Gymnastics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's vault

Men's vault at the Games of the XX Olympiad
Köste landing his winning vault
Venue	Olympiahalle
Date	27 August–1 September
Competitors	111 from 26 nations
Winning score	18.850
Medalists
Klaus Köste  East Germany Viktor Klimenko  Soviet Union Nikolai Andrianov  Soviet Union

These are the results of the men's vault competition, one of eight events for male competitors in artistic gymnastics at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. The qualification and final rounds took place on August 27, 29 and September 1 at the Olympiahalle. There were 111 competitors from 26 nations (with 2 of the 113 gymnasts not starting in this apparatus); nations entering the team event had 6 gymnasts while other nations could have up to 3 gymnasts. The event was won by Klaus Köste of East Germany, the nation's first victory in the men's vault (or any men's individual gymnastics event). The Soviets took silver and bronze, respectively, from Viktor Klimenko and Nikolai Andrianov respectively.

Background

This was the 13th appearance of the event, which is one of the five apparatus events held every time there were apparatus events at the Summer Olympics (no apparatus events were held in 1900, 1908, 1912, or 1920). Three of the six finalists from 1968 returned: gold medalist Mikhail Voronin of the Soviet Union fifth-place finisher Akinori Nakayama and sixth-place finisher Eizo Kenmotsu of Japan. The reigning world champion was Mitsuo Tsukahara of Japan, with Viktor Klimenko of the Soviet Union the runner-up.

Liechtenstein, New Zealand, and North Korea each made their debut in the men's vault. The United States made its 12th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the inaugural 1896 Games.

Competition format

The event used a "vaulting horse" aligned parallel to the gymnast's run (rather than the modern "vaulting table" in use since 2004). Each nation entered a team of six gymnasts or up to three individual gymnasts. All entrants in the gymnastics competitions performed both a compulsory exercise and a voluntary exercise for each apparatus. The scores for all 12 exercises were summed to give an individual all-around score. (One gymnast who entered the all-around competition did not perform on the vault.) These exercise scores were also used to qualify for the apparatus finals. The two exercises (compulsory and voluntary) for each apparatus were summed to give an apparatus score; the top 6 in each apparatus participated in the finals; others were ranked 7th through 113th. Half of the scores from the preliminary carried over to the final.

Schedule

All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

Date	Time	Round
Monday, 27 August 1972	11:15 19:00	Preliminary: Compulsory
Wednesday, 29 August 1972	10:00 18:00	Preliminary: Voluntary
Saturday, 1 September 1972	19:30	Final

Results

One-hundred eleven gymnasts competed in the compulsory and optional rounds on August 27 and 29. The six highest scoring gymnasts advanced to the final on September 1.

Rank	Gymnast	Nation	Preliminary			Final
			Compulsory	Voluntary	Total	1⁄2 Prelim.	Final	Total
	Klaus Köste	East Germany	9.40	9.55	18.95	9.475	9.375	18.850
	Viktor Klimenko	Soviet Union	9.50	9.30	18.80	9.400	9.425	18.825
	Nikolai Andrianov	Soviet Union	9.60	9.60	19.20	9.600	9.200	18.800
4	Eizo Kenmotsu	Japan	9.40	9.40	18.80	9.400	9.150	18.550
	Sawao Kato	Japan	9.50	9.50	19.00	9.500	9.050	18.550
6	Peter Rohner	Switzerland	9.25	9.50	18.80	9.375	9.150	18.525
7	Matthias Brehme	East Germany	9.30	9.45	18.75	Did not advance
	Shigeru Kasamatsu	Japan	9.40	9.35	18.75	Did not advance
	Mikolaj Kubica	Poland	9.40	9.35	18.75	Did not advance
10	Vladislav Nehasil	Czechoslovakia	9.20	9.50	18.70	Did not advance
11	Imre Molnár	Hungary	9.40	9.25	18.65	Did not advance
12	Zoltán Magyar	Hungary	9.25	9.35	18.60	Did not advance
	Akinori Nakayama	Japan	9.35	9.25	18.60	Did not advance
	Wolfgang Thüne	East Germany	9.20	9.40	18.60	Did not advance
15	Petre Mihaiuc	Romania	9.20	9.35	18.55	Did not advance
16	Robert Bretscher	Switzerland	9.20	9.30	18.50	Did not advance
	Wolfgang Klotz	East Germany	9.30	9.20	18.50	Did not advance
	Wilhelm Kubica	Poland	9.20	9.30	18.50	Did not advance
	Mikhail Voronin	Soviet Union	9.30	9.20	18.50	Did not advance
20	Bohumil Mudrik	Czechoslovakia	9.15	9.30	18.45	Did not advance
	Jürgen Paeke	East Germany	9.20	9.25	18.45	Did not advance
	Gheorghe Paunescu	Romania	9.15	9.30	18.45	Did not advance
23	Dan Grecu	Romania	9.35	9.05	18.40	Did not advance
	Sylwester Kubica	Poland	9.10	9.30	18.40	Did not advance
	Li Song-sob	North Korea	9.15	9.25	18.40	Did not advance
	Edvard Mikaelian	Soviet Union	9.25	9.15	18.40	Did not advance
	Reinhard Rychly	East Germany	9.10	9.30	18.40	Did not advance
28	Jorge Cuervo	Cuba	8.95	9.40	18.35	Did not advance
	Makoto Sakamoto	United States	9.30	9.05	18.35	Did not advance
30	Janez Brodnik	Yugoslavia	9.30	9.00	18.30	Did not advance
	Jifi Fejtek	Czechoslovakia	9.30	9.00	18.30	Did not advance
	Eberhard Gienger	West Germany	9.10	9.20	18.30	Did not advance
	Steven Hug	United States	9.15	9.15	18.30	Did not advance
	Alexander Maleev	Soviet Union	9.10	9.20	18.30	Did not advance
	Nicolae Oprescu	Romania	9.15	9.15	18.30	Did not advance
	Pavel Stanovsky	Czechoslovakia	9.05	9.25	18.30	Did not advance
	Mieczyslaw Strzalka	Poland	9.10	9.20	18.30	Did not advance
38	Philippe Gaille	Switzerland	9.05	9.20	18.25	Did not advance
	Georges Guelzec	France	9.15	9.10	18.25	Did not advance
	Reinhard Ritter	West Germany	9.05	9.20	18.25	Did not advance
41	Christian Guiffroy	France	9.05	9.15	18.20	Did not advance
	Vladimir Schukin	Soviet Union	9.00	9.20	18.20	Did not advance
	Andrzej Szajna	Poland	9.30	8.90	18.20	Did not advance
	Miloš Vratič	Yugoslavia	9.25	8.95	18.20	Did not advance
45	John Crosby Jr.	United States	8.90	9.25	18.15	Did not advance
	Stefan Zoev	Bulgaria	8.90	9.25	18.15	Did not advance
47	Marshall Avener	United States	8.95	9.15	18.10	Did not advance
	Bernd Effing	West Germany	8.80	9.30	18.10	Did not advance
	Ivica Hmjelovac	Yugoslavia	9.00	9.10	18.10	Did not advance
	Milenko Kersnic	Yugoslavia	9.15	8.95	18.10	Did not advance
	Antal Kisteleki	Hungary	9.00	9.10	18.10	Did not advance
52	István Bérczi	Hungary	8.85	9.20	18.05	Did not advance
	Kim Song-yu	North Korea	8.85	9.20	18.05	Did not advance
54	Jim Culhane Jr.	United States	9.10	8.90	18.00	Did not advance
	Mircea Gheorghiu	Romania	9.00	9.00	18.00	Did not advance
	Zoran Ivanovic	Yugoslavia	9.05	8.95	18.00	Did not advance
	István Kiss	Hungary	8.95	9.05	18.00	Did not advance
	Jerzy Kruza	Poland	8.95	9.05	18.00	Did not advance
	Peter Lloyd	Australia	9.05	8.95	18.00	Did not advance
	Rogelio Mendoza	Mexico	8.70	9.30	18.00	Did not advance
	Teruichi Okamura	Japan	9.20	8.80	18.00	Did not advance
	Günter Spies	West Germany	9.15	8.85	18.00	Did not advance
	Cecilio Ugarte	Spain	8.80	9.20	18.00	Did not advance
64	Bernard Farjat	France	8.90	9.05	17.95	Did not advance
	Jean-Pierre Miens	France	9.10	8.85	17.95	Did not advance
	Ladislav Morava	Czechoslovakia	8.80	9.15	17.95	Did not advance
	Walter Mossinger	West Germany	9.10	8.85	17.95	Did not advance
	Shin Heung-do	North Korea	9.00	8.95	17.95	Did not advance
	Drago Sostaric	Yugoslavia	9.05	8.90	17.95	Did not advance
	Stan Wild	Great Britain	8.75	9.20	17.95	Did not advance
71	Béla Herczeg	Hungary	9.20	8.70	17.90	Did not advance
	Ho Yun-hang	North Korea	8.65	9.25	17.90	Did not advance
	Mauno Nissinen	Finland	9.00	8.90	17.90	Did not advance
	Terry Sale	New Zealand	9.00	8.90	17.90	Did not advance
	Mitsuo Tsukahara	Japan	9.10	8.80	17.90	Did not advance
76	Eddie Arnold	Great Britain	8.65	9.20	17.85	Did not advance
	Edwin Greutmann	Switzerland	9.10	8.75	17.85	Did not advance
	Jorge Rodriguez	Cuba	8.75	9.10	17.85	Did not advance
79	Jo Jong-ryol	North Korea	8.40	9.40	17.80	Did not advance
	Kim Song-il	North Korea	8.70	9.10	17.80	Did not advance
	Constantin Petrescu	Romania	8.80	9.00	17.80	Did not advance
82	Steve Mitruk	Canada	8.70	9.05	17.75	Did not advance
83	José Ginés	Spain	8.70	9.00	17.70	Did not advance
	Geno Radev	Bulgaria	8.65	9.05	17.70	Did not advance
85	Dimitar Dimitrov	Bulgaria	8.70	8.95	17.65	Did not advance
	Emilio Sagre	Cuba	8.75	8.90	17.65	Did not advance
87	Christian Deuza	France	8.90	8.70	17.60	Did not advance
88	Bruno Banzer	Liechtenstein	8.85	8.70	17.55	Did not advance
	Tore Lie	Norway	8.80	8.75	17.55	Did not advance
	Luis Ramirez	Cuba	8.50	9.05	17.55	Did not advance
91	René Badell	Cuba	8.80	8.70	17.50	Did not advance
	Bill Norgrave	Great Britain	8.60	8.90	17.50	Did not advance
93	Max Brühwiler	Switzerland	8.95	8.50	17.45	Did not advance
	André Simard	Canada	8.50	8.95	17.45	Did not advance
95	Henri Boërio	France	9.00	8.40	17.40	Did not advance
	Luigi Coppa	Italy	8.65	8.75	17.40	Did not advance
	Franco Donega	Italy	8.75	8.65	17.40	Did not advance
	George Greenfield	United States	8.80	8.60	17.40	Did not advance
	Maurizio Milanetto	Italy	8.80	8.60	17.40	Did not advance
100	Heinz Häussler	West Germany	8.70	8.60	17.30	Did not advance
	Agustin Sandoval	Spain	8.60	8.70	17.30	Did not advance
102	Carmine Luppino	Italy	8.75	8.50	17.25	Did not advance
103	Ian Clarke	Australia	8.50	8.70	17.20	Did not advance
	Ivan Kondev	Bulgaria	8.35	8.85	17.20	Did not advance
105	Adolfo Lampronti	Italy	8.70	8.35	17.05	Did not advance
106	Bozhidar Iliev	Bulgaria	8.35	8.60	16.95	Did not advance
107	Ole Benediktson	Denmark	8.05	8.85	16.90	Did not advance
108	Roberto Léon Richards	Cuba	8.10	8.75	16.85	Did not advance
109	Dimitar Koychev	Bulgaria	8.50	8.25	16.75	Did not advance
110	Fedele Spatazza	Italy	7.00	8.00	15.00	Did not advance
111	Miloslav Netusil	Czechoslovakia	9.20	0.00	9.20	Did not advance
—	Hans Ettlin	Switzerland	DNS			Did not advance
	Bruce Medd	Canada	DNS			Did not advance

References

• Official Olympic Report
• www.gymnasticsresults.com
• www.gymn-forum.net