitz was the most decorated athlete at the Munich Olympic Games, and set the record for the number of individual Olympic Gold medals won in a single Olympiad (broken by Michael Phelps in Beijing 2008), because he is Jewish, he was asked to leave the Games before the closing ceremonies for his safety.
For the full ESPN broadcasting schedule, click on the following link:
ESPN Schedule
Written and Posted by Shoshanna Rutemiller
@SJRutemiller