Munich – 1972

To say I was naïve as the youngest male on the U.S. Olympic track team would be a colossal understatement.  At the tender age of 18, and fresh off my first year at UCLA, many felt that I was unprepared mentally or emotionally to realize my dream of competing in the Olympic Games.

Having said that, I knew I was physically prepared and I won the Olympic Trials in one of the most enjoyable competitions of my career. In the process I set a world record for my age of 7’3” (2.21m), stamping myself as a medal favorite.

These Games were ruined forever when the militant Palestinian group “Black September” managed to sneak a dozen of their murderers into the Olympic Village and hold members of the Israeli team hostage.  After a standoff of a couple days all the Israelis and most of the hostage takers were killed in a conflagration at a military airbase on the outskirts of the city.  The sanctity of the Olympic Games had been compromised permanently and athletes like me, who still had their competitions ahead of them, were forced into an impossible decision.

It was as if the whole world had stopped when the horrific news began to filter through the athlete’s village.  Attempting to decipher the reports from German Television was frustrating, but the images they broadcast said it all.  The number one question amongst the athletes was, “Should the Games go on?”

As we all know, the Games were permitted to continue with one day of mourning at which time everyone attempted to get back into the spirit of the competition.

I had been picked for 10^th place by the American “experts” but projected for a silver medal by the host Germans.  The Germans were closer to right when I matched my personal best height of 7’3” (2.21m) in the final and earned a bronze medal.  My inexperience and joy at achieving the goal of an Olympic medal probably conspired to prevent me from becoming Olympic champion.