When was mark spitz born

Mexico City, the venue for the Olympic Games stands at 7, ft about 2,m. Many struggled with the conditions, the m free final a case in point. Far from being able to celebrate the moment in the rarified air at altitude, Wenden lost consciousness — and was saved from the danger of drowning by 1,m champion and teammate Robert Windle 6th , while Schollander had to be given oxygen.

Two ways to go: quit or shake it up, restore belief and try again. After great trials, Spitz arrived in Munich a favourite in several events and the U. At a time when few men wore caps and goggles were yet to make it to races, the big gain on speed was to shave down, even, like Genter, to shave heads. Spitz went the opposite way, the mop and moustache part of the poster-boy image with those seven gold medals.

Spitz would later say that he was approached by a Russian coach and asked if he would shave off his moustache before racing began. Spitz said he would not and that research had shown that moustache helped to make him more streamlined.

The gun went off in Munich with the moustache in place. Spitz produced a sensational The writing was on the end wall: the man with the multi-medal potential was in throttling form. Next day, next up, the m free: The m free medal ceremony turned controversial when Spitz, in a rush, carried his shoes to the podium with him. The shoes were at his side during the playing of The Star Spangled Banner but afterwards Spitz picked them up and waved to the crowd. The shoes were in fact old and the IOC rejected the complaint.

For Spitz, the bigger issue was the enormity of it after five gold medals. He froze for a moment: he had become the most decorated winner in Olympic swim history with a golden count that he did not want to spoil with a silver. Spitz would later recall:. So I felt assured of winning six golds, all in world record time.

No one else had ever won more than four. I figured six-for-six was infinitely better than six golds plus a silver or bronze, and I knew my teammate, Jerry Heidenreich, was going to be very hard to beat. Coaches rallied round to get Spitz back on his blocks and set to complete his mission. Don Gambril is quoted as having said to the year-old:. If you scratch, you will never forgive yourself.

Spitz manned up: The relief matched the celebrations and all that was left was the medley relay. Spitz raced fly, after Mike Stamm on backstroke, Thomas Bruce on breaststroke and before Heidenreich delivered that seventh gold in a world record Two days later, Palestinian terrorists seized, and later murdered, 11 Israeli athletes in the Olympic village. It was the darkest day in Olympic history. He was spirited out of Munich to London and then on to his home in California, where he watched tragic events unfold.

It was during his brief stopover in London that Spitz posed for the iconic poster of him draped in seven gold medals and his Speedos, and sporting the most famous moustache ever to get wet. The poster, which sold more than 5 million copies, was ubiquitous, forever etching a triumphant 22 year-old Mark Spitz in our memories. His ground-breaking achievement remained the outstanding feat in swimming for 36 years until Michael Phelps won eight gold medals in the Olympic Games in Beijing.

By the time he was 16, he won the metres butterfly at the national AAU championships - the first of his 24 AAU titles. The following year, in , he won five gold medals at the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg and, with 10 world records already behind him, he was expected to secure several individual gold medals at the Olympics in Mexico City. However he was only able to win two team gold medals in the 4 x metres and 4 x metres freestyle relays and two individual medals - a silver in the metres butterfly and bronze in the metres freestyle.

Yet he was an all-round genius in the pool and his biggest impact in the sport was achieved in Munich. Over a period of eight days, Mark competed in the seven events. He won four individual gold medals - the m and m freestyle and the m and m butterfly, and he was a key figure, as the United States took gold in three relay races. In he was named Athlete of the Century in water sports and he was also voted one of the six best Olympians of the Century by Sports Illustrated magazine.

Since his retirement, Spitz has been involved with film and television and does promotional work for the United States Olympic Committee. His actions spoke loudly enough. On August 28, his spectacular victory march began with an easy victory in the meter butterfly.

The butterfly was his signature stroke, and he set a new world record of 2 min. That same night, he won his second gold as a member of the U. He swam the anchor leg, and his team finished in a world record 3 min. The next day, he won his third gold medal, with a world record time of 1 min.

He swam the meter butterfly in He considered pulling out of the meter freestyle out of fears he would be bested by teammate Jerry Heidenreich but then went ahead with the race, finishing a half-stroke ahead of Heidenreich in a world record sec. He had won his sixth gold medal, surpassing the medal record held by Italian fencer Nedo Nadi, who had won five gold medals at the Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium.

The capstone of his gold medal sweep came on September 4, when his meter medley relay team won the gold. Spitz, who is Jewish, was put under armed guard and then flown from Munich to London out of fear he might become a target. The nine Israeli hostages were eventually killed. He made a fortune from endorsements contracts, but a hoped-for movie career failed to pan out.

He lost his amateur status and rarely swam in competition after In , at age 42, he launched a comeback bid but failed to qualify for the Barcelona Olympics. He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in and was a member of the first class of inductees into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame in But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us!