1972 Summer Olympics medal table invitation and threatened to boycott the Games. Three days before the opening ceremonies the IOC voted to rescind their invitation and exclude the Rhodesian athletes. The Games were largely overshadowed by what has come to be known as the Munich massacre. On September 5 a group of eight Palestinian terrorists belonging to the Black September Organization broke into the Olympic Village and took nine Israeli athletes, coaches and officials hostage in their apartments. Two of the hostages who resisted were killed in the first moments of the break-in; the subsequent standoff in the Olympic Village lasted for almost 18 hours.
Handball at the 1972 Summer Olympics Handball at the 1972 Summer Olympics Handball at the 1972 Summer Olympics the second appearance of the sport at the Olympics, returning to the Olympic program after a 36-year absence. The competition was for men only and it was contested by sixteen teams. The teams were split into four groups of four teams each. Each team played every other team in its group. The lowest team in group A played the lowest in group B while the lowest in groups C and D played each other. The winners of those games played each other for 13th and 14th places, while