One of a few controversial moments of the '72 games was Wayne Collett and Vince Matthews' awards ceremony where acted casual, joking around on the podium and not seemingly caring that they won gold and silver medals for their country in the 400 meter race. When the "Star Spangled Banner" was played, they did not face their flag. In an interview with ABC, Collett said the anthem meant nothing to him. He also stated that he felt unable to honor the anthem because of the struggles Black Americans were facing in America at the time. They were later banned from Olympic competition in the future.
"I couldn't stand there and sing the words because I don't believe they're true. I wish they were. I believe we have the potential to have a beautiful country, but I don't think we do." -Wayne Collett
American Swimmer Mark Spitz won seven gold medals at the '72 Munich games held in Munich, West Germany, the second Summer Olympic festival held in Germany, the first being the '36 games in Berin. This feat of Spitz was a then world record for most gold medals in a single Olympic game. Michael Phelps then broke this record after receiving eight golds in the Beijing games. He left before the closing ceremonies in fear of being a target of Palestinian terrorism, since he was in fact, jewish. He also won these medals with long hair and a really cool mustache, which is awesome.
On September 5, 1972 in the second week of competition during the 1972 Summer Olympic Games, 8 members of a Palestinian radical military group called "Black September" stormed into an apartment where the Israeli National Team were housed. The assailants killed 2 people in the house, and took 9 others hostage, while others were fortunate enough to escape by either hiding or jumping out windows. Then after negotiations with authorities to free 235 Palestinians, 2 Germans who were founders of the Red Army Faction, and a safe passageway to Egypt, they moved the hostages to Fürstenfeldbruck Airport en route to a Boing 727 to take them and the hostages to Egypt. The German authorities then tried to ambush them with snipers, but failed. As a result, a firefight ensued, which killed 4 hostages, followed by a explosion via grenade of the helicopter the remaining hostages were in, killing them instantly. Five of the eight gunmen were killed in the chaos, while the other 3 were taken into custody. This put a damper on the games, but after an impromptu memorial service, the games continued, with added security around the events. The massacre led to Operation Wrath of God, a covert operation of the Israelis aimed to take out all the major members of Black September, with the first assassination happening on October 16th, 1972, of Wazel Zwaiter. Israel received much criticism for this operation, along with Operation Spring of Youth in 1973 due to the accusations that the people targeted were not even a part of the planning of the massacre. It is believed that Operation Wrath of God went on for as many as 20 years.
