Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics
At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, 38 events in athletics were contested, 24 for men and 14 for women. There were a total number of 1324 participating athletes from 104 countries.
Medal summary[]
Men[]
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 metres |
Valeriy Borzov Soviet Union |
10.14 | Robert Taylor United States |
10.24 | Lennox Miller Jamaica |
10.33 |
| 200 metres |
Valeriy Borzov Soviet Union |
20.00 | Larry Black United States |
20.19 | Pietro Mennea Italy |
20.30 |
| 400 metres |
Vincent Matthews United States |
44.66 | Wayne Collett United States |
44.80 | Julius Sang Kenya |
44.92 |
| 800 metres |
Dave Wottle United States |
1:45.86 | Yevhen Arzhanov Soviet Union |
1:45.89 | Mike Boit Kenya |
1:46.01 |
| 1500 metres |
Pekka Vasala Finland |
3:36.33 | Kipchoge Keino Kenya |
3:36.81 | Rod Dixon New Zealand |
3:37.46 |
| 5000 metres |
Lasse Virén Finland |
13:26.42 (OR) |
Mohammed Gammoudi Tunisia |
13:27.33 | Ian Stewart Great Britain |
13:27.61 |
| 10,000 metres |
Lasse Virén Finland |
27:38.35 (WR) |
Emiel Puttemans Belgium |
27:39.58 | Miruts Yifter Ethiopia |
27:40.96 |
| 110 metres hurdles |
Rod Milburn United States |
13.24 (WR) |
Guy Drut France |
13.34 | Thomas Hill United States |
13.48 |
| 400 metres hurdles |
John Akii-Bua Uganda |
47.82 (WR) |
Ralph Mann United States |
48.51 | David Hemery Great Britain |
48.52 |
| 3000 metres steeplechase |
Kipchoge Keino Kenya |
8:23.64 (OR) |
Ben Jipcho Kenya |
8:24.62 | Tapio Kantanen Finland |
8:24.66 |
| 4×100 metres relay |
 United States (USA)Larry Black Robert Taylor Gerald Tinker Eddie Hart |
38.19 (WR) |
 Soviet Union (URS)Aleksandr Kornelyuk Vladimir Lovetskiy Yuris Silovs Valeriy Borzov |
38.50 |  West Germany (FRG)Jobst Hirscht Karlheinz Klotz Gerhard Wucherer Klaus Ehl |
38.79 |
| 4×400 metres relay |
 Kenya (KEN)Charles Asati Munyoro Nyamau Robert Ouko Julius Sang |
2:59.83 |  Great Britain (GBR)Martin Reynolds Alan Pascoe David Hemery David Jenkins |
3:00.46 |  France (FRA)Gilles Bertould Daniel Velasques Francis Kerbiriou Jacques Carette |
3:00.65 |
| Marathon |
Frank Shorter United States |
2:12:19.8 | Karel Lismont Belgium |
2:14:31.8 | Mamo Wolde Ethiopia |
2:15:08.4 |
| 20 kilometres walk |
Peter Frenkel East Germany |
1:26:42.4 (OR) |
Volodymyr Holubnychy Soviet Union |
1:26:55.2 | Hans-Georg Reimann East Germany |
1:27:16.6 |
| 50 kilometres walk |
Bernd Kannenberg West Germany |
3:56:11.6 | Veniamin Soldatenko Soviet Union |
3:58:24.0 | Larry Young United States |
4:00:46.0 |
| High jump |
Jüri Tarmak Soviet Union |
2.23 m | Stefan Junge East Germany |
2.21 m | Dwight Stones United States |
2.21 m |
| Pole vault |
Wolfgang Nordwig East Germany |
5.50 m (OR) |
Robert Seagren United States |
5.40 m | Jan Johnson United States |
5.35 m |
| Long jump |
Randy Williams United States |
8.24 m | Hans Baumgartner West Germany |
8.18 m | Arnie Robinson United States |
8.03 m |
| Triple jump |
Viktor Saneyev Soviet Union |
17.35 m | Jörg Drehmel East Germany |
17.31 m | Nelson Prudêncio Brazil |
17.05 m |
| Shot put |
Władysław Komar Poland |
21.18 m (OR) |
George Woods United States |
21.17 m | Hartmut Briesenick East Germany |
21.14 m |
| Discus throw |
Ludvík Daněk Czechoslovakia |
64.40 m | Jay Silvester United States |
63.50 m | Ricky Bruch Sweden |
63.40 m |
| Hammer throw |
Anatoliy Bondarchuk Soviet Union |
75.50 m (OR) |
Jochen Sachse East Germany |
74.96 m | Vasili Khmelevski Soviet Union |
74.04 m |
| Javelin throw |
Klaus Wolfermann West Germany |
90.48 m (OR) |
Jānis Lūsis Soviet Union |
90.46 m | Bill Schmidt United States |
84.42 m |
| Decathlon |
Mykola Avilov Soviet Union |
8454 pts (WR) |
Leonid Lytvynenko Soviet Union |
8035 pts | Ryszard Katus Poland |
7984 pts |
Women[]
| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 metres |
Renate Stecher East Germany |
11.07 (WR) |
Raelene Boyle Australia |
11.23 | Silvia Chibás Cuba |
11.24 |
| 200 metres |
Renate Stecher East Germany |
22.40 (=WR) |
Raelene Boyle Australia |
22.45 | Irena Szewińska Poland |
22.74 |
| 400 metres |
Monika Zehrt East Germany |
51.08 | Rita Wilden West Germany |
51.21 | Kathy Hammond United States |
51.64 |
| 800 metres |
Hildegard Falck West Germany |
1:58.55 (OR) |
Nijolė Sabaitė Soviet Union |
1:58.65 | Gunhild Hoffmeister East Germany |
1:59.19 |
| 1500 metres |
Ludmila Bragina Soviet Union |
4:01.38 (WR) |
Gunhild Hoffmeister East Germany |
4:02.83 | Paola Pigni Italy |
4:02.85 |
| 100 metres hurdles |
Annelie Ehrhardt East Germany |
12.59 (WR) |
Valeria Bufanu Romania |
12.84 | Karin Balzer East Germany |
12.90 |
| 4×100 metres relay |
West Germany (FRG) Christiane Krause Ingrid Becker Annegret Richter Heide Rosendahl |
42.81 |  East Germany (GDR)Evelin Kaufer Christina Heinich Bärbel Struppert Renate Stecher |
42.95 |  Cuba (CUB)Marlene Elejarde Carmen Valdés Fulgencia Romay Silvia Chibás |
43.36 |
| 4×400 metres relay |
East Germany (GDR) Dagmar Käsling Rita Kühne Helga Seidler Monika Zehrt |
3:22.95 | United States (USA) Mable Fergerson Madeline Manning Cheryl Toussaint Kathy Hammond |
3:25.15 | West Germany (FRG) Anette Rückes Inge Bödding Hildegard Falck Rita Wilden |
3:26.51 |
| High jump |
Ulrike Meyfarth West Germany |
1.92 m (=WR) |
Yordanka Blagoeva Bulgaria |
1.88 m | Ilona Gusenbauer Austria |
1.88 m |
| Long jump |
Heide Rosendahl West Germany |
6.78 m | Diana Yorgova Bulgaria |
6.77 m | Eva Šuranová Czechoslovakia |
6.67 m |
| Shot put |
Nadezhda Chizhova Soviet Union |
21.03 m (WR) |
Margitta Gummel East Germany |
20.22 m | Ivanka Khristova Bulgaria |
19.35 m |
| Discus throw |
Faina Melnik Soviet Union |
66.62 m (OR) |
Argentina Menis Romania |
65.06 m | Vasilka Stoeva Bulgaria |
64.34 m |
| Javelin throw |
Ruth Fuchs East Germany |
63.88 m (OR) |
Jacqueline Todten East Germany |
62.54 m | Kate Schmidt United States |
59.94 m |
| Pentathlon |
Mary Peters Great Britain |
4801 pts (WR) |
Heide Rosendahl West Germany |
4791 pts | Burglinde Pollak East Germany |
4768 pts |
Medal table[]
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Soviet Union (URS) | 9 | 7 | 1 | 17 |
| 2 | East Germany (GDR) | 8 | 7 | 5 | 20 |
| 3 | United States (USA) | 6 | 8 | 8 | 22 |
| 4 | West Germany (FRG) | 6 | 3 | 2 | 11 |
| 5 |  Finland (FIN) | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 6 | Kenya (KEN) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 7 | Great Britain (GBR) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 8 |  Poland (POL) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 9 |  Czechoslovakia (TCH) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 |  Uganda (UGA) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 |  Bulgaria (BUL) | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 12 |  Australia (AUS) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
 Belgium (BEL) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
 Romania (ROU) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| 15 | France (FRA) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 16 |  Tunisia (TUN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Cuba (CUB) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
 Ethiopia (ETH) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
 Italy (ITA) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| 20 |  Austria (AUT) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Brazil (BRA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Jamaica (JAM) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 New Zealand (NZL) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Sweden (SWE) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (24 nations) | 38 | 38 | 38 | 114 | |
References[]
 Events at the 1972 Summer Olympics (Munich) | |
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| Athletics at the Summer Olympics | |||||||||
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Coordinates: 48°10′23″N 11°32′48″E / 48.1731°N 11.5467°E
Categories:
- Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics
- Athletics at the Summer Olympics
- 1972 Summer Olympics events
- 1972 in athletics (track and field)
- International athletics competitions hosted by West Germany