SPITZ WINS 7TH GOLD MEDAL:

September 4, 1972

U.S. swimmer Mark Spitz wins his seventh gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics
in Munich. Spitz swam the fly leg of the 400-meter medley relay, and his team
set a new world-record time of 3 minutes, 48.16 seconds. Remarkably, Spitz also
established new world records in the six other events in which he won the gold.
No other athlete has won so many gold medals at a single Olympiad.Mark Spitz was
born in Modesto, California, in 1950. He began receiving instruction in
competitive swimming at age six, and by age 10 he held 17 national age-group
records and one world age-group record. When he was 14, his family moved to
Santa Clara so Spitz could train with George Haines of the celebrated Santa
Clara Swim Club. At age 16, he won his first of 24 Amateur Athletic Union
championships and at 17 took home five gold medals at the Pan-American Games in
Winnipeg, Canada.Having set 10 world records by the time of the 1968 Summer
Olympics, the 18-year-old Spitz brazenly predicted that he would take home six
gold medals from the Mexico City Olympic Games. Actually, he won just two gold
medals, both in team relay events, and took home a silver in the 100-meter
butterfly and a bronze in the 100-meter freestyle. Humbled, he went to Indiana
University in Bloomington to train under Doc Counsilman and prepare for the next
Olympics. At Indiana, he won eight individual National Collegiate Athletic
Association (NCAA) titles and was named World Swimmer of the Year in 1969 and
1971. By the time he graduated in 1972, he was ready for the XX Olympiad in
Munich, West Germany.Spitz was expected to dominate at Munich, but the
22-year-old star had learned his lesson in Mexico City and made no predictions.
His actions spoke loudly enough. On August 28, his spectacular victory march
began with an easy victory in the 200-meter butterfly. The butterfly was his
signature stroke, and he set a new world record of 2 min. 0.70 sec. That same
night, he won his second gold as a member of the U.S. 400-meter freestyle relay.
He swam the anchor leg, and his team finished in a world record 3 min. 36.42
sec. The next day, he won his third gold medal, with a world record time of 1
min. 52.78 sec. in the 200-meter freestyle.He swam the 100-meter butterfly in
54.27 sec. to earn a world record and his fourth gold medal, and then anchored
the 800-meter freestyle relay team to victory for another gold medal and world
record. He considered pulling out of the 100-meter freestyle out of fears he
would be bested by teammate Jerry Heidenreich but then went ahead with the race,
finishing a half-stroke ahead of Heidenreich in a world record 51:22 sec. He had
won his sixth gold medal, surpassing the medal record held by Italian fencer
Nedo Nadi, who had won five gold medals at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp,
Belgium.The capstone of his gold medal sweep came on September 4, when his
400-meter medley relay team won the gold. After the victory, Spitz's teammates
lifted him on their shoulders and carried him around the pool in a victory lap.
He had given a perfect performance that may never be repeated: seven events,
seven gold medals, seven world records.Before Spitz's great achievement could
fully sink in, however, tragedy stuck at dawn on September 5 when Palestinian
terrorists attacked the Israeli quarters in the Olympic village, killing an
Israeli coach and wrestler and taking nine other Israeli team members hostage.
Spitz, who is Jewish, was put under armed guard and then flown from Munich to
London out of fear he might become a target. The nine Israeli hostages were
eventually killed.Spitz received a hero's welcome in the United States and with
his good looks and comely mustache was hailed as a sex symbol. He made a fortune
from endorsements contracts, but a hoped-for movie career failed to pan out. He
lost his amateur status and rarely swam in competition after 1972. In 1992, at
age 42, he launched a comeback bid but failed to qualify for the Barcelona
Olympics. He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1977
and was a member of the first class of inductees into the United States Olympic
Hall of Fame in 1983.

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