Memorial to Munich massacre unveiled at site of 2000 Games

SYDNEY, Australia, Oct. 18 (JTA) – Australia has unveiled a memorial to the 11 Israeli victims of the PLO terrorist attack at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. The memorial, unveiled last Friday at the site of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, carries the names of the Israelis and an inscription from the Book of Samuel, “They were swifter than eagles and stronger than lions.” Shane Gould, who won three swimming gold medals in world record time as well as a silver and a bronze medal in Munich, said she was celebrating at around 4 a.m. with her American competitors when she heard news of the attack. “We were there to play games and yet these people destroyed it” she told the large crowd of athletes, German and Israeli diplomats and prominent Australian public figures, adding that because of the massacre Olympians returning to Australia were treated almost like “anti-heroes.” Gould unveiled the memorial together with Jim Spigelman, an Australian chief justice and lieutenant general. The memorial was funded by five prominent Australian businessmen, who all described themselves as “Jewish sports lovers.” Brian Sherman, one of the businessmen, who is also a member of Sydney’s organizing committee for the 2000 Games, told the gathering that the Munich atrocity was an attack on sports, Jews and the right of Israel to exist.