1972 Summer Olympics medal table

The Munich Olympic Stadium (Olympiastadion) with the Radstadion, site of the cycling events, in the background

The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, took place in Munich, Germany, from 26 August through 11 September 1972. A total of 7,134 athletes from 121 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competed in 195 events from 23 sports. Men's indoor handball, slalom canoeing and kayaking all made their Olympic debuts, while archery returned to the Olympic program after a 52-year hiatus. Rhodesia, like South Africa, was still segregated in 1972 and yet the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to invite Rhodesia to the 1972 Games. Eventually, African nations protested this invitation and threatened to boycott the Games. Three days before the opening ceremonies the IOC voted to rescind their invitation and exclude the Rhodesian athletes.

Athletes from 48 NOCs won medals, leaving 73 NOCs unrepresented on the medal table. The Soviet Union edged the United States in total (99 to 94) and gold medals (50 to 33). Another notable rivalry took place between East and West Germany. Led by gymnast Karin Janz, who won two golds, two silvers and one bronze, East Germany (66 total and 20 gold medals) beat West Germany (13 gold and 40 total medals) to third place in the total medal count. East Germany would nearly overtake the United States in 1976, and then finish second in the medal count in 1980 and 1988. American swimmer Mark Spitz won seven events, breaking the record for most gold medals by a single athlete in a single Olympic Games. Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut delivered another memorable performance. She entered the Olympics as an alternate on the Soviet gymnastics team, and replaced an injured teammate before the start of the competition. Korbut performed well during the team competition and captured the global television audience with her personality. She helped the Soviet team win its sixth straight Olympic title and went on to win two more individual gold medals and one silver. Japanese gymnast Sawao Kato won three gold and two silver medals, including the men's individual all-around title. This was the second individual all-around title for Kato, after 1968. Kato would go on to take silver in the all-around competition in 1976 to cap an Olympic career medal total of eight golds, three silvers and one bronze. Finnish runner Lasse Virén won both the 5,000 and 10,000 meter races. The 10,000 meters was won in dramatic fashion after he recovered from a fall to win and set a world record. He would repeat the double at the 1976 Games.

Medal table

See also: Olympic medal table

The East German delegation marching in the opening ceremonies of the 1972 Summer Olympics

Olga Korbut receiving her silver medal after tying Erika Zuchold in the uneven bars

East German Karin Janz during her gold medal-winning uneven bars routine

Mark Spitz in 2008; he won seven gold medals at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

The medal table is based on information provided by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and is consistent with IOC convention in its published medal tables. By default, the table is ordered by the number of gold medals won by an NOC. The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If nations are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically.

      Host nation (West Germany)

To sort this table by nation, total medal count, or any other column, click on the icon next to the column title.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Soviet Union (URS)	50	27	22	99
2	United States (USA)	33	31	30	94
3	East Germany (GDR)	20	23	23	66
4	West Germany (FRG)	13	11	16	40
5	Japan (JPN)	13	8	8	29
6	Australia (AUS)	8	7	2	17
7	Poland (POL)	7	5	9	21
8	Hungary (HUN)	6	13	16	35
9	Bulgaria (BUL)	6	10	5	21
10	Italy (ITA)	5	3	10	18
11	Sweden (SWE)	4	6	6	16
12	Great Britain (GBR)	4	5	9	18
13	Romania (ROU)	3	6	7	16
14	Cuba (CUB)	3	1	4	8
14	Finland (FIN)	3	1	4	8
16	Netherlands (NED)	3	1	1	5
17	France (FRA)	2	4	7	13
18	Czechoslovakia (TCH)	2	4	2	8
19	Kenya (KEN)	2	3	4	9
20	Yugoslavia (YUG)	2	1	2	5
21	Norway (NOR)	2	1	1	4
22	North Korea (PRK)	1	1	3	5
23	New Zealand (NZL)	1	1	1	3
24	Uganda (UGA)	1	1	0	2
25	Denmark (DEN)	1	0	0	1
26	Switzerland (SUI)	0	3	0	3
27	Canada (CAN)	0	2	3	5
28	Iran (IRI)	0	2	1	3
29	Belgium (BEL)	0	2	0	2
29	Greece (GRE)	0	2	0	2
31	Austria (AUT)	0	1	2	3
31	Colombia (COL)	0	1	2	3
33	Argentina (ARG)	0	1	0	1
33	South Korea (KOR)	0	1	0	1
33	Lebanon (LIB)	0	1	0	1
33	Mexico (MEX)	0	1	0	1
33	Mongolia (MGL)	0	1	0	1
33	Pakistan (PAK)	0	1	0	1
33	Tunisia (TUN)	0	1	0	1
33	Turkey (TUR)	0	1	0	1
41	Brazil (BRA)	0	0	2	2
41	Ethiopia (ETH)	0	0	2	2
43	Ghana (GHA)	0	0	1	1
43	India (IND)	0	0	1	1
43	Jamaica (JAM)	0	0	1	1
43	Niger (NIG)	0	0	1	1
43	Nigeria (NGR)	0	0	1	1
43	Spain (ESP)	0	0	1	1
Total		195	195	210	600

See also

• 1972 Winter Olympics medal table

References

• Buchanon, Ian; Mallon, Bill (2006). Historical Dictionary of the Olympic Movement. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0810855747. http://books.google.com/?id=fH3hD3MkIMYC&pg=PR101&dq=commercialization+of+the+olympic+games. Retrieved 2010-09-08. 
• Wilkinson Johnson, Molly (2008). Training socialist citizens: sports and the state in East Germany. Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV. ISBN 9789004169579. http://books.google.com/books?id=pOT4arumP_YC&pg=PA205&dq=east+germany+1972+summer+olympics#v=onepage&q=east%20germany%201972%20summer%20olympics&f=false. Retrieved 2010-09-08. 
• Woolum, Janet (1998). Outstanding women athletes. Phoenix, United States: The Oryx Press. ISBN 1573561207. http://books.google.com/books?id=DWmCWO6SpsYC&pg=PA166&dq=olga+korbut#v=onepage&q=olga%20korbut&f=false. Retrieved 2010-09-08.