Not only did the US not win, they didn't make the final.
How is this posible? They had 3 finalists (going 1-2) in the 400 PLUS the defending Olympic champ.
I don't get it.
Not only did the US not win, they didn't make the final.
How is this posible? They had 3 finalists (going 1-2) in the 400 PLUS the defending Olympic champ.
I don't get it.
Baton drop?
John Smith pulled a muscle in the 400m and was out.
The gold and silver medalists, Vince Matthews and Wayne Collett, were talking to each other and fidgeting during the nat'l anthem on the awards stand. The IOC thought they were protesting (they claimed they weren't, and if they were it would have been the worst protest ever) but the IOC banned them from ever again competing in the Olympics.
The USA probably would have gone 1-2-3 if John Smith hadn't pulled a hamstring in the final. These two things put together left the USA with only three of the six runners they'd entered for the relay.
Doh!
jsquire wrote:
The gold and silver medalists, Vince Matthews and Wayne Collett, were talking to each other and fidgeting during the nat'l anthem on the awards stand. The IOC thought they were protesting (they claimed they weren't, and if they were it would have been the worst protest ever) but the IOC banned them from ever again competing in the Olympics.
The USA probably would have gone 1-2-3 if John Smith hadn't pulled a hamstring in the final. These two things put together left the USA with only three of the six runners they'd entered for the relay.
Doh!
Jess, is that just a microcosim (sp) of how the Munich Olympics went/played out for the US?
I recall the T&FN prediction: USA would win even if they dropped the baton. Twice. So Lee Evans (fourth at the trials) never got the chance to run.
That's how strong the relay team was, Lee Evans was 4th man on the team...LEE EVANS
Vince Matthews and Wayne Collett down played their behavior, but they were clearly trying to make a statement and be disrespectable during the medals ceremony. Thought they were too cool and kept it up even when the crowd was booing. But hey, sportsmanship is part of the sport. Idiots.
But it was all part of the tragic and crazy '72 Olympics...
silly old fossil wrote:
Jess, is that just a microcosim (sp) of how the Munich Olympics went/played out for the US?
In the sprints we didn't have a good Olympics, and Bob Seagren got royally screwed in the pole vault. But other than that I think things went decently. In the distance races it was probably the 2nd-best Olympics the US men's team ever had.
I admire the guy and he's led a productive life since and frankly, what he did did not even offend me, but Wayne Collett made statements right after that indicated he was indeed making a conscious political statement by his "total casual" (his words) behavior on the podium.
A piss-poor political statement if no one remembers it.
Yes, it was a very tragic, but also a crazy, Olympics. There were other great US runners that did not get to run in their Finals. Eddie Hart and Rey Robinson tied the 100 meter World Record in the US trials and yet they did not arrive at the stadium in time for their second round races. They saw the second round being started as they walked across a park.
World Record Holder Jim Ryun fell in round one of the 1500 as he tried to pass two runners with 550 to go. He never caught up enough to qualify.
Dave Wottle won his gold medal in the 800 and forgot to remove his hat during the playing of the National Anthem and missed qualifying for the 1500 final by a nose. The semi-final was his 5th race in 10 days.
But I also remember some great thrills in those 1972 Olympic Games. Wottle did win that Gold Medal in the 800 in a thrilling come from behind dash, winning by 0.03.
Prefontaine came 4th in a very exciting race.
Viren won again and again
Frank Shorter broke the old Olympic Record in placing 5th in the 10,000 meters.
And then Frank Shorter won gold in the Marathon with Kenny Moore 4th and Jack Bacheler in 9th. I stood above the entrance and watched them come down the street towards the stadium and then enter the stadium below my position.
The US 400 meter realy team won gold in the world record time of 38.19.
And one of the biggest thrills of all came when the crowd gave Abebe Bikila a standing ovation for many many minutes as he sat just inside one of the side gates.
All Olympic Games have these thrills in addition to their disappointments.
'72 may have been the worst Olympics ever for the U.S. track & field women, partly because the Eastern European drug-taking machines were at full tilt. No golds at all, not much to celebrate, really, except a surprise 400-meter bronze by Kathy Hammond. A real low point.