George C Marshall High School - Columbian Yearbook (Falls Church, VA)

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It was lucky that little homework was as¬ signed during the first week of s chool, Sep¬ tember 5-12, because the all-popular evening activity during the week was watching the Olympics on TV. Superhuman efforts by athletes of all nations and record-breaking action in nearly every contest, along with the glitter of pomp and attractive new sports stars, made the 1972 Olympic games, held in Munich, West Germany, memorable world¬ wide. The American teams made a commendable showing, but the real thrill of the Olympics was international in character — the universal exhilaration of athletic competition and achievement. As the week opened with swimming events, the United States was in the spotlight. On the men’s team, Mark Spitz splashed to five gold medals in four days, with his closest competi¬ tion coming from American teammates Gary Hall and Steve Genter. (Spitz’s flashy smile and cocky confidence made him popular at once with the American fans back home; and when it became clear that his own prediction that he would win seven gold medals might come true, he rapidly became the center-of- attention of the U.S. team.) The women’s swimming team, too, was doing well as the Olympics began. Missy Belote from nearby Lee High School headed the team, winning three gold medals for the U.S., but the Americans were somewhat out¬ done by the Australians, mainly Shane Gould. East German athletes in various areas also showed their abilities — in the kayak and ca¬ noeing races, swimming, and gymnastics, in which Karin Janz won two gold medals and a silver one. Gymnastics, however, was domi- Left: Mark Spitz beams from Mrs. Mary Gay nated by the Russians - Ludmilla ToUriS- cheva, Tamara Lazakovich, and Olga Korbut, nents who proceeded, with beautiful finesse, to garner three gold medals.

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' tfi Opposite page, above left: Coach Everett Cloud studies the offense in the Groveton scrimmage. Opposite page, below: Two JV punt returners await specialty teams prac¬ tice. Above left: Mike Gless awaits throws from the quarterbacks while warming up. Above Varsity football team enjoys a break from the August heat.

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STUDENT LIFE 23 ' 72 OLYMPIf IO 111 In the running events, which had usually been an American specialty, an unfortunate lapse by Coach Stan Wright disqualified the two best runners. Eddie Hart and Rey Robinson missed the qualifying finals (while unwittingly watching them on television, think¬ ing they were viewing replays,) because Wright had misinformed them about the starting times. The one American who remained in the race, Robert Taylor, did win a silver medal, but the whole situation was disappointing for the United States. On the whole, however, the American atheletes at Munich justified the nation’s pride in them, and competed very successfully in the games. During the second week of the Olympics a shocking occurrance of terrorism scandalized the world — nine Israeli atheletes were kid¬ napped and held hostage by Arab guerillas, then savagely murdered at a German airport near Munich. The tenseley unbelievable twenty-hour drama was covered by the same world-wide television that earlier had beamed the athletic events via satallitte into homes around the world; universally and interna¬ tionally, people waited and watched as the crisis’ events unfolded. From the initial pre-dawn entry of eight Arabs, disguised as athletes, into the Olympic Village apartment building where the Israeli teams were housed, the incident seemed unbelievable. One Israeli was machine- gunned to death through his own door as he tried to keep it shut against the terrorists; another was killed in a knife battle as he too tried to defend himself. Eighteen were able to escape the guerillas, but nine other athletes were held hostage by the Arabs within their quarters, as the terrorists voiced their threats and demands. They wanted the release of over two hundred Arab and leftist prisoners from jails in Israel and elsewhere, and they in¬ sisted that they and their hostages must be flown to an Arab capital city. If their demands were not met by noon, they said, the Israeli hostages would be executed at the rate of two every thirty minutes. This deadline was ex¬ tended to three and then five o’clock with skillful negotiating by West German officials who had rushed to handle the situation. Inter¬ national communications among Israel, Ger¬ many, Arab nations and the United State made clear the possible negotiation limits of the countries involved. Eventually, after ten hours of unmet demands, the terrorists decided to fly away with their hostages — with destination to be known after they were airborne. In the shoot-out that followed at the airbase outside Munich, all nine Israelis and five Arabs were killed; the other three Arabs were taken prisoners. As the world reeled in disbelief at this atrocious outbreak of terrorism, international retaliations were already in progress. Israeli jets bombed twelve border guerilla bases in Lebanon and Syria, and a new spate of battles ensued in the Middle East. The Olympic games were postponed and a memorial ser¬ vice for the dead athletes was held. But perhaps the most chilling result of the murders was the harsh realization for the world of its inadequacy to deal with terrorist- outbreaks like the one in Munich. The dif¬ ficulty seen in reaching an international agreement, the insufficient law forces and preventative measures, and the awful irratio¬ nality of the guerillas brought home the fact that the entire world, though ill-prepared for the responsibility, would have to face up to the problems and possibilities of outbreaks from clashes and wars everywhere. Munich brought the localized Middle East conflict into the international arena. GCM