GAMES OF THE XX OLYMPIAD, THE {1972 MUNICH OLYMPICS} {1972/09/10}: HIGHLIGHTS {EDITED VERSION} (TV)
Summary
This program presents a portion of coverage of the 1972 Summer Games of the XX Olympiad from Munich. Highlights include coverage of the following events and topics:
Anchor sports commentator Jim McKay presides throughout this portion and recaps highlights and memorable moments from the Games.
McKay comments on the "light and pleasant" opening ceremonies, at which athlete Günther Zahn carried the Olympic Torch and lit the ceremonial flame.
At the 100-meter men's track and field finals, Valery Borzov (USSR) wins the gold medal, Robert Taylor (USA) wins the silver and Lennox Miller (Jamaica) wins the bronze.
At the 400-meter men's track and field finals, Vince Matthews (USA) wins the gold medal, Wayne Collett (USA) wins the silver and Julius Sang (Kenya) wins the bronze. Matthews and Collett caused controversy at the medal ceremony by conversing with one another and not standing at attention. Sports commentator Howard Cosell interviews Collett, who explains that he felt unable to honor the country's national anthem because of the racial tension in America.
At the 400-meter hurdles men's track and field finals, John Akii-Bua (Uganda) wins the gold medal, Ralph Mann (USA) wins the silver and David Hemery (GBR) wins the bronze.
At the 110-meter hurdles men's track and field finals, Rod Milburn (USA) wins the gold medal, victorious after having struggled to qualify for the Games.
McKay turns to women's gymnastics and discusses Olga Korbut (USSR), who performs on the balance beam and earns a score of 9.9 and the gold medal. She also earns the gold for her floor exercises.
Sports commentator Chris Schenkel reports on basketball, recapping the final game between USA and USSR, presided over by Frank Gifford and Bill Russell, which ended in chaos when the USA team appeared to score the game-winning points in the final seconds, only to have the clock turned back several seconds, causing the USSR team to be named the victors instead. The USSR team accepts the gold medal, but the USA team opts not to accept the silver.
Reporter Peter Jennings discusses the Munich Massacre, in which eleven Israeli athletes were killed by members of Black September, a Palestinian terrorist group, on Sept. 5 and 6. Munich police attempted to storm the building where the hostages were being held and weightlighting coach Tuvia Sokolovsky explains how he escaped the captors. McKay then reports that all of the hostages were executed.
During the fourth qualifying heat of the men's 1,500-meter track and field race, Jim Ryun (USA), who held the world record for the 1,500-meter run of 3:33.1 from a non-Olympic event and won the silver medal at the 1968 Olympic Summer Games in Mexico City, falls on the track and finishes ninth. In an interview with Cosell, he explains that he will not participate in the 1980 Olympic Games, preferring to focus on family.
Swimmer Mark Spitz (USA), who won a record-setting seven gold medals, is then profiled, and his winning races are shown: the 200-meter butterfly, the 4x100-meter freestyle relay, the 200-meter freestyle, the 100-meter butterfly, the 4x200-meter freestyle relay, the 100-meter freestyle and the 4x100-meter medley relay.
A montage of the other USA medalists is shown. Includes commercials.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: September 10, 1972 Saturday
- RUNNING TIME: 0:17:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T85:0404
- GENRE: Sports
- SUBJECT HEADING: Olympic Games, 1972, Summer, Munich; Olympics; Sports; Track and Field, 100m men; Track and Field, 400m men; Track and Field, 400m hurdles men; Track and Field, 110m hurdles men; Artistic Gymnastics, balance beam women; Artistic Gymnastics, floor exercises women; Basketball, basketball men; Track and Field, 1500m men; Swimming, 200m butterfly men; Swimming, 4x100m freestyle relay men; Swimming, 200m freestyle men; Swimming, 100m butterfly men; Swimming, 4x200m freestyle relay men; Swimming, 100m freestyle men; Swimming, 4x100m medley relay men; U.S. Olympic Archive, presented by Gordon Crawford, The
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV, 1972
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - International Recreation Vehicles
- TV - Commercials - Noxzema Medicated Shave
- TV - Commercials - Schlitz beer
CREDITS
- Jim McKay … Anchor Sports Commentator
- Peter Jennings … Sports Commentator
- Howard Cosell … Sports Commentator
- Frank Gifford … Sports Commentator
- Chris Schenkel … Sports Commentator
- Bill Russell … Sports Commentator
- Valery Borzov … Athlete
- Robert Taylor … Athlete
- Lennox Miller … Athlete
- Vince Matthews … Athlete
- Wayne Collett … Athlete
- Julius Sang … Athlete
- John Akii-Bua … Athlete
- Ralph Mann … Athlete
- David Hemery … Athlete
- Rod Milburn … Athlete
- Olga Korbut … Athlete
- Jim Ryun … Athlete
- Mark Spitz … Athlete
- Tuvia Sokolovsky … Coach
- Günther Zahn … Guest