Nymphenburg Palace provides the backdrop for the elegant dressage riders, whose squares have recently been dominated by communists.

Surprisingly, the German team only took second place behind the Soviet Union, because the last rider, Josef Neckermann, founder of Deutsche Sporthilfe, did not collect enough points on Venetia.

Christian Eichler

Sports correspondent in Munich.

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The 60-year-old Neckermann, the oldest German medalist, has made great contributions to German sport, but he is less keen on talking about his beginnings in the SA cavalry squadron and his time profiting from the Aryanization of the Nazi era, when he ran the textile mail-order company of the Jewish merchant Karl Amson Joel, grandfather of musician Billy Joel, took over at a bargain price.

It became the “Josef Neckermann laundry and clothing factory” and later part of the post-war German economic miracle.

World record holder monitors timekeeping

In athletics, 19-year-old Monika Zehrt from Riesa, who will end her career two years later, wins over 400 meters ahead of Rita Wilden from Leverkusen.

In the men's competition, Vincent Matthews and Wayne Collett of the United States go head-to-head in the awards ceremony, acting so provocatively disinterested that the audience boos them.

They explain that they wanted to protest against the social misery of black Americans.

The IOC bans them, after which the Americans no longer have enough runners for the 4 × 400 meter relay.

The 110-meter hurdles was won by Rod Milburn from the United States, who honed his technique until he could sweep upright dimes off the hurdles without knocking them over.

With electronic measurement, he equalized the hand-timed world record of Martin Lauer - who monitors all this closely because he is responsible for timekeeping in Munich.

Milburn tragically dies 25 years later.

While working in a paper mill, he falls into a tank of sodium chlorate.

In the Isar valley south of Munich, the Dutch farmer's son Hennie Kuiper wins gold in the road bike race ahead of the Australian construction worker Clyde Sefton.

It makes up for losing the bronze medal in the 100km team time trial the week before after a team-mate was found to have been doping.

In the end, none of the Munich 1972 road bike races awarded a bronze medal.

The third in the individual race, the Spaniard Jaime Huélamo, was convicted of doping.

But because, as in the team time trial, only the first three were tested, but not the fourth-placed, those behind the doping offenders are not allowed to move up due to a lack of a test of their innocence.

The Belgian straight four and the New Zealander Bruce Biddle are denied a medal.

Swimmers have it better.

After the American Rick DeMont was disqualified as the winner of the 400-meter freestyle, his compatriot Tom McBreen is allowed to move up to the bronze rank - despite also missing a rehearsal.