If the older sports fan is asked what he/she remembers most from the year 1972, one might get an answer along the lines, “Hmmmm… 1972? That’s 50 years ago, you are taxing my memory here. ’72? Olympic year, right? Wasn’t it in Munich, West Germany? When that Palestinian terrorist group broke into the Athletes’ Village and killed some Israeli athletes? And that American swimmer Spitz won seven gold medals and set seven world records? And the New Zealand cricketers visited the Caribbean? That side never won any matches, in fact, they didn’t lose any either, drawing all their games. That chap, Glenn Turner just kept batting for days and accumulating double centuries. That’s what I remember from sports in 1972.”
The sports calendar of 1972 is probably best remembered for the tragic abduction and subsequent murder of eleven members of the Israeli Olympic team at the Munich Games by the Black September terrorist organisation. It was an event which captured the attention of the entire world and led to a major overhaul in the approach to the security arrangements for international sporting events and gatherings of such magnitude. No less than 15 films/documentaries examining the massacre have been made to date, including the Academy Award winning One Day in September (Best Documentary Feature, 1999), and the controversial Munich (2005), directed by Stephen Spielberg, which received five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Despite winning all seven of his events and setting seven worlds, Mark Spitz never morphed into an international sports celebrity or propelled the sport of swimming into a popular pursuit. Perhaps, the timing of the tragedy, which occurred that day after his final victory, coupled with his rather premature retirement at the age of 22, and the dearth of public swimming pools, have led swimming – in spite of the fact that it is one of the few sports to utilise all the muscles in the human body – to remain a niche sport. Spitz is reported to have enjoyed a very comfortable life, courtesy of several lucrative endorsement contracts in the two years following the Olympics, reportedly worth US$7 million (about US$70 million today). Today, Spitz runs a real estate company and is a much sought after motivational speaker.
Spitz might have grabbed the world’s headlines for a week or so, and today, he is likely only remembered by the older folks or members of the swim fraternity, since the year 1972, also incredibly gave us, three game changers in the world of sport, whose names are bandied around on television broadcasts as if they are still active today.
Their respective disciplines were viewed as niche sports, with very limited participation, and virtually no media coverage. Their influences have endured the passage of time, and their fields of endeavour still enjoy international media attention and mass participation worldwide.
Spitz’s face appeared on the covers of most American periodicals in early September, including Time, Life and Sports Illustrated, but his visage had been preceded in the July and August issues by that of Bobby Fischer, the American chess player, who was waging a one-man war against the might of the Soviet Chess establishment and its post-World War II dominance of the sport (SN editorial, Match of the Century, 27th July, 2022). Fischer’s comprehensive victory over the defending world champion Boris Spassky was on the front page of all major newspapers, most of which had never covered the sport before. Fischer’s genius on the chessboard was only matched by his eccentricity away from it. Although Fischer refused to defend his title in 1975 when he could not agree to terms with FIDE over match conditions, and disappeared from public view, his genius and influence on the game cannot be denied.
Over in the UK, 1972 was the height of the troubles in Northern Ireland, with over 5,000 injured and 479 killed, and yet little did anyone suspect that a genius would emerge from this carnage. At that point in time, according to the doyen of snooker journalists, Clive Everton, it “was a folks’ sport – everything was word of mouth,” and confined to smoke-filled working men’s rooms and pool halls. Alex Higgins, a 22-year-old Irishman won the 1972 World Championship with his magical shot making and potting. Nicknamed ‘Hurricane’ for the electrifying speed at which he played, Higgins transformed the sport, taking it to heights never imagined, and it became a staple of British television. Quite a character, Higgins lived at the same speed at which he played, and had a rollercoaster life, but managed to regain the world title in 1982, and beat the best of the next generation of players to win major titles later on: Steve Davis (1983 UK Championships) and Stephen Hendry (1989 Irish Masters).
Last Saturday was the 50th anniversary of the running of the men’s marathon at the Munich Olympics, which had resumed after a one-day suspension of competition following the murders of the 11 Israelis. On a winding route, filled with twists and turns, American runner Frank Shorter, on his return to the city of his birth, stole a march on the 73-man field at 15 kilometres, and left the other competitors to battle for the silver medal. His victorious run, which had been broadcast on live television, served as a major catalyst for the ‘Running Boom,’ and soon afterwards everyone was jogging, with the more serious participants, venturing into road and marathon races. Little did Shorter perceive that his victory, coming in the wake of the tragedy (he had believed the rest of the Games were going to be cancelled) would start a fitness revolution and spawn a whole new sector of business/ leisure.
When Shorter testified before the President’s Commission on Olympic Sports in 1976, he recalled, “Well, I graduated from Yale in 1969, and I decided that rather than go into medical school I would become a runner, much to the chagrin of all the Puritan-ethic people in New England, and I started training about 80 miles a week, and it has gone up to 150 and 200 miles in a week, and I think in the last seven years I have maybe not run 15 days, and that is twice every day in the last seven years, and just day in and day out, all of the year round…” A qualified lawyer, Shorter has never practised, and made a living from the ‘running industry’ via clothing lines, various businesses, clinics and television commentary, and also chaired the US Anti-Doping Agency from 2000 to 2003.
Fifty years later the enduring legacies of Fischer, Higgins and Shorter continue to influence our lives in a positive way, whether through personal participation in one of the disciplines, or the enjoyment provided by following them on mainstream media. The current generation of sportsmen and sportswomen, and non-athletes as well, can take a page from the books of these individuals who disciplined themselves and dedicated the time and effort required to become the best in their pursuits. One never knows for sure where the chosen path will lead.