Olympics '72: Citius, Altius, Fortius

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SIX months before the start of the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, a young Kenyan took up the 3,000-meter steeplechase because he was a failure in the 5,000-meter run. He won his first steeplechase and soon was chosen for the Kenyan Olympic team. In Mexico, he won his heat in unspectacular time, displaying an awkward style that made purists prickle. In the final, he was 30 yds. behind the leaders with one lap to go. Suddenly, Amos Biwott, 21, took off like a hartebeest in a bush fire, hitting the front on the last turn and thereby becoming one of the least-expected winners in Olympic history.

Among the record 10,000 or so competitors from 123 countries who will gather in Munich this month to celebrate the XX Olympiad of the modern era, there doubtless will be another Biwott. Maybe more than one—which is only one reason why predicting Olympic gold medalists is an uncertain sport. Besides the unknowns who surprise, there are always well-regarded but erratic competitors capable of once-in-a-lifetime feats.

Witness the 29-ft. 21-in. winning long jump of America's Bob Beamon at Mexico, which shattered the world record by nearly two feet; Beamon has never since come close to that prodigious leap. Then there are the form favorites who somehow fail to produce their best at the Games. In the men's discus throw, four world record holders in a row have missed winning the gold medal; each time it went to the same man: steady, nerveless Al Oerter.

But even before all the nations have chosen their teams, and before all the female entrants have passed the new sex test (a strand of hair will be examined to see if the follicle has the combination of chromosomes that is conclusive evidence of womanhood), one thing can be predicted with surety. The 8,500 men and the 1,500 women (almost double the number at Mexico) will among them reaffirm the Olympic motto of Citius, Altius, Fortius—setting new records that will be swifter, higher, stronger.

Swimming, a traditional source of superstars, is the first major sport on this year's Olympic schedule. The first aquatic gold medalist was a Hungarian, Alfred Hajos, who won the only two swimming events at Athens in 1896. Both were held in the open sea, amid chilling waves as high as 12 ft. Said Hajos, in one of the franker Olympic victory statements: "My will to live completely overcame my desire to win." This year an American, an Australian and an East German all have a chance to emerge from the magnificent Munich pool as the greatest star of the entire 1972 Games.

For American Mark Spitz, Munich represents a second chance at superstardom. At 18 he entered the Mexico Games with two world records under his belt and brash predictions that he would win six gold medals. When he finished up with two gold, one silver and one bronze—a tidy tally for almost any other competitor—he felt "downright depressed." In truth, he had not swum his best. But Spitz seems to have regained confidence without cockiness. Though he now holds three world records in freestyle and butterfly, Spitz may not compete in the full range of individual and relay events. If he does, U.S. Men's Swimming Coach Peter Daland thinks that Spitz once again has a shot at six gold medals.