Mark SPITZ - Olympic Swimming | United States of America Mark SPITZ Olympic Games 1968 , 1972 Mark Spitz is one of the greatest swimmers of all time. He won seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Games. Prediction backfires American Mark Spitz had brashly predicted that he would win six gold medals at the 1968 Mexico City Games. Although he did take home two gold medals from the relays, he performed well below expectations in his individual races. He was third in the 100m freestyle, second in the 100m butterfly and last in the final of the 200m butterfly. Seven golds At the 1972 Munich Games, Spitz was determined to make up for his below-par performances four years earlier. He did not disappoint. Over a period of eight days, Mark Spitz entered seven events, won all seven and set a world record in every one. Long-lasting record Mark Spitz held the record for most gold medals won at a single Olympic Games for 36 years. It was finally broken by American phenomenon Michael Phelps who won eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games.

50 stunning Olympic moments No37: Mark Spitz wins seven swimming golds | Sport | The Guardian 50 stunning Olympic moments 50 stunning Olympic moments No37: Mark Spitz wins seven swimming golds Chastened by past failure and buoyed by a huge ego, Mark Spitz won seven gold medals, all in world record times, at the Munich Games – then had to flee home the day after his last swim Friday 8 June 2012 04.01 EDT First published on Friday 8 June 2012 04.01 EDT Share on Messenger Close His coach rated him “the best all-round swimmer in the world” and hoped at one stage that he might win as many as eight Olympic medals. Mark Spitz’s own opinion of himself was only slightly lower, and he told the world that he expected six. “I analyse my status in each race objectively,” he said in the build-up to the Games.

“If I know I’m the best and feel it, and people then think I’m cocky, there’s nothing I can do about it.” Spitz takes seventh Olympic gold in Munich: from the archive, 5 September 1972 Read more It was 1968. Spitz went to Mexico and failed to win a single individual race, suffering the ignominy of coming last in the 200m butterfly final. Though it was not without success – he was in a couple of gold-medal-winning relay teams – his first Olympic experience was a chastening one. Spitz called it “the worst meet of my life”. Any number of reasons were suggested: a cold had delayed the start of his altitude training; he had suffered antisemitic abuse, much of it from his own team-mates; at 18 he was immature and overly self-obsessed; his schedule had been hopelessly overcrowded. Spitz certainly turned against his long-time coach, George Haines, for pushing him a little too far and for treating him “the same way as I had been when I was 14”.

He promptly joined Indiana University, where James “Doc” Counsilman had assembled perhaps the country’s best swimming team. Four years later he insisted he was “older and more mature”. “He was a little boy before,” said Sherm Chavoor, his childhood coach. “He has become a man.” That much was physically evident, not just in his more developed musculature but on his upper lip, upon which rested a soon-to-be-famous moustache, grown “because a coach in college said I couldn’t grow one” and kept as a portable lucky mascot after his success at the US trials. Translating this maturity into greater popularity proved problematic. In Munich Spitz told reporters: “Now that I’m a veteran, people have learned to accept me the way I am,” which was true up to a point. “He came across egotistical and he’s really not that way,” his room-mate, Gary Hall, said. “Mark’s driving force was to be a winner.” But others found the rough edges harder to live with.

One swimmer, asked to sum up his feelings at the end of the Games, said: “It could have happened to a nicer guy.” One of his contemporaries in Indiana described Spitz as being “born without tact or compassion”, and examples of this abounded. When he was asked how it felt, as a Jew, to be so successful on German soil, he answered: “I always liked this country – even though this lampshade is probably made out of one of my aunts.” Spitz’s first final in Munich was the 200m butterfly, the event which saw his greatest humiliation four years earlier. This time he destroyed his opponents, finishing more than two seconds ahead of Hall, the runner-up, and breaking the world record. “I did remember what happened in Mexico, and I was a little nervous,” he said. “But I’m a lot stronger than I was then.” Half an hour later he anchored the 4x100m freestyle relay team to gold, also in world record time. It had begun. In the 200m freestyle final Spitz faced Steve Genter, who a week earlier had been hospitalised after suffering a partially collapsed lung.

When a journalist asked Spitz what he felt about that incident, he replied: “This may sound terrible, but now I don’t have to worry about him.” It turned out, though, that he did, after Genter made a surprisingly swift recovery. Spitz spent much of the two days preceding the race telling him that he should pull out for the sake of his health. As a result, by the time the race began Genter was furious – and by the time it ended, Spitz beating him into second place with a superpowered finish, he was positively apoplectic. “I just don’t believe in this guy at all,” he raged. “Nothing would have pleased me more than to beat him. But I just couldn’t do it.” On 30 August Spitz won the 100m butterfly, and 40 minutes later anchored the 4x200m freestyle relay team to victory. His fifth gold equalled the number won by the Italian fencer Nedo Nadi in 1920, and by Paavo Nurmi in Paris four years later – until that point the most any individual had won in a single Games.

“You could say I am very thrilled at what I accomplished,” he said. And with that, it very nearly ended. After he finished celebrating victory in the 4x100m freestyle medley a few days earlier, Spitz had noticed that one of his team-mates, Jerry Heidenreich, had posted a faster split, 50.8sec to his own 50.9. His next event was the 100m freestyle. What if Heidenreich beat him? One of his father’s favourite phrases was “Swimming isn’t everything – winning is”, and Spitz could not have been less interested in a silver medal. “I’d rather win six out of six, or even four out of four, than six out of seven,” he said. “It’s reached a point where my self-esteem comes into it. I just don’t want to lose.” He told this to Chavoor, in Munich as coach of the women’s team. “If you chicken out of the 100 free, nobody’s going to care about your six gold medals,” his old coach replied.

“All they will remember is that you chickened out of the world’s fastest human race.” Heidenreich and Spitz had developed a rivalry that served to improve both men as athletes. “In a way he always gave me something to chase and I always helped push him,” Heidenreich said in 1992. Spitz finished only second in both of his heats, but when it mattered he beat Heidenreich fairly comfortably, if only by 0.41sec. The following evening the pair combined over the last two legs of the 4x100m medley relay, Spitz diving into the pool with the US team level with East Germany and passing over to Heidenreich two metres clear. The result, as in every one of Spitz’s Munich finals, was a new world record. After the victory ceremony he was hoisted aloft and carried around the pool by the remainder of the relay squad. “That picture with my team-mates holding me high above them I enjoy more than the one that was taken with the seven gold medals around my neck,” he said.

“Having a tribute from your team-mates is a feeling that can never be duplicated.” Heidenreich left Munich with two gold medals, one silver and a bronze, and became consumed by bitterness at Spitz’s comparative fame and financial success. He committed suicide in 2002, aged 52. “There is always somebody that makes somebody great,” Spitz said after his death. “And Jerry Heidenreich was the reason I was great.” His final race at those Games had been held on 4 September. Spitz celebrated his historic achievement in understated style that night, going for dinner with a few journalists. The following morning he woke, dressed and walked to the media centre, where he was scheduled to hold a press conference. “Did you hear what happened?” one journalist asked when he arrived. “Yeah, I won seven gold medals,” he replied. But few people were talking about Spitz on the morning of 5 September; during the night a group of Black September terrorists had broken into the athletes’ village and found a grim new way to make headlines . Already two Israelis were dead, and nine more were to follow.

Officials decided that Spitz, the most famous face of the Games and a Jew to boot, was also at risk, and at the end of the press conference he was allocated six armed guards. He had been due to travel to Stuttgart that afternoon to be presented with a Mercedes; instead he was put on the first flight to London, where the following day he posed for a photographer wearing nothing but his swimming trunks and seven gold medals (the resulting picture was turned into one of the biggest-selling posters in American history, shifting over one million units; Spitz got 15 cents a time). “Here we were 27 years after the end of World War II and there were still madmen killing Jews because they were Jews,” he later said. “I was hardly in the mood to do that poster but we went to a studio and shot it anyway.” By the end of the following day he was back in America. “On Tuesday morning I learned the Israelis had been taken hostage, by Tuesday night I was in London, and on Wednesday I was in Sacramento, sitting in my living room like Johnny Lunchbucket, watching the Olympics on TV as if I had never been there,” he said.

“The only difference was I had two secret service guards for a week outside my home.” Spitz retired immediately. “There is something very depressing about being the best in the world at something,” he said later. “I was programmed for all those years. I swam two and a half hours in the morning and two in the evening, maybe seven miles a day for six years, and during all those hours I’d think about getting out of the pool at the end of the session and how pleasant that was going to be. I loved to think about getting out.” His final race had been one of the hottest tickets in the Olympics, and among the stars who turned up to watch was the actor Johnny Weissmuller, who had won five gold medals in the pool at the 1924 and 1928 Games before making his name playing Tarzan in a series of films. Another gold-medal-winning American swimmer, Buster Crabbe, had taken a similar route to Hollywood, eventually taking over the role of Tarzan from Weissmuller. Now Spitz, who had arrived in Munich planning a future career in dentistry, was suddenly fending off offers of movie parts.

“One thing’s for sure,” he said, “I don’t want to end up like Johnny Weissmuller and Buster Crabbe.” And true enough, he didn’t. “We feel that Mark Spitz will have a major motion picture career,” his agent, Norman Brokaw, announced after the Games. “I can see him playing the leading man in anything he does, perhaps a romantic lead. He’s got all the qualities we want to become a major star.” All, that is, except acting ability. His first screen appearance was as a dentist in a skit on the Bob Hope show, for which he was derided for his wooden delivery. He defended his performance, insisting: “Not even Laurence Olivier could have done anything with the material I had.” All the same, the movie offers dried up. But there was still money to be made. Within months of the Games Spitz was advertising milk, swimming pools and electric shavers, and working on his own ranges of swimwear and leisurewear. He earned $6m over his first two years out of the pool. “It’s like a game to see how much money I can make,” he said. “It’s just amazing to me.

I thought I’d make enough to pay my way through dental school or something, but I guess I’ve caught on as a symbol or something.” In 1989, after nearly two decades out of the pool, Spitz attempted a comeback, and declared his desire to swim in the Barcelona Olympics. “They’re not going to ask for my medals back if I don’t do well,” he reasoned, and he didn’t. He appeared in two high-profile televised races against Tom Jager and Matt Biondi, lost both and failed to qualify even for the Trials. Four years ago Michael Phelps won eight gold medals in Beijing and consigned Spitz’s record to history. The former champion, raging ego nowhere to be seen, took his relegation stoically. “He is the single greatest Olympic athlete of all time now,” Spitz said. “I always wondered what my feelings would be. I feel a tremendous load off my back.” What the Guardian said Tuesday 5 September 1972 Mark Spitz last night crowned his Olympic feats by winning his seventh gold medal of the Games and setting a record that may never be beaten.

Spitz, aged 22, made his farewell appearance by swimming the butterfly leg of the 4x100 metres medley relay and helping the United States team to win in a world record time of 3min 48.2sec. Elaine Tanner: one athlete's 40-year recovery from Olympic heartbreak Read more All his seven gold medal swims have been in world record times, and he now intends to “take some time off”. Spitz said after the race that he “couldn’t wait to get out of that pool”. He added: “All the way down that last lap of the pool, I kept saying to myself, ‘Just a few more strokes, and it will be over.’ Then when I reached the wall, I just went up and over it, instead of swimming to the side of the pool as the other fellows did.” Spitz, who remarked on Sunday after winning his sixth gold medal that he was not sure that he would again go through all the toll which the performance required, said that he wanted to “go into seclusion for a while”.

He said: “I may postpone the completion of my education a little bit.” The seven events which brought Spitz his gold medals, all in world record times, were: 100 metres freestyle, 51.2sec.; 200 metres freestyle, 1min 52.8sec.; 100 metres butterfly, 54.3sec.; 200 metres butterfly, 2min 00.7sec.; 4 x 100 freestyle relay, 3min 26.4sec.; 4 x 200 freestyle relay, 7min 35.8 sec.; 4 x 100 medley relay, 3min 48.2sec. Mark Spitz Bio, Stats, and Results | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com Medals: 9 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze (11 Total) Biography After five gold medals at the 1967 Pan American Games, great things were expected of Mark Spitz at the 1968 Olympics, but he surprisingly failed to win an individual event.

Before the 1972 Olympics, however, Spitz became undoubtedly the world's greatest swimmer, and considered by many the greatest ever. In 1971 he became the first swimmer to win four individual AAU titles at one meet, setting three world records in the process. The next week, at a meet in East Germany, he won all four events again, this time breaking all four world records. The performance made him an overwhelming choice for the 1971 Sullivan Award. At the 1972 Olympics, Spitz set an Olympic record by winning seven gold medals, all of them in world-record time, the seven gold medals broken only in 2008 by [Michael Phelps]. Overall, he won 24 AAU championships, eight NCAA titles (while at Indiana University), and set 32 world records. After the 1972 Olympics he capitalized on his fame through various commercial interests, and invested heavily in California real estate.

He returned to competition in 1991 with the aim of making the Olympic team the following year but, as he was over 40 years of age, it was a forlorn hope and an unfortunate end to a career of unrivaled achievements. Results Mark Spitz Wins 7 Olympic Gold Medals Mark Spitz Wins 7 Olympic Gold Medals by christopher-mahoney Mark Spitz is by far one of the most accomplished swimmers in American history. In his career, Spitz won five Pan American golds, 31 US Amateur Athletic Union titles, eight US national Collegiate Athletic Association titles and set 33 world records. Mark was named World Simmer of the Year in 1969, 1971 and 1972, but his most glorious accomplishment came in the 1972 Olympic games. On this day, September 4th, in 1972, Mark Spitz became the first ever athlete to win 7 Olympic gold medals. Not only did Spitz win 7 gold medals in the Munich games, but he also set a record in all seven of the events.

Spitz’s medals/records came in the 100 m freestyle, 200 m freestyle, the 100 m butterfly, 200 m butterfly, 4 x 100 m freestyle relay, 4 x 200 m freestyle relay, and the 4 x 100 m medley relay. Sptiz gold medal record was untouched for more than three decades and was only finally passed by Michael Phelps at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. To date, there are only four other Olympic athletes in history to win nine or more career gold medals. Today’s History Mark Spitz - Swimmer, Athlete - Biography.com Mark Spitz American swimmer Mark Spitz set a world record at the 1972 Olympic Games, when he won seven gold medals across individual and team events. IN THESE GROUPS Famous People Born in 1950 Synopsis Born in Modesto, California in 1950, Mark Spitz swam competitively in college for Indiana University before training for the Olympics.

Spitz competed at both the 1968 and 1972 Olympic Games, and in 1972, he set a world record for the most gold medals received during a single Olympic Games. He won seven gold medals that year, across individual and team events. Spitz's record was broken by American swimmer Michael Phelps at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, held in Beijing; Phelps won eight gold medals in 2008 and continues to hold the record for most gold medals won in a single Olympics, as well as the record for the most Olympic medals won. Early Years and Competitions Mark Andrew Spitz was born into a Jewish family in Modesto, California, on February 10, 1950. After moving to Hawaii at age 2, he learned how to swim from his father, Arnold. The young Spitz took to the water like a fish, swimming nearly every day at Waikiki Beach. The family returned to California after four years in Hawaii, and Spitz soon began competitive swimming. By age 9, he was training at the Arden Hills Swim Club in Sacramento under Sherm Chavoor, a famed instructor who would become a lifelong mentor.

At 10, Spitz was already on track for Olympic success. He held 17 national age-group records and one world mark, and was named the world’s best 10-and-under swimmer. Spitz won the first of 24 AAU titles in 1966, and the following year he captured five gold medals at the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg, Canada. Olympic Stardom Spitz entered the 1968 Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City brimming with confidence, even going so far as to predict he’d win six gold medals. He did win two golds, but both came in team events; he collected a silver in the 100-meter butterfly and bronze in the 100-meter freestyle. Following the disappointment in Mexico City, Spitz enrolled at Indiana University. He earned a pre-dental degree and brought a renewed focus to his swimming, racking up more first-place finishes and additional world records. Spitz was better prepared for the competition at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, West Germany, and this time he lived up to his lofty standards.

Wearing what would become the Games’ most famous mustache, Spitz claimed a record seven gold medals across individual and team competitions, with all seven times setting world records. Not everybody was thrilled with his success, however, as the swimmer irritated both teammates and opponents with his cockiness. Spitz’s triumphs became a sidebar in the wake of the kidnapping and murder of 11 Israeli Olympic team members by Palestinian terrorists. With officials concerned for the safety of Spitz, he was quickly escorted out of West Germany before the close of the Olympics. Post-Olympic and Personal Life Just days after the Munich Games, Spitz announced his retirement. But instead of going to dental school and fading from memory, he managed to leverage his success into lucrative commercial opportunities. In 1973, he married a UCLA theater student and part-time model named Suzy Weiner, with whom he had two sons. Spitz had earned $6 million through endorsements and other deals by 1974. However, a strong push to make it in Hollywood never panned out, as the swimming great was criticized for his acting ability. Spitz eventually settled into life in Los Angeles and started a successful real estate company in Beverly Hills.

He also became a popular motivational speaker. In the early 1990s, Spitz attempted to make a comeback by competing for a spot on the U.S. Olympic swimming team, but he failed to qualify. His seven golds in a single Olympics remained a record until 2008, when American swimmer Michael Phelps surpassed him by winning eight events. Fact Check We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us ! Citation Information ESPN.com: Spitz lived up to enormous expectations Spitz lived up to enormous expectations By M.B. Roberts Special to ESPN.com Mark Spitz, considered the swiftest swimmer of all time, made his big splash during the 1972 Olympics, becoming the first athlete to win seven gold medals in an Olympiad. His performances were even more remarkable considering world records were set in all seven events. Mark Spitz nearly mastered swimming's most difficult stroke, the butterfly. Fulfilling all the pre-Olympic hype, he won four individual events -- in the 100- and 200-meter freestyle and 100- and 200-meter butterfly -- and three relay races.

After his Munich triumph, Spitz was bombarded with endorsement offers. He soon came to be known more as a good-looking, mustachioed pitchman than for his signature butterfly stroke. He made some $7 million in two years. Despite the efforts of his agent and public-relations firm, his desired post-Olympics Hollywood career floundered as critics panned Spitz's performances on TV shows and commercials. It seemed he was criticized in his post-Olympic life as much as he was cheered. But controversy was nothing new. It surrounded Spitz almost from the time he plugged his nose and jumped in a pool. He was born on Feb. 10, 1950, in Modesto, Cal. When he was two years old, his family moved to Hawaii, where his father Arnold taught him to swim. After four years in Hawaii, the family returned to California -- Sacramento this time -- and at the YMCA Spitz received his first competitive instruction. At age nine, his dad took him to Arden Hills Swim Club to train under the celebrated Sherm Chavoor, who would be a life-long mentor to Spitz.

Arnold Spitz often told his son, "Swimming isn't everything; winning is." By age 10, Spitz held 17 national age-group and one world record. He was named the world's best 10-and-under swimmer. When he was 14, his father said, "It's now or never." The family moved to Santa Clara so Spitz could train with George Haines of the famed Santa Clara Swim Club, despite Arnold having to commute more than 80 miles to work each day. Spitz continued to excel, especially in swimming's most difficult stroke: the butterfly. At 16, he won the 100-meter butterfly at the National AAU Championships, the first of his 24 AAU titles. The next year, 1967, he won five gold medals at the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg. He was expected to win several individual gold medals at the 1968 Olympics, having already set 10 world records. The controversy came when Spitz himself, sounding brash and cocky, predicted he would win six golds. He did not.

In Mexico City, Spitz won two team golds -- in the 4 x 100 and 4 x 200-meter freestyle relays -- and two individual medals, silver in the 100-meter butterfly and bronze in the 100-meter freestyle. What would have been a triumph to most was a disappointment to Spitz. He re-dedicated himself to swimming, and left for Indiana University to train with legendary coach Doc Counsilman, who was also his coach in Mexico City. A pre-dental student, Spitz continued to accumulate awards, medals and world records in swimming. He won eight individual NCAA titles. In 1971, he won the Sullivan Award as the country's top amateur athlete. He was named World Swimmer of the Year in 1969, 1971 and 1972. In 1972, after graduating from Indiana, he was prepared for the Olympics. His first race in Munich was the 200-meter butterfly. When Spitz touched the wall to win in 2:00.7, he leaped out of the water, his arms held high.

Even more exciting, though, was his next event: the 200-meter freestyle. Spitz won in 1:52.78, defeating his teammate, Steve Genter, who had been released from the hospital only the day before following surgery for a collapsed lung. Later, on the medal stand, Spitz arrived barefoot, carrying his shoes. He dropped them to the side while "The Star Spangled Banner" played. Then he reached down to pick up his shoes and waved them to the cheering crowd. The Soviets accused him of blatant commercialism. Maintaining the gesture was innocent, the shoes were old and he wasn't paid, Spitz was cleared by an IOC committee. ZONE POLL He shook off the medal-stand incident and won his next event, the 100-meter butterfly (his favorite), by a full body length in 54.27 seconds. But controversy returned when Spitz was rumored to be pulling out of the 100 freestyle. Despite fears that teammate Jerry Heidenreich could spoil his gold-medal sweep, Spitz did race. He won the gold, finishing a half-stroke ahead of Heidenreich in 51:22 seconds.

Spitz's three team golds came in the 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay (3:26:42), the 4 x 200-meter freestyle relay (7:35.78) and the 4 x 100-meter medley relay (3:48.16). Then tragedy struck. At 4:30 a.m. September 5, Palestinian terrorists broke into the athletes' compound, killing two members of the Israeli delegation and taking nine others hostage. Spitz, who had won his final medal only hours earlier, lay sleeping nearby. In the morning Spitz attended a press conference, flanked by coaches and German police. "I think the murders in the village are very tragic," he said. "I have no further comment." Spitz, who is Jewish, was understandably nervous. He left for London immediately, before the closing ceremonies. Spitz was criticized for discussing his movie career while the nine hostages were still held. (Tragically, they were killed in an attempted rescue). Despite some negative press, Spitz received a hero's welcome at home. He quit swimming, shelved plans for dental school and sorted through his numerous endorsement offers.

His agent said Spitz was the greatest hero since Lindbergh and one of two people whose name everyone in the U.S. knew (the other being President Nixon). He signed Spitz as a spokesperson for the Schick Company, the California Milk Advisory Board, adidas, Speedo and countless other companies making everything from swimming pools to men's underwear. A poster featuring Spitz wearing his swimsuit and seven gold medals made him the hottest pin-up since Betty Grable. Despite worldwide female admiration, Spitz called and began dating the daughter of one of his father's business acquaintances after seeing her picture. Less than a year after Munich, Spitz and Suzy Weiner, a UCLA theater student and part-time model, were married. His showbiz career was not so storybook. Spitz's performances on a Bob Hope special, Sonny & Cher, Johnny Carson and many others were bland. Hollywood quit calling. Even commercial clients backed off. He continued as a broadcaster for some time, but within a few years, he had all but vanished as a public figure. Spitz amused himself with his new hobby: sailing. He eventually began a successful real-estate company in Beverly Hills.

People always asked him, "Do you still swim?" Remarkably, the answer most of the time was "no." But in 1989 at age 39, at 6-foot-1 and 182 pounds (eight pounds heavier and 17 years older than in 1972), he began training for the 1992 Olympic Trials. His event was the 100-meter butterfly. Although his 1972 records had long been broken, he was encouraged because he had beaten then-record holder Rowdy Gaines in a series of races in 1984. In 1991, a mustache-less Spitz raced Olympians Tom Jager and Matt Biondi in separate 50-meter butterfly races on ABC's Wide World of Sports. Spitz lost both. He also failed to qualify for the 1992 Olympics. His best time was 58:03; he needed 55:59. Spitz still lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two sons. He enjoys sailing and traveling. Having given up his real-estate business, he considers himself an "entrepreneur" and continues to do promotional work.

Michael PHELPS - Olympic Swimming | United States of America Michael PHELPS Olympic Games 2000 , 2004 , 2008 , 2012 , 2016 Michael Phelps is the most decorated Olympian in history. The American swimmer ended his career after his fifth Games, in Rio in 2016, where at the age of 31 he won a further five gold medals and a silver, taking his tally to 23 Olympic titles and 28 medals! A record unlikely to be beaten any time soon. Diagnosed with Attention Deficit disorder, Phelps was directed towards swimming in 1992 at the age of just seven in order to provide him with an outlet for his unbounded energy. After that, his transformation into an unbeatable swimmer appeared inexorable, and he broke record after record as he rose through the age categories. The Baltimore Bullet’s first Olympic appearance came in 2000 in Sydney when he was chosen for the US swim team at the age of just 15 – the youngest American swimmer selected for a Games in almost 70 years.

He failed to win a medal in Australia but it was clear that Sydney was just a learning experience and this was to prove no setback. A year later Phelps became the youngest male swimmer to break a world record with a win in the 400m freestyle at the 2001 World Aquatics Championship – a taste of future glory. The next two years saw Phelps amass a haul of gold and silver medals at international swim meets and break numerous world records in the 200m and 400m individual medley races. His tally at the 2003 World Aquatic Championship of four golds and two silvers, along with five world records, set the scene for a thrilling performance at the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece. Phelps did not disappoint. In his first event, the 400-meter individual medley, hewon with a world record time of 4:08.26 to take his first Olympic gold medal.

Though he lost out to Ian Thorpe in the 200m freestyle, the so-called “Race of the Century”, the following days saw the young American scoop gold in the 200m butterfly, the 4x200 freestyle relay, the 100m butterfly and the 4x100m medley. Six gold and two bronze medals meant Phelps had achieved the second-best performance at an Olympics Games – he was second only to the legendary swimmer of 1972, Mark Spitz. Phelps’ home town duly named a street in his honour – The Michael Phelps Way. The Beijing masterstroke Come Beijing in 2008, following four years in which he won 17 World Championship gold medals, Phelps broke Spitz’s long-standing record. He won his eighth Olympic gold medal in the 4x100m medley relay – setting a new world record for good measure – with a little inspiration from Australian rival Ian Thorpe, who earlier declared such an achievement impossible. Phelps took note and stuck Thorpe’s statement on his locker.

By the time London 2012 came round Phelps was, like Usain Bolt, a global star – a brand in his own right – and had even set up a foundation in his own name to promote healthy living and fitness for children. Having earlier announced his retirement, the world waited with bated breath to see if The Flying Fish could become the most decorated Olympian of all time. Despite some shocks at the Aquatics Centre – coming fourth in the 4x100m individual medley behind rising star Ryan Lochte and finishing second to Chad Le Clos of South Africa in the 200m butterfly – Phelps duly obliged. A gold medal in the 4x200m freestyle relay, added to his 200m butterfly silver earlier that day, meant he had now surpassed Soviet-era gymnast Larisa Latynina’s record of 18 Olympic medals. He went on to win his fifth 200m individual medley gold – a competition record – and secure another first in what he said was his last-ever individual race, the 200m butterfly.

Phelps rounded off his career in style as part of the winning USA team in the 4x100m medley relay, in front of an ecstatic crowd. It’s not clear what the Michael Phelps way will be from this point on, but with 22 Games medals to his name, including an astonishing 18 golds, his record as the most decorated Olympian of all time seems likely to last for at least the rest of his retirement. Retirement and a victorious comeback Phelps then announced that he was retiring. But the competition virus never left him, driving him to start training again in April 2014, with a view to competing at the Games in Rio. He cleared the first hurdle easily, at the US trials in Omaha at the end of June 2016, where the man who was already the most successful Olympian of all time celebrated his 31st birthday by qualifying brilliantly for three individual distances and three relays. Thus did Michael Phelps find himself back in action at the Olympic Aquatics Centre in Barra de Tijuca.

On 7 August, he played a decisive role in the second leg of the 4x100m freestyle relay, which saw the USA beat France and Australia. That made 19! On 9 August, Bob Bowman’s pupil won two new victories in the space of an hour: the 200m butterfly for the third time (after 2004 and 2008), and the 4x200m freestyle relay with the USA for the fourth time. So 20! And then 21! After the relay, he received a well-deserved ovation from the audience in the Olympic venue. Emerging from the water, Phelps sat on his starting block, shattered but satisfied. Aware of having become, in the space of an hour, one of the heroes of the Rio Games. Better and better: on 11 August, Michel Phelps equalled the record of his compatriots, discus thrower Al Oerter and long jumper Carl Lewis, the only Olympians to win four consecutive victories in the same individual discipline, by winning the 200m medley for the fourth consecutive time. That made it 22!

“This all started and began with one little dream as a kid to change the sport of swimming, try to do something nobody has ever done”, he said. The next day, he finished as joint silver medallist with his favourite rivals Chad Le Clos and Laszlo Cseh, behind the young swimmer from Singapore, Joseph Schooling, in the 100m butterfly. “Chad and I have raced each other quite a few times in the last four years, and as for Laszlo and me... I can’t even remember the first time we competed against each other”, was his reaction. “So it’s kind of special, and a great way for me to finish my last individual race.” So 27 medals! The end came on 13 August, with a highly appropriate team victory! The US won the 4x100m medley, with Phelps making a brilliant contribution with his two lengths of butterfly. And a final total of 23 titles and 28 medals! “Being able to close the door on this sport how I wanted to — that’s why I’m happy now”, Phelps said after winning five more Olympic gold medals and a silver, in the Carioca pool.

“I was a little kid with a dream, which turned into a couple of medals. Just being able to finish this way is special because now I’m able to start the next chapter in my life.” Mark Andrew Spitz facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Mark Andrew Spitz American swimmer D uring the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich , West Germany , young American swimmer Mark Spitz won seven gold medals, the most by any individual in any Olympiad, and set as many world records. Spitz, a detailed strategist in and out of the water, was named 1972 World Swimmer of the Year. He over-came his share of disappointment and even tragedy, which may have made him an even stronger competitor. Three decades later, he continues to be a booster for his sport. "Swimming Isn't Everything" As soon as he began walking, Mark Spitz began to swim. At age two, his parents, Lenore and Arnold Spitz, moved to Honolulu , Hawaii , where Arnold Spitz, an executive with a steel company, had been transferred. He swam daily at Waikiki Beach.

"You should have seen that little boy dash into the ocean," his mother later told a Time magazine reporter. Soon, with strong encouragement from his family, Spitz was swimming competitively. Having returned to his native California at age six, he began his formal training at the Sacramento YMCA. Three years later, Arnold Spitz took his precocious son to the Arden Hills Swim Club to train with Sherm Chavoor, who would remain a mentor for many years. By age ten, Spitz had won 17 age-group events. That year, Spitz had a scheduling problem when his after-school swim workout conflicted with Hebrew school. His father intervened and told the rabbi, "Even God likes a winner." The family relocated to Santa Clara so that, despite an 80-mile commute for his father, Spitz could train with the celebrated George Haines at the Santa Clara Swim Club. "Swimming isn't everything," his father used to tell his son, "winning is." In 1965, the teenager entered his first international competition at the Olympic-style Maccabiah Games in Tel Aviv and won four gold medals.

(Upon his return four years later, he won six more golds.) In 1966, the high school student won the national Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) championships with the 100-meter butterfly. By age 17, Spitz broke his first world record with a time of 4 minutes, 10.6 seconds in the 400-meter freestyle. Full of confidence, Spitz qualified for the 1968 Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City and boasted he would win six medals. He faced bitter disappointment. Not only was he a target of anti-Semitism from some team members, he also failed to meet his own expectations. He won only two golds, both in relay events, though he did take the silver in the 100-meter butterfly and the bronze in the 100-meter freestyle. It was, he told a journalist, "the worst meet of my life." While many athletes would have reveled in medaling at all, for Spitz the event was a disaster. There was little the 18-year-old could do but to brace himself for a comeback, or quit. Glory Days Spitz was no quitter.

Knowing he had a long road ahead, he vowed to commit himself to training with the finest. Recruited by Indiana University in Bloomington, which had one of the nation's most outstanding aquatics program, Spitz enrolled in 1969. A pre-dental student, Spitz worked with working with James "Doc" Counsilman, former national swimming champion, coach, and kinetics researcher. By the time he graduated, Spitz, who had been captain of the Hoosiers, earned World Swimmer of the Year award from Swimming World magazine in 1967, 1971 and 1972. In 1971 he became the first Jewish recipient of the AAU's annual James E. Sullivan Memorial Award for athleticism, leadership, character, and sportsmanship. Spitz won five gold medals at the 1967 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, thirty-one AAU titles, eight National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships (four times in the 100-yard butterfly), and 33 world records. His contact with coaches Chavoor, Haines, and Counsilman, all members of the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Ft.

Lauderdale, Florida , helped Spitz mature as a man and a swimmer. As the 1972 Olympics advanced, Spitz had established himself. Gone was the pretense of 1968 and in its place was a focused competitor—with a mustache. It took four months to grow, but Spitz was proud of it. He had intended to shave his mustache for the Munich Olympics but since he did so well at the trials—he broke the world record in the 200-meter butterfly—he decided the mustache was a "good-luck piece." During a practice swim, Spitz noticed the Soviets photographing him. Asked whether the mustache added unwanted drag to the swimmer. Spitz answered, "No, it actually deflects water from my mouth and allows me to keep my head in a lower position that helps my speed," he later told Newsweek magazine. His answer was pure invention, but the Soviets didn't know that. Suddenly, several Soviet swimmers began sporting mustaches in competition. Another Spitz tactic included changing his usual stroke to a highly inefficient one during practice, so that the spying Soviets might again be thrown off.

When they inquired about his "unconventional" stroke, Spitz again spouted nonsense, this time about how the ungainly stroke actually builds muscle. Prepares Seriously Prior to the athletic events, Spitz spoke to the media and though he was brief, his remarks reflected his newfound seriousness. "I can't devote too much time to you guys," he told the press. "I need the time to psyche myself up." That he did. The first event was the 200-meter butterfly. Spitz won it in a record-breaking 2:00.7. His pure joy launched him from the water and he stood by the poolside, arms raised in victory. That same day, he swam his leg in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay, and though his team took the gold, Spitz was a bit unnerved by teammate Jerry Heidenreich's time, which clocked .12 of a second faster than his. Chronology Inducted into International Swimming Hall of Fame in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, as an honor swimmer 1983 Inducted into U.S.

Olympic Hall of Fame, with first class of inductees Nevertheless, he won gold in his second solo event, the 200-meter freestyle in 1:52.78, though it ignited controversy from the Soviet contingent. The brouhaha began when Spitz stood barefoot on the medal stand, shoes in hand. During the national anthem, he dropped his shoes by his side, only to retrieve them and wave them to the applauding audience. The Soviets complained to the International Olympic Committee, charging Spitz with promoting a commercial product. Spitz defended himself by saying the gesture was completely spontaneous, the shoes were old, and he was receiving no financial reward. Spitz was cleared and concentrated on the next event, the 100-meter butterfly, his favorite. He won it by a full body length in a record 54.27 seconds. After the 4x200-meter freestyle relay, which brought yet another gold for the Americans, the swimmer got cold feet. Spitz had so far swum a perfect Olympics, winning gold in all five events.

With two more events to go and a case of nerves, Spitz contacted his former coach, Sherm Chavoor, who was in Munich with the American women's team. Concerned about both saving his strength for the 4x100-meter medley relay, and haunted by Heidenreich's performance in the 400-meter relay, Spitz asked Chavoor whether he ought to duck out of the next event, the 100-meter freestyle. The coach urged Spitz to compete, and warned that sitting out the race would look as though he had lost his competitive edge. In a later interview, Spitz told journalists, "I just tried to keep my cool and continue with my race plan: to win." Spitz proved unpredictable to his competitors in the 100-meter freestyle as he swam the first lap at full strength, being the first to touch the wall in 24.56 seconds. During the semifinal heat, he had stayed behind, finishing after Australia 's defending champion Michael Wenden and Heidenreich. But during the final it was a completely different race.

Though he lost his rhythm during the second lap, Spitz continued charging ahead to beat Heidenreich by half a stroke, winning the event in 51.22, shaving his own world record by .25 seconds. The final event was the 4 × 100-meter relay. For Spitz, as a member of the American team, this would be the final hurdle in a bid to make a clean, unprecedented sweep of Olympic gold. On September 4, 1972, Spitz, in the Munich Schwimhalle, won his seventh gold in his seventh event, all of which set world records. Olympic Tragedy The day after Spitz's heroics was even more memorable than the days that preceded it. Early on the morning of September 5, eight Palestinian terrorists invaded the Israeli team headquarters in the Olympic Village, killing two Israeli athletes. Nine Israeli athletes were taken hostage. The terrorists, known as Black September, demanded the release of political prisoners. As the world watched the standoff on live television, German authorities took the terrorists and their prisoners to an airfield for a flight out of the country.

But later in the day, a German police rescue attempt failed, ending in the killing of all nine hostages. By 11:30 that morning, a security detail surrounded Spitz, who, as an American Jew, was considered a potential terrorist target. The plans for him to attend various winners' ceremonies throughout Germany were suddenly and secretly changed. "I completely freaked out," he told Phillip Whitten of Swim Info. "Here it was, twenty-seven years after the end of World War II , and there were still madmen killing Jews because they are Jews." Surrounded by six armed guards, Spitz was taken to London for a photo shoot to which he had committed with a German magazine, and then flown home to California, where he expected to begin dental school. When he finally arrived home that Wednesday morning, he watched the Olympic memorial service on television with his two sisters. "The whole thing took on a surreal quality," he told Whitten. "I was in Sacramento, sitting in my living room like Johnny Lunchbucket, watching the Olympics on TV, as if I had never been there.… A few days later I was in temple for a Rosh Hashanah service, sitting next to Governor [Ronald] Reagan.

That's when the significance of the whole sequence of events really hit me." A New Identity The Munich massacre overshadowed Spitz's achievements. The tragedy reverberates today, Spitz, told Whitten in 2002. "The Games have lost a sense of spontaneity. A sense of the whole world coming together in peaceful competition." On a deeply personal level, the events gave Spitz a sense of "responsibility" about publicly identifying himself as a Jew. "I felt an obligation to affirm my ties as a Jew," he added, "and to become educated on the issues so I could speak knowledgeably." Spitz quickly became one of the most familiar faces in America, if not the world. His agent boasted that he was the greatest American hero since aviator Charles Lindbergh. He quit swimming, put his plans for dental school on ice, and sifted through the barrage of endorsement offers. In 1973 he signed a contract with the prestigious William Morris Agency, which was supposed to manage his career as a celebrity. That year, he also married Suzy Weiner, a model and theatre student at the University of California, Los Angeles . The latter move proved more successful than the former.

Spitz became the spokesman for the Schick Company, and his commercials promoting its razors were widely aired. He also represented Adidas, the California Milk Advisory Board, Speedo, and various other companies vending everything from swimming pool accessories to hairdryers and men's underwear. An image of the times, a poster of Spitz wearing his swimsuit and seven gold medals, appeared everywhere from college dorms to locker rooms and sporting goods stores. Spitz also had theatrical aspirations and appeared on television shows with luminaries that included Sonny and Cher, Bob Hope, and Johnny Carson. He made a guest appearance in the series Emergency and got a role as an announcer in the 1985 made-for-television movie Challenge of a Lifetime, starring Penny Marshall. Producers and audiences found Spitz's on-screen persona lackluster. Gradually, advertisers also withdrew from Spitz, saying he was losing his appeal because he endorsed too many products. In addition, public relations executives and agents of the time weren't as savvy about successfully marketing athletes. As a result, Spitz lacked the guidance from his handlers that athletes today receive. In earning a reported $5 million, however, Spitz helped pioneer the lucrative game of athletic endorsements.

One Day in September More than a quarter century after the Munich massacre, when Palestinian terrorists killed 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, director Kevin Macdonald made an award-winning documentary on the subject. Narrated by veteran actor Michael Douglas, the film also featured Ankie Spitzer, widow of Israeli fencing coach Andre Spitzer, and the one surviving terrorist, Jamal Al Gashey. "Macdonald brings remarkable research to the film," wrote film critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times. "His reporting is extraordinary, as he relentlessly builds up a case against the way the Germans and the International Olympic Committee handled the crisis." The film exposed several unsettling facts, such as the utter incompetence of the German police, the participation of Yassir Arafat, and a covert plan by which the Germans released the three surviving terrorists to disown the whole affair. (The Israeli government later assassinated two of these survivors.) One Day in September won many prizes, including the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2000. Where Is He Now? Prior to the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain , Spitz attempted a comeback.

But at age 39 and eight pounds heavier than in 1972, he failed to qualify. At the 1998 World Championships in Perth, Australia, Spitz addressed the problems of drug abuse and athletes, and he continues to make personal appearances at various competitions and sporting events. As a member of the World Sports Academy, he works to bring sports to less fortunate children of the world. Following his retirement, Spitz ventured into motivational speaking, real-estate investment, and swimming-pool design. He recently left real estate to focus on his entrepreneurial work. Spitz lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two sons, Matt and Justin. A veteran sailor, Spitz has often participated in the Trans Pacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu. He swims with the masters team at UCLA. "I squeak, rattle, and roll," Spitz said. "I'm swimming because I love it and because it's the best thing I can do to keep myself healthy. It's something I hope to do for the rest of my life." Self-confident and determined, Mark Spitz became the first swimmer to win seven medals in one Olympiad.

That this victory followed the bitter disappointment and chastening during his first Olympic bid, and that it occurred during the most tragic Olympics of all time make Spitz's triumph that much more inspiring. CONTACT INFORMATION Address: c/o CMG Worldwide, 8560 Sunset Boulevard, 10th Floor Penthouse, West Hollywood, CA 90069. Fax: 317-570-5500. Phone: 310-854-1005. Online: . SELECTED WRITINGS BY SPITZ: Spitz, Mark and Alan LeMond. The Mark Spitz Complete Book of Swimming New York : Crowell, 1976. Seven Golds: Mark Spitz, My Own Story, New York: Doubleday, 1987. FURTHER INFORMATION American Decades CD-ROM, Detroit : Gale Research, 1998. St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. CD-ROM, Detroit: Gale Group, 2002. Periodicals " Cold War at the Pool, Shaking a Leg, in Pantyhose." Newsweek (October 25, 1999): 63.

Ebert, Roger. "One Day in September." Chicago Sun-Times (March 9, 2001). Lowitt, Bruce. "All He Touches Turns to Gold."St. Petersburg Times (November 8, 1999). Meza, Ed. "World Sports Acad. Tees Up Award Noms."Variety (March 19, 2001): 25. Noden, Merrell. "Catching Up with … Swimming Champion Mark Spitz." Sports Illustrated (August 4, 1997): 11. "Olympic Legends Attend Launch of 'Unified Sports Day," Xinuha New Agency (October 25, 1999). "The Way We Were: A Look Back at the Year People Began: Week of July 5-11, 1974. People Weekly (July 5, 1999): 23. Other CMG Worldwide. /(December 29, 2002). Contemporary Authors Online. Gale Group, 2000. Encarta. encarta.msn.com/(December 29, 2002). History Channel.

/(January 4, 2003). Internet Movie Database. (December 30, 2002). Jewishpeople.net. /(January 4, 2003). Jewishsport.com. store.yahoo.net/jewishsport/markspitz.html (January 4, 2003). Jews in Sports. /(January 4, 2003). "Legend Mark Spitz." Swimsport.com, (January 4, 2003). "Munich Massacre Remembered." ABC Online. /(September 5, 2002). "Munich Olympic Victims Remembered." BBC News. news.bbc.co.uk/(August 11, 2002). Sacramento Bee, (December 29, 2002). Swim Info, (December 29, 2002; January 4, 2003). Trans Pacific Yacht Club, (January 9, 2003). Sketch by Jane Summer Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA Mark Spitz - Seven golds - Munich 1972 Olympic Games - YouTube Mark Spitz - Seven golds - Munich 1972 Olympic Games Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Jul 10, 2012 Don't miss out on everything Olympic! Click here for all highlights, behind-the-scenes and more! At the 1972 Munich Games, Spitz was determined to make up for his below-par performances four years earlier at the 1968 Mexico City Games. He did not disappoint. Over a period of eight days, Mark Spitz entered seven events, won all seven and set a world record in every one. Mark Spitz held the record for most gold medals won at a single Olympic Games for 36 years. It was finally broken by American phenomenon Michael Phelps who won eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games. Category

Question: How many gold medals did Mark Spitz win at the 1972 Olympic Games?
Answer: 7