Word: xx
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Against this backdrop of political chicanery and racial animosity, in an atmosphere of intrigue and incompetence, the Arab terrorists committed their murderous assault on the Israeli athletes. Yet even apart from the horrifying massacre, the XX Olympiad has to rank as one of the sorriest athletic spectacles in history. True, hundreds of athletes did their human best, breaking dozens of world and Olympic records. Nonetheless, the impact of these extraordinary feats of strength, endurance and grace was marred by the chauvinistic stockpiling of team points, power politics, inept and prejudiced officiating, flagrant commercialism and oleaginous doses of carnival ballyhoo...
Relaxed Security. Until last week, the XX Olympiad had been a huge and happy success. Never before had so many records been toppled or so many political quarrels forgotten. West Germans even made a point of cheering whenever East Germans won. In that atmosphere, security was progressively relaxed. Initially, the West Germans planned to restrict entry into the Olympic Village, which was home to 12,000 athletes. But when reporters complained-and accused the security men of Gestapo tactics-officials all but abandoned efforts to limit press entry to the village. Forgotten, too, was earlier concern over security...
...intoned Avery Brundage last week in Munich at the Olympic Stadium memorial service for the slain Israeli athletes. "I am sure the public will agree that we cannot allow a handful of terrorists to destroy this nucleus of international cooperation and good will." Thus, the second week of the XX Olympiad proceeded under a grim penumbra cast not only by the brutal murders, but by sloppy officiating, errant decisions by Brundage's International Olympic Committee-and by the insensitivity of Brundage himself. In his brief speech at the service, the outgoing I.O.C. president tastelessly equated the slayings with what...
...flame, carried some 3,500 miles by an international team of 5,976 runners, was borne to the torch by Gunter Zahn, 18, West German runner. West German President Gustav Heinemann officially initiated the games with the prescribed 14-word pronunciamento: "I declare open the Olympic Games celebrating the XX Olympiad of the modern era." The mountain horns flourished, and 80,000 enthusiastic spectators and hundreds of millions of TV viewers settled back to watch the drama begin...
...they are sometimes unqualified; they often get their jobs through political connections; and they usually hang on to them for a long, long time. Thus, as frequently happens in U.S. courtrooms, some distressingly poor judgments were rendered last week in Munich, leaving an indelible stain on the otherwise lustrous XX Olympiad...