the 1972 summer olympics, officially known as the games of the xx olympiad, were held in munich, west germany (in what is now germany), from 26 august to 11 september 1972. munich won its olympic bid in april 1966 over the cities of detroit, michigan, usa; madrid, spain; and montreal, canada. the 1972 summer olympics are one of 2 olympic games that had a significant criminal incident — the munich massacre, in which a group of palestinian terrorists kidnapped and killed several israeli athletes. (the other olympics with a significant criminal event was the 1996 summer olympics in atlanta, georgia, usa — the centennial olympic park bombing). a movie about the israeli response to this was made called munich.