The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, in what was then WestGermany, the game held from August 26 to September 11, 1972. The total 7170 Athletes participated (6075 men, 1095 women) in the games in 195 Events 23 sports
" This image is taken from
http://www.delcampe.net/ I have this cover and complete set of this games" in my collection
The Games were largely overshadowed by what has come to be known as the Munich disaster. On September 5 a group of eight Palestinian terrorists belonging to the Black September organization broke into the Olympic Village and took eleven 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 under-estimated the number of terrorists and were thus undermanned. During a botched rescue attempt, all the surviving Israeli hostages were killed. Four of them were shot, then incinerated when a Palestinian detonated a grenade inside the helicopter in which the hostages were sitting. The five remaining hostages were then machine-gunned by another terrorist.
All but three of the Palestinians were killed as well. Two of those three were supposedly hunted down and assassinated later by the Mossad. Jamal Al-Gashey is believed to be the sole survivor, and is still living today in hiding in an unspecified Arab country. The Olympic events were briefly suspended but Avery Brundage, the International Olympic Committee president, decided that "the Games must go on." Competition resumed a day later.
The attack prompted heightened security at future Olympics beginning with the 1976 Winter Olympics.
The remembers September 5, 1972, clearly. I rember in one article "a few men pacing up and down in a suspicious manner were dressed in red tracksuits the athletes thought they were athletes from other country. It was only after a few gun shots the athlets learnt that some athletes have been held hostage and later killed, and All the athletes were shocked and many even scared. Obviously, the whole episode had a bearing on the athletes performance. The Games continued after the disaster ,
Today this day i can not forget my father (Mr Mani) once told about this disaster and even though he is no more with us today the day of his remberence on his 63rd birthday
The 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, were commemorated by this set of five mint stamps from the United States. The issue date was June 11, 1992. The sports celebrated on this set include soccer, women's gymnastics, volleyball, boxing, and swimming. The stamps portray realistically painted athletes at moments of high action in their sports.
Issued by the United States Postal Service on July 6, 1990, this set of five mint stamps honors five of the greatest U.S. Olympic athletes of the first half of the 20th century: Jesse Owens (track; 1936 Olympics), Ray Ewry (high jump; 1900, 1904, and 1908 Olympics), Hazel Wightman (tennis; 1924 Olympics), Eddie Eagan (boxing and bobsledding; 1920 and 1932 Olympics), and Helene Madison (swimming; 1932 Olympics).
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