Jump to content

1972 Summer Olympics medal table

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1972 Summer Olympics medals
LocationMunich,  West Germany
Highlights
Most gold medals Soviet Union (50)
Most total medals Soviet Union (99)
Medalling NOCs48
← 1968 · Olympics medal tables · 1976 →
aerial view of stadium and surrounding lake and parking lots
The Munich Olympic Stadium (Olympiastadion) with the Radstadion, site of the cycling events, in the background

The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, took place in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August through 11 September 1972. A total of 7,134 athletes from 121 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competed in 195 events from 23 sports.[1]

Men's indoor handball, slalom canoeing and kayaking all made their Olympic debuts, while archery returned to the Olympic program after a 52-year hiatus.[1] Rhodesia, like South Africa, was still segregated in 1972 and yet the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to invite Rhodesia to the 1972 Games. Eventually, African nations protested this invitation and threatened to boycott the Games. Four days before the opening ceremonies the IOC voted to rescind their invitation and exclude the Rhodesian athletes.[2]

Athletes from 48 NOCs won medals, leaving 73 NOCs unrepresented on the medal table. The Soviet Union edged the United States in total (99 to 94) and gold medals (50 to 33).[3] Another notable rivalry took place between East and West Germany. Led by gymnast Karin Janz, who won two golds, two silvers and one bronze, East Germany (66 total and 20 gold medals) beat hosts West Germany (13 gold and 40 total medals) to third place in the medal count.[3][4] East Germany would nearly overtake the United States in 1976, and then finish second in the medal count in 1980 and 1988.[5][6][7] American swimmer Mark Spitz won seven events, breaking the record for most gold medals by a single athlete in a single Olympic Games.[3] Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut delivered another memorable performance. She entered the Olympics as an alternate on the Soviet gymnastics team, and replaced an injured teammate before the start of the competition. Korbut performed magnificently during the team competition and captured the global television audience with her personality.[8] She helped the Soviet team win its sixth straight Olympic title and went on to win two more individual gold medals and one silver.[9] Japanese gymnast Sawao Kato won three gold and two silver medals, including the men's individual all-around title. This was the second individual all-around title for Kato, after 1968. Kato would go on to take silver in the all-around competition in 1976 to cap an Olympic career medal total of eight golds, three silvers and one bronze.[10] Finnish runner Lasse Virén won both the 5,000 and 10,000 metre races. The 10,000 metres was won in dramatic fashion after he recovered from a fall to win and set a world record. He would repeat the double at the 1976 Games.[11]

Medal table

[edit]
People march behind a large flag surrounded by spectators
The East German delegation marching in the opening ceremonies of the 1972 Summer Olympics
One girl in a track suit with a medal around her neck looks on as two girls congratulate each other
Olga Korbut receiving her silver medal after tying Erika Zuchold in the uneven bars
woman above a bar holding onto it during a gymnastics routine
East German Karin Janz during her gold medal-winning uneven bars routine
close up shot of a man with grey hair
Mark Spitz in 2008; he won seven gold medals in swimming at the 1972 Games

The medal table is based on information provided by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and is consistent with IOC conventional sorting in its published medal tables. The table uses the Olympic medal table sorting method. By default, the table is ordered by the number of gold medals the athletes from a nation have won, where a nation is an entity represented by a NOC. The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals.[12][13] If teams are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically by their IOC country code.[14]

  *   Host nation (West Germany)

1972 Summer Olympics medal table
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Soviet Union50272299
2 United States33313094
3 East Germany20232366
4 West Germany*13111640
5 Japan138829
6 Australia87217
7 Poland75921
8 Hungary6131635
9 Bulgaria610521
10 Italy531018
11 Sweden46616
12 Great Britain45918
13 Romania36716
14 Cuba3148
 Finland3148
16 Netherlands3115
17 France24713
18 Czechoslovakia2428
19 Kenya2349
20 Yugoslavia2125
21 Norway2114
22 North Korea1135
23 New Zealand1113
24 Uganda1102
25 Denmark1001
26 Switzerland0303
27 Canada0235
28 Iran0213
29 Belgium0202
 Greece0202
31 Austria0123
 Colombia0123
33 Argentina0101
 Lebanon0101
 Mexico0101
 Mongolia0101
 Pakistan0101
 South Korea0101
 Tunisia0101
 Turkey0101
41 Brazil0022
 Ethiopia0022
43 Ghana0011
 India0011
 Jamaica0011
 Niger0011
 Nigeria0011
 Spain0011
Totals (48 entries)195195210600

Changes in medal standings

[edit]
See also: List of stripped Olympic medals
List of official changes in medal standings
Event Athlete (NOC) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Net change Comment
Judo, Men's 63 kg  Bakhvain Buyadaa (MGL) DSQ –1 –1 The medal was declared vacant and not reallocated.
Cycling, Men's team time trial  Cycling team (Aad van den Hoek) (NED) DSQ –1 –1 The medal was declared vacant and not reallocated.
Cycling, Men's individual road race  Jaime Huélamo (ESP) DSQ –1 –1 The medal was declared vacant and not reallocated.
Swimming, Men's 400 m freestyle  Rick DeMont (USA) DSQ –1 –1 Rick DeMont originally won the gold medal in the 400m freestyle swimming, but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stripped him of his gold medal[15] after his post-race urinalysis tested positive for traces of the banned substance ephedrine contained in his prescription asthma medication, Marax. The positive test also deprived him of a chance at multiple medals, as he was not permitted to swim in any other events at the 1972 Olympics, including the 1,500-meter freestyle for which he was the then-current world record-holder. Before the Olympics, DeMont had properly declared his asthma medications on his medical disclosure forms, but the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) had not cleared them with the IOC's medical committee.[16] The USOC recognized his gold medal performance in the 1972 Summer Olympics in 2001,[17] but only the IOC has the power to restore his medal, and it has, as of 2023, refused to do so.
 Brad Cooper (AUS) +1 –1 0
 Steve Genter (USA) +1 –1 0
 Tom McBreen (USA) +1 +1

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Munich 1972 Summer Olympics – Athletes, Medals & Results". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
  2. ^ "Rhodesia Out of Olympics After a Dispute on Racism". New York Times. August 23, 1972. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
  3. ^ a b c Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "1972 München Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 28 August 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-08.
  4. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Gymnastics at the 1972 München Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 6 October 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-10.
  5. ^ Wilkinson Johnson (2008), p. 205
  6. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "1980 Moskva Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 28 August 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-08.
  7. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "1988 Seoul Summer Games". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 27 August 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-08.
  8. ^ Elliott, Helene (2002-08-28). "Taking a Tumble". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-09-14.
  9. ^ Woolum (1998), pp. 166–167
  10. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Sawao Kato". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 5 October 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-09.
  11. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Lasse Virén". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17. Retrieved 2010-09-09.
  12. ^ Ostlere, Lawrence (11 August 2024). "Olympic medal table: USA beat China to top spot at Paris 2024". The Independent. Archived from the original on 12 August 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
  13. ^ Araton, Harvey (18 August 2008). "A Medal Count That Adds Up To Little". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 21 March 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  14. ^ Cons, Roddy (10 August 2024). "What happens if two countries are tied in the Olympic medal table? Tiebreaker rules explained". Diario AS. Archived from the original on 11 August 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  15. ^ Amdur, Neil (1972-09-04). "Of Gold and Drugs". New York Times. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
  16. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "1972 Summer Olympics medal table". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 20 January 2011.
  17. ^ "Better late than never". sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Associated Press. January 30, 2001. Archived from the original on May 7, 2001.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1972_Summer_Olympics_medal_table&oldid=1266925212"