Olympia ’72: Günther Zahn lit the fire in Munich
The fear of stumbling
Zahn remembers that he wasn’t particularly nervous before the opening ceremony. Only shortly before the run, when he saw the crowds in the stadium, did he realize “what it all means here”. The first 300 meters on the track were accompanied by four internationally renowned runners from other continents. Among others by Olympic champion Kipchoge Keino from Kenya, one of Zahn’s great sporting role models.
The young athlete walked the 120 steps up to the fire bowl alone. Afraid of breakdowns? “Yes, I already did,” the retired police officer remembers. If he had stumbled on one of the steps of different depths, more than 80,000 spectators in the stadium and around a billion television viewers would have seen it. Zahn’s performance was flawless.
Interview requests and fan mail
A performance that makes him proud. He then joins the likes of sports greats like Muhammad Ali and Wayne Gretzky, who were final torchbearers at the opening ceremonies in Atlanta in 1996 and in Vancouver in 2010. Always at the Olympic Games or when there are anniversaries, there are more interview requests and “fan mail”. As an active runner, he was later often invited to major running events such as the New Year’s Eve run in Sao Paolo.
The Passau resident still has the stainless steel torch from 1972 and likes to take it with him to TV appearances. The words “Munich 1972” and “Games of the XX Olympiad” are engraved.
Passau resident Heidi Schüller speaks Olympic oath
Günther Zahn was not the only native of Lower Bavaria with a significant and well-regarded role at the 1972 Olympics. The then hurdler and long jumper Heidi Schüller, born in Passau in 1950, swore the Olympic oath – as the first woman ever. Schüller later became known as a doctor and television presenter, but also as a critic of sports federations and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).