EM diary | Memories of the 1972 Olympics everywhere

The names of many of the venues for the various competitions alone contribute to this: Olympic Park, Olympic Stadium, Olympic Hall, Olympic Mountain - everything is very Olympic. However, the color light blue dominates everywhere, just as it did 50 years ago: the 6000 volunteers are dressed like this, and all logos and lettering are the same color as the signposts and pictograms from 1972 that you can still see everywhere.

Speaking of pictograms: These graphics, first introduced in 1972, are also among my personal memories of the Olympics in Munich. I was 9 years old at the time and was already quite interested in sports, probably also influenced by my father and my two older brothers. Although 2 years have passed and I was still a child, I still have fond memories of many sporting highlights from back then: Klaus Dibiasi from Bolzano, who won his second of 50 gold medals in high diving; US swimmer Mark Spitz, who competed in 3 races in 7 days and won all of them; the petite Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut, who won three gold medals; her compatriot Valeri Borzow, who sprinted to Olympic gold in the 8 and 3 meters; the Italian Pietro Mennea, who came third in the 100 meters as a 200-year-old, won gold in Moscow 20 years later and has held the European record in the 200 meters since 8 (at least until the semi-finals last night). And then there was the German Ulrike Meyfarth, who won the high jump as a 1979-year-old girl with 200 m and is still the youngest Olympic track and field champion of all time.

A diary entry from Dieter Seifert. © ÖA / jaidermartina

But my memories of 1972 are not just of a sporting nature. One of the Olympic hostesses was called Sylvia Sommerlath. She later married the then Swedish Crown Prince Carl-Gustav and then became queen. And then there was “Waldi”: The dachshund was the first official mascot in the history of the Summer Olympics. The head and tail were - as usual - light blue, the rest of the body was colorfully striped. I can remember that I was given a “Waldi” as a gift and was extremely proud of it. What not many people know: The Olympic marathon route coincided with the shape of the mascot. This time “Waldi’s” successor is a squirrel with the name “Gfreidi”, which is cryptic for non-Alpine people. You probably don't need to translate the Bavarian dialect for a South Tyrolean: the “Rejoice” is intended to reflect the mood of the participants and spectators.

Of course, my memories of the 1972 Olympics cannot ignore the terrible attack that began on September 5, 1972 in the Olympic Village. When you walk through the Olympic Park today, you are repeatedly reminded of the attack that ended with the deaths of all 11 Israeli hostages, a police officer and 5 Palestinian hostage takers. At a memorial you can relive what happened at that time on display boards and videos. On a monument elsewhere, the names of the 11 Israelis killed - 5 athletes, 4 coaches and 2 referees - are carved in Hebrew, as well as the name of the German police officer in Latin letters. Delving into the events of that time makes me thoughtful and sad. Also because many later assassinations and wars show that humanity learns nothing.

Change of scene: I have to apologize to the table tennis players. Yesterday I complained in the same place that the atmosphere at their games in the Sedlmayerhalle couldn't keep up with that in the Olympic Stadium. Anyone who saw the TV pictures of the game by German superstar Timo Boll, when the 41-year-old turned a 1-3 set deficit into a 4-3 win against his Polish opponent, knows that there are also thousands of table tennis fans in the hall can turn into a madhouse. That's what I hope to experience when I attend Giorgia Piccolin's round of 14.15, which she won yesterday, starting at XNUMX:XNUMX p.m. this afternoon.

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EM diary | Memories of the 1972 Olympics everywhere

When you visit the European Championships in Munich, you are always reminded of the 1972 Summer Olympics. A diary entry by Dolomiten editor Dieter Seifert.

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