Editing 1972 Summer Olympics (section)

{{short description|Multi-sport event in Munich, Germany}}
{{Expand German|topic=bio|Olympische Sommerspiele 1972|date=September 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox Olympic games|1972|Summer|Olympics|
| image       = 1972 Summer Olympics logo.svg
| image_size  = 290
| caption     = Emblem of the 1972 Summer Olympics
| host_city   = [[Munich]], West Germany <small>(now in modern day Germany after reunification)</small>
| motto       = ''The Cheerful Games''<br />([[German language|German]]: ''Heitere Spiele'')
| nations     = 121
| athletes    = 7,134 (6,075 men, 1,059 women) 
| events      = 195 in 21 [[Olympic sports|sports]] (28 disciplines)
| opening     = 26 August 1972
| closing     = 11 September 1972{{efn|Originally scheduled for 10 September, the date was reset to the following day by the organizers due to a suspension caused by the Munich massacre.}}
| opened_by   = [[President of Germany|President]] [[Gustav Heinemann]]<ref name="Opening and Cauldron">{{cite press release|title=Factsheet – Opening Ceremony of the Games of the Olympiad|url=https://stillmed.olympic.org/Documents/Reference_documents_Factsheets/Opening_ceremony_of_the_Games_of_the_Olympiad.pdf|url-status=dead|publisher=International Olympic Committee|date=9 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160814215458/https://stillmed.olympic.org/Documents/Reference_documents_Factsheets/Opening_ceremony_of_the_Games_of_the_Olympiad.pdf|archive-date=14 August 2016|access-date=22 December 2018}}</ref>
| closed_by   = [[President of the International Olympic Committee|IOC President]] [[Avery Brundage]]
| cauldron    = Günther Zahn<ref name="Opening and Cauldron"/>
| stadium     = [[Olympiastadion (Munich)|Olympiastadion]]
| summer_prev = [[1968 Summer Olympics|Mexico City 1968]]
| summer_next = [[1976 Summer Olympics|Montreal 1976]]
| winter_prev = [[1972 Winter Olympics|Sapporo 1972]]
| winter_next = [[1976 Winter Olympics|Innsbruck 1976]]
}}
{{1972 Summer Olympics}}

The '''1972 Summer Olympics''' ({{Langx|de|Olympische Sommerspiele 1972}}), officially known as the '''Games of the XX Olympiad''' ({{Langx|de|Spiele der XX. Olympiade}}) and officially branded as '''Munich 1972''' ({{langx|de|München 1972}}; {{Langx|bar|Minga 1972}}), were an international [[multi-sport event]] held in [[Munich]], [[West Germany]], from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the second [[Summer Olympics]] to be held in Germany, after the [[1936 Summer Olympics|1936 Games]] in [[Berlin]], which had taken place under the [[Nazi Germany|Nazi rule]]. Germany became only the second country at that point after the United States to have two different cities host the Summer Olympics.<ref>{{Cite web |title=List of Olympic Host Cities – Architecture of the Games |url=https://architectureofthegames.net/olympic-host-cities/ |access-date=2024-08-14 |language=en}}</ref>

The West German government had been eager to have the Munich Olympics present a [[Democracy|democratic]] and optimistic Germany to the world, as shown by the Games' official motto, ''"Die Heiteren Spiele"'',<ref name="DER SPIEGEL 35/1972">{{cite news|title=Ein Geschenk der Deutschen an sich selbst|url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-42872049.html|newspaper=[[Der Spiegel]]|number=35/1972|pages=28–29|language=de|date=21 August 1972|quote=… für die versprochene Heiterkeit der Spiele, die den Berliner Monumentalismus von 1936 vergessen machen und dem Image der Bundesrepublik in aller Welt aufhelfen sollen}}</ref> or "the cheerful Games".<ref>{{cite book|title=Digitized version of the Official Report of the Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXth Olympiad Munich 1972 (Volume 2)|date=1972|language=de|publisher=proSport GmbH & Co. KG. München Ed. Herbert Kunze|page=22|url=http://library.la84.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1972/1972s2pt2.pdf|quote=…  the theme of the "cheerful Games"…|access-date=13 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225173415/https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll8/id/25278/rec/38|archive-date=25 December 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> The logo of the Games was a blue solar logo (the "Bright Sun") by [[Otl Aicher]], the designer and director of the visual conception commission.<ref>{{cite web|title=Official Emblem – Munich 1972 Olympics|url=http://www.olympic.org/content/olympic-games/all-past-olympic-games/summer/munich-1972/munich-1972-collection/?tab=Emblem|access-date=8 April 2013}}</ref> The hostesses wore sky-blue [[dirndl]]s as a promotion of Bavarian cultural heritage.<ref name="typisch">{{Cite news|url=https://www.focus.de/reisen/deutschland/oktoberfest/oktoberfest-tracht-ein-dirndl-gehoert-nicht-auf-die-wiesn_aid_436037.html|title=Typisch Oktoberfest? Darum gehört ein Dirndl eigentlich nicht auf die Wiesn|last=Strassmair|first=Michaela|website=www.focus.de|date=September 2019|access-date=9 May 2020|language=de}}</ref> The Olympic mascot, the [[dachshund]] "[[Waldi]]", was the first officially named Olympic mascot. The Olympic Fanfare was composed by [[Herbert Rehbein]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vimeo.com/253064764/b9571a52d1|title=Herbert Rehbein: Olympic Fanfare Munich 1972 (TV Intro)|access-date=7 May 2023}}</ref> The Soviet Union won the most gold and overall medals.

The Olympic Park (''[[Olympiapark]]'') was based on [[Frei Otto]]'s plans and became a Munich landmark after the Games. The competition sites, designed by architect [[Günther Behnisch]], included the Olympic [[swimming hall]], the Olympics Hall (''Olympiahalle'', a multipurpose facility) and the [[Olympic Stadium, Munich|Olympic Stadium]] (''Olympiastadion''), and an Olympic village very close to the park. The design of these stadia was considered revolutionary, with sweeping canopies of [[acrylic glass]] stabilized by metal ropes, used on such a large scale for the first time.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Uhrig |first1=Klaus |title=Die gebaute Utopie: Das Münchner Olympiastadion |url=http://www.br.de/fernsehen/ard-alpha/sendungen/schulfernsehen/kunst-olympiastadion-muenchen100.html |access-date=13 February 2015 |date=20 March 2014 |language=de |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213081418/http://www.br.de/fernsehen/ard-alpha/sendungen/schulfernsehen/kunst-olympiastadion-muenchen100.html |archive-date=13 February 2015 }}</ref>

The event was overshadowed by the [[Munich massacre]] in the second week, in which 11 [[Israel]]i [[Israel at the 1972 Summer Olympics|athletes and coaches]] and a West German police officer at the Olympic Village were killed by the Palestinian militant organisation [[Black September Organization|Black September]].