Decathlon, Men

The favorite in 1972 was likely East German Joachim Kirst, who had won the 1969 and 1971 European Championships. The decathletes in 1972 were unfortunate as they had to re-open the Olympics, the morning after the postponement to mourn the murder of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches. Kirst led after the first day, but hit the third hurdle in the 110 and fell, dropping out. Soviet Nikolay Avilov won the hurdles in 14.31 and took a commanding lead in the competition. As the 1,500 started the only suspense was if Avilov could break Bill Toomey’s world record 8,417 points. Avilov ran 4:22.8 to set a world record with 8,454. In his book, The Decathlon, Frank Zarnowski noted the irony of this victory, “The decathlon award ceremony was an ironic moment in sports history as it was held the very evening Jews celebrate the new year. Sundown, September 8, 1972, ushered in the Hebrew year 5733. Observers of Rosh Hashanah both mourned the slaughter of 11 Israeli athletes and officials and applauded the victory of Nikolay Avilov, a Soviet Jew.”