Three Seconds in Munich: The Controversial 1972 Olympic Basketball Final

By: David A. F. Sweet

Narrated by: Jeff Lechtanski

One. Two. Three.

That’s as long as it took to sear the souls of a dozen young American men, thanks to the craziest, most controversial finish in the history of the Olympics - the 1972 gold-medal basketball contest between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the world’s two superpowers at the time.

The U.S. team believed it had won the gold medal that September in Munich - not once, but twice. But it was the third time the final seconds were played that counted.

What happened? The head of international basketball - flouting rules he himself had created - trotted onto the court and demanded twice that time be put back on the clock. A referee allowed an illegal substitution and an illegal free-throw shooter for the Soviets while calling a slew of late fouls on the U.S. players. The American players became the only Olympic athletes in the history of the games to refuse their medals.

Of course, the 1972 Olympics are remembered primarily for a far graver matter, when eleven Israeli team members were killed by Palestinian terrorists, stunning the world and temporarily stopping the games.

Through interviews with many of the American players and others, the author relates the horror of terrorism and the pain of losing the most controversial championship game in sports history to a hated rival.

The book is published by University of Nebraska Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

©2019 David A. F. Sweet (P)2020 Redwood Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Sweet's excellent reporting sheds light on a controversial, nearly forgotten Olympic decision." (Publishers Weekly)

“Captures the spirit of the most controversial game in Olympic history...” (Tom McMillen, U.S. player on the 1972 team and former U.S. Congressman)

“Meticulously researched and engagingly written...brings a turbulent period thrillingly back to life.” (E. M. Swift, former writer for Sports Illustrated)

We were robbed

This was about the 1972 Olympic gold medal basketball game that ended with two “do overs” of the final 3 seconds until Russia finally won on the third attempt. The US players, feeling cheated refused their silver medals and have continued to do so for almost 50 years now. Two of the players have also written into their wills that their heirs can’t take them either. That raises some novel legal issues in my mind, but does demonstrate their conviction. The Olympics do have an all or nothing rule. The entire team must take or refuse the medals.

I knew the basic story of the game, but I didn’t know the details. It was nice to learn them and it makes the case that the US was treated unfairly in a very strong way. As an NC State grad, it was also interesting to learn details about ex-NC State player Tommy Burleson that I didn’t know. There were lot of personal things about him but also his connection to the terrorism that took place at the 1972 Olympics. Burleson wound up in the wrong place at the wrong time and was in the parking garage when the terrorists were leaving the Olympic village with their hostages. Armed guards put Burleson on the ground with a gun to his head so that he would not see the terrorists’ faces. An obviously traumatic event that he has lived with ever since.

It was a good book for me because I was already interested in the subject matter. You could tell it was written by an academic instead of a frequenter of the best seller list, however. In certain sections he went into too much detail making his case. The reader wasn’t top level either, but was passable.