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Title details for Three Seconds in Munich by David A. F. Sweet - Available

Three Seconds in Munich

The Controversial 1972 Olympic Basketball Final

by David A. F. Sweet
ebook
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1 of 1 copy available
One. Two. Three.
That's as long as it took to sear the souls of a dozen young American men, thanks to the craziest, most controversial finish in the history of the Olympics—the 1972 gold-medal basketball contest between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the world's two superpowers at the time.
The U.S. team, whose unbeaten Olympic streak dated back to when Adolf Hitler reigned over the Berlin Games, believed it had won the gold medal that September in Munich—not once, but twice. But it was the third time the final seconds were played that counted.
What happened? The head of international basketball—flouting rules he himself had created—trotted onto the court and demanded twice that time be put back on the clock. A referee allowed an illegal substitution and an illegal free-throw shooter for the Soviets while calling a slew of late fouls on the U.S. players. The American players became the only Olympic athletes in the history of the games to refuse their medals.
Of course, the 1972 Olympics are remembered primarily for a far graver matter, when eleven Israeli team members were killed by Palestinian terrorists, stunning the world and temporarily stopping the games. One American player, Tommy Burleson, had a gun to his head as the hostages were marched past him before their deaths.
Through interviews with many of the American players and others, the author relates the horror of terrorism, the pain of losing the most controversial championship game in sports history to a hated rival, and the consequences of the players' decision to shun their Olympic medals to this day.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    September 1, 2019

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781496217363

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781496217363
      • File size: 2677 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      August 26, 2019
      Sportswriter Sweet (Lamar Hunt: The Gentle Giant Who Revolutionized Professional Sports) presents this clear-eyed account of the scandalous end to the 1972 Olympic men’s basketball final. Through interviews with many of the members of that team, Sweet recreates the experience of seeming to win the gold medal, only to have it taken away when Olympics official R. William Jones ordered that three seconds be added to the clock, allowing the Russians to score and beat the U.S. team 51 to 50 and end America’s 36-year, 62-game winning streak. In protest, the Americans decided not to accept the silver medal, and the pain of being cheated still lingers for those Sweet interviewed, including forwards Mike Banton and Jim Brewer and center Dwight Jones (“I want my gold. Not no silver. It’s probably sitting around some Russian’s neck right now”). Readers are left with no doubt that the USA team was robbed. Throughout, Sweet weaves in players’ memories of the Palestinian terror attack that decimated the Israeli wrestling team, a tragedy for the 1972 Olympics. Sweet’s excellent reporting sheds light on a controversial, nearly forgotten Olympic decision.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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