Israel at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Israel competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, which began on August 26. On September 5 and 6, in the Munich massacre, 11 members of the Israeli delegation—5 athletes, 2 referees, and 4 coaches (names bolded on this page)—were taken hostage by Palestine Liberation Organization terrorists and murdered. The remainder of the team left Munich on September 7.

Israel at the 1972 Summer Olympics
IOC code	ISR
NOC	Olympic Committee of Israel
Website	www.olympicsil.co.il (in Hebrew and English)
in Munich
Competitors	15 in 7 sports
Flag bearer	Henry Herscovici[1]
Medals	Gold 0 Silver 0 Bronze 0 Total 0
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024

Shaul Ladany, a Holocaust survivor, competed in the 50-kilometer walk.^[2][3] He had been imprisoned in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp as a child, and wore a Star of David on his warm-up jersey.^[4][5] When he was congratulated by locals on his fluent German, he responded: "I learned it in Bergen-Belsen".^[5][6] He survived the Munich massacre by jumping off a balcony.^[2]

Results

Name	Sport	Event	Placing	Performance
Shaul Ladani	Athletics	Men's 50 km walk	19	4:24:38.6[7] (also entered for 20 km walk, but did not start)[7]
Esther Shahamorov	Athletics	Women's 100 m	Semifinal (5th)	11.49[8]
		Women's 100 m hurdles	Semifinal[8]	Did not start (left Munich before the semifinal)
Dan Alon	Fencing	Men's foil	Second round	W5–L5 (1R 3-2, 2R 2-3)[9]
Yehuda Weissenstein	Fencing	Men's foil	Second round	W2–L8 (1R 2-3, 2R 0-5)[9]
Yair Michaeli	Sailing	Flying Dutchman	23	28-22-22-19-25-19-DNS = 171 pts (left Kiel before 7th race)[10]
Itzhak Nir
Henry Hershkowitz	Shooting	50 metre rifle prone	23	593/600[11]
		50 metre rifle three positions	46	1114/1200[12]
Zelig Shtroch	Shooting	50 metre rifle prone	57	589/600[11]
Shlomit Nir	Swimming	Women's 100 m breaststroke	Heats (8th)	1:20.90[13]
		Women's 200 m breaststroke	Heats (6th)	2:53.60[13]
David Berger	Weightlifting	Light-heavyweight <82.5 kg	—	J:132.5 C:122.5 S:— T:—[14]
Ze'ev Friedman	Weightlifting	Bantamweight <56 kg	12	J:102.5 C:102.5 S:125 T:330 [15]
Yossef Romano	Weightlifting	Middleweight <75 kg	—	Retired injured on third attempt to press 137.5 kg[14]
Gad Tsobari	Wrestling	Freestyle — Light Flyweight <48 kg	Group stage	0W–2L[16]
Eliezer Halfin	Wrestling	Freestyle — Lightweight <68 kg	Group stage	1W–2L[17]
Mark Slavin	Wrestling	Greco-Roman — Middleweight <82 kg	—	Did not start (taken hostage before his scheduled event)

Referees

The following nominated referees and judges were in the delegation:^[18]

• Yossef Gutfreund — wrestling
• Yakov Springer – weightlifting

Coaches and officials

The following coaches and officials were in the delegation:^[19]

• Shmuel Lalkin — Chef De Mission
• Micha Shamban — presumably deputy of Chef De Mission
• Eliyahu Friedlender - sailing team manager
• Amitzur Shapira — athletics coach
• Kehat Shorr — shooting coach
• Tuvia Sokolovsky — weightlifting coach^[20]
• Andre Spitzer — fencing coach
• Moshe Weinberg — wrestling coach
• Itzhac Aldubi - chairman of ASA (Academic Sport Association)
• Werner Nachmann
• Duel Parrack
• Josef Szwec
• Kurt Weigl