The spirit of the Olympics was shattered on September 5, 1972 when Palestinian terrorists belonging to the Black September group broke into the Olympic Village in Munich, killed two Israeli athletes and took nine more hostages. A botched rescue try at the Munich Airport the next day resulted in the death of all nine hostages and five of the terrorists. To show that they would not cowed by terrorism, the IOC ordered the games to resume after a one-day break to honor the slain Israeli athletes.
The tragic event overshadowed American swimmer Mark Spitz’s record seven-gold haul, as well as the USSR’s controversial 51-50 victory over the USA in the men’s basketball final. And speaking of basketball, this marked the last time the Philippines would qualify for the Olympics in that event. A team led by Danny Florencio, Freddie Webb and Bogs Adornado finished 13th in a field of 16, including a walkover win over Egypt, which pulled out its athletes in the wake of the terrorist attack. (Source: Olympic.org and Olympic.ph)
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