United States at the 1972 Summer Olympics

The United States competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. 400 competitors, 316 men and 84 women, took part in 185 events in 21 sports.^[1]

United States at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Flag of the United States
IOC code	USA
NOC	United States Olympic Committee
in Munich
Competitors	400 (316 men and 84 women) in 21 sports
Flag bearer	Olga Connolly
Medals Ranked 2nd	Gold 33 Silver 31 Bronze 30 Total 94
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games

Medalists

Further information: 1972 Summer Olympics medal table

The United States finished second in the final medal rankings, with 33 gold and 94 total medals.

The following U.S. competitors won medals at the games. In the discipline sections below, the medalists' names are bolded.

Medal Name Sport Event Date  Gold Micki King Diving Women's 3 m springboard August 28  Gold Mark Spitz Swimming Men's 200 m butterfly August 28  Gold Gary Conelly[a] Dave Edgar David Fairbank[a] Jerry Heidenreich John Murphy Mark Spitz Swimming Men's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay August 28  Gold Mark Spitz Swimming Men's 200 m freestyle August 29  Gold Sandy Neilson Swimming Women's 100 m freestyle August 29  Gold John Writer Shooting 50 m rifle three positions August 30  Gold Shirley Babashoff Jane Barkman Jenny Kemp Ann Marshall[a] Sandy Neilson Kim Peyton[a] Lynn Skrifvars[a] Swimming Women's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay August 30  Gold Mark Spitz Swimming Men's 100 m butterfly August 31  Gold Mike Burton[a] Gary Conelly[a] Steve Genter John Kinsella Tom McBreen[a] Mark Spitz Fred Tyler Swimming Men's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay August 31  Gold Dan Gable Wrestling Freestyle 68 kg August 31  Gold Wayne Wells Wrestling Freestyle 74 kg August 31  Gold Ben Peterson Wrestling Freestyle 90 kg August 31  Gold Dave Wottle Athletics Men's 800 m September 2  Gold Lones Wigger Shooting 300 m rifle three position September 2  Gold John Hencken Swimming Men's 200 m breaststroke September 2  Gold Melissa Belote Swimming Women's 100 m backstroke September 2  Gold Cathy Carr Swimming Women's 100 m breaststroke September 2  Gold Mark Spitz Swimming Men's 100 m freestyle September 3  Gold Keena Rothhammer Swimming Women's 800 m freestyle September 3  Gold Susie Atwood[a] Shirley Babashoff[a] Melissa Belote Cathy Carr Deena Deardurff Judy Melick[a] Sandy Neilson Dana Shrader[a] Swimming Women's 4 × 100 m medley relay September 3  Gold Mike Burton Swimming Men's 1500 m freestyle September 4  Gold Tom Bruce David Fairbank[a] Gary Hall Sr.[a] Jerry Heidenreich John Hencken[a] Mitch Ivey[a] Mark Spitz Mike Stamm Swimming Men's 4 × 100 m medley relay September 4  Gold Melissa Belote Swimming Women's 200 m backstroke September 4  Gold Karen Moe Swimming Women's 200 m butterfly September 4  Gold Vincent Matthews Athletics Men's 400 m September 7  Gold Rod Milburn Athletics Men's 110 m hurdles September 7  Gold William Allen William Bentsen Buddy Melges Sailing Soling September 8  Gold Randy Williams Athletics Men's long jump September 9  Gold John Williams Archery Men's individual September 10  Gold Doreen Wilber Archery Women's individual September 10  Gold Larry Black Eddie Hart Robert Taylor Gerald Tinker Athletics Men's 4 × 100 m relay September 10  Gold Frank Shorter Athletics Men's marathon September 10  Gold Ray Seales Boxing Light welterweight September 10  Silver Victor Auer Shooting 50 m rifle prone August 28  Silver Gary Hall Sr. Swimming Men's 200 m butterfly August 28  Silver Steve Genter Swimming Men's 200 m freestyle August 29  Silver Mike Stamm Swimming Men's 100 m backstroke August 29  Silver Shirley Babashoff Swimming Women's 100 m freestyle August 29  Silver Dana Schoenfield Swimming Women's 200 m breaststroke August 29  Silver Lanny Bassham Shooting 50 m rifle three position August 30  Silver Tom Bruce Swimming Men's 100 m breaststroke August 30  Silver Tim McKee Swimming Men's 400 m individual medley August 30  Silver Richard Sanders Wrestling Freestyle 57 kg August 31  Silver John Peterson Wrestling Freestyle 82 kg August 31  Silver Robert Taylor Athletics Men's 100 m September 1  Silver Bruce Davidson Kevin Freeman Michael Plumb James C. Wofford Equestrian Team eventing September 1  Silver Steve Genter Swimming Men's 400 m freestyle September 1  Silver Shirley Babashoff Swimming Women's 200 m freestyle September 1  Silver Ralph Mann Athletics Men's 400 m hurdles September 2  Silver Bob Seagren Athletics Men's pole vault September 2  Silver Jay Silvester Athletics Men's discus throw September 2  Silver Gene Clapp Bill Hobbs Franklin Hobbs Cleve Livingston Mike Livingston Tim Mickelson Pete Raymond Lawrence Terry Rowing Men's eight September 2  Silver Mike Stamm Swimming Men's 200 m backstroke September 2  Silver Jerry Heidenreich Swimming Men's 100 m freestyle September 3  Silver Tim McKee Swimming Men's 200 m individual medley September 3  Silver Larry Black Athletics Men's 200 m September 4  Silver Richard Rydze Diving Men's 10 m platform September 4  Silver Susie Atwood Swimming Women's 200 m backstroke September 4  Silver Lynn Colella Swimming Women's 200 m butterfly September 4  Silver Wayne Collett Athletics Men's 400 m September 7  Silver George Woods Athletics Men's shot put September 9  Silver United States men's national basketball team Mike Bantom Jim Brewer Tommy Burleson Doug Collins Kenny Davis James Forbes Tom Henderson Bobby Jones Dwight Jones Kevn Joyce Tom McMillen Ed Ratleff Basketball Men's tournament September 9  Silver Mable Fergerson Kathy Hammond Madeline Manning Cheryl Toussaint Athletics Women's 4 × 400 m relay September 10  Silver Frank Chapot Kathryn Kusner Neal Shapiro William Steinkraus Equestrian Team jumping September 11  Bronze Jamie McEwan Canoeing Men's slalom C-1 August 28  Bronze Robin Backhaus Swimming Men's 200 m butterfly August 28  Bronze Lynn Vidali Swimming Women's 200 m individual medley August 28  Bronze John Murphy Swimming Men's 100 m backstroke August 29  Bronze Craig Lincoln Diving Men's 3 m springboard August 30  Bronze John Hencken Swimming Men's 100 m breaststroke August 30  Bronze Jerry Heidenreich Swimming Men's 100 m butterfly August 31  Bronze Chris Taylor Wrestling Freestyle +100 kg August 31  Bronze Kate Schmidt Athletics Women's javelin throw September 1  Bronze Tom McBreen Swimming Men's 400 m freestyle September 1  Bronze Keena Rothhammer Swimming Women's 200 m freestyle September 1  Bronze Jan Johnson Athletics Men's pole vault September 2  Bronze Mitch Ivey Swimming Men's 200 m backstroke September 2  Bronze Susie Atwood Swimming Women's 100 m backstroke September 2  Bronze Larry Young Athletics Men's 50 km walk September 3  Bronze Bill Schmidt Athletics Men's javelin throw September 3  Bronze Neal Shapiro Equestrian Individual jumping September 3  Bronze Steve Furniss Swimming Men's 200 m individual medley September 3  Bronze Doug Northway Swimming Men's 1500 m freestyle September 4  Bronze Ellie Daniel Swimming Women's 200 m butterfly September 4  Bronze United States men's national water polo team Peter Asch Steve Barnett Bruce Bradley Stan Cole Jim Ferguson Eric Lindroth John Parker Gary Sheerer James Slatton Russ Webb Barry Weitzenberg Water polo Men's tournament September 4  Bronze Tom Hill Athletics Men's 110 m hurdles September 7  Bronze Kathy Hammond Athletics Women's 400 m September 7  Bronze Peter Dean Glen Foster Sailing Tempest September 8  Bronze Donald Cohan Charles Horter John Marshall Sailing Dragon September 8  Bronze Arnie Robinson Athletics Men's long jump September 9  Bronze Dwight Stones Athletics Men's high jump September 10  Bronze Ricardo Carreras Boxing Bantamweight September 10  Bronze Jesse Valdez Boxing Welterweight September 10  Bronze Marvin Johnson Boxing Middleweight September 10

Medals by sport Sport Total Swimming 17 14 12 43 Athletics 6 8 8 22 Wrestling 3 2 1 6 Shooting 2 2 0 4 Archery 2 0 0 2 Diving 1 1 1 3 Boxing 1 0 3 4 Sailing 1 0 2 3 Equestrian 0 2 1 3 Basketball 0 1 0 1 Rowing 0 1 0 1 Canoeing 0 0 1 1 Water polo 0 0 1 1 Total 33 31 30 94 Medals by day Day Date Total 1 August 27 0 0 0 0 2 August 28 3 2 3 8 3 August 29 2 4 1 7 4 August 30 2 3 2 7 5 August 31 5 2 2 9 6 September 1 0 4 3 7 7 September 2 5 5 3 13 8 September 3 3 2 4 9 9 September 4 4 4 3 11 10 September 6 0 0 0 0 11 September 7 2 1 2 5 12 September 8 1 0 2 3 13 September 9 1 2 1 4 14 September 10 5 1 4 10 15 September 11 0 1 0 1 Total 33 31 30 94 Medals by gender Gender Total Percentage Male 23 24 24 71 75.53% Female 10 6 6 22 23.41% Mixed 0 1 0 1 1.06% Total 33 31 30 94 100% Multiple medalists Name Sport Total Mark Spitz Swimming 7 0 0 7 Shirley Babashoff Swimming 2 2 0 4 Jerry Heidenreich Swimming 2 1 1 4 Melissa Belote Swimming 3 0 0 3 Sandy Neilson Swimming 3 0 0 3 John Hencken Swimming 2 0 1 3 Steve Genter Swimming 1 2 0 3 Mike Stamm Swimming 1 2 0 3 Susie Atwood Swimming 1 1 1 3 Mike Burton Swimming 2 0 0 2 Cathy Carr Swimming 2 0 0 2 Gary Conelly Swimming 2 0 0 2 David Fairbank Swimming 2 0 0 2 Larry Black Athletics 1 1 0 2 Tom Bruce Swimming 1 1 0 2 Gary Hall Sr. Swimming 1 1 0 2 Mitch Ivey Swimming 1 0 1 2 Tom McBreen Swimming 1 0 1 2 John Murphy Swimming 1 0 1 2 Keena Rothhammer Swimming 1 0 1 2 Tim McKee Swimming 0 2 0 2 Kathy Hammond Athletics 0 1 1 2 Neal Shapiro Equestrian 0 1 1 2

^a Athletes who participated in the heats only.

Archery

Main article: Archery at the 1972 Summer Olympics

In the first modern archery competition at the Olympics, the United States entered three men and three women. They took home both of the gold medals as well as a pair of 5th-place finishes.

Athlete	Event	Round 1		Round 2		Total
		Points	Rank	Points	Rank	Points	Rank
Edwin Eliason	Men's individual	1193	13	1245	4	2348	5
Dennis McComak		1199	9	1199	16	2398	11
John Williams		1268 OR	1	1260	1	2528 OR
Maureen Bechdolt	Women's individual	1106	29	1112	29	2218	28
Linda Myers		1200	3	1185	6	2385	5
Doreen Wilber		1198	4	1226 OR	1	2424 OR

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics

On the victory podium after the conclusion of the men's 400 meters final, gold medalist Vince Matthews and silver medalist Wayne Collett talked to each other and failed to stand at attention during the medal ceremony. On the advice of Avery Brundage, the International Olympic Committee banned them from further competition. Since the third American competitor, world record holder John Smith, had pulled a hamstring while leading 80 meters into the final and had been ruled unfit to run, the United States were left unable to field a 4 x 400 relay team, and were thus forced to scratch from the event where they would have been heavily favored.^[2]

Key

• Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
• Q = Qualified for the next round
• q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target

Men

Road and track events

Athlete	Event	Heat		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Eddie Hart	100 m	10.47	1 Q	DNS		Did not advance
Rey Robinson		10.56	1 Q	DNS		Did not advance
Robert Taylor		10.32	1 Q	10.16	2 Q	10.30	1 Q	10.24
Larry Black	200 m	20.79	1 Q	20.28	1 Q	20.36	1 Q	20.19
Larry Burton		20.80	1 Q	20.68	1 Q	20.78	2 Q	20.37	4
Chuck Smith		20.79	1 Q	20.66	2 Q	20.86	3 Q	20.55	5
Wayne Collett	400 m	46.00	2 Q	45.80	1 Q	45.77	3 Q	44.80
Vincent Matthews		45.94	2 Q	45.62	2 Q	44.94	1 Q	44.66
John Smith		46.00	2 Q	46.04	2 Q	45.46	3 Q	DNF
Ken Swenson	800 m	1:51.1	2 Q	—		DNF		Did not advance
Rick Wohlhuter		1:49.4	4			Did not advance
Dave Wottle		1:47.6	2 Q			1:48.7	1 Q	1:45.9
Jim Ryun	1500 m	3:51.5	9	—		Did not advance
Bob Wheeler		3:41.3	3 Q			3:40.4	6	Did not advance
Dave Wottle		3:40.7	2 Q			3:41.6	4	Did not advance
Leonard Hilton	5000 m	14:07.2	8	—				Did not advance
Steve Prefontaine		13:32.6	2 Q					13:28.25	4
George Young		13:41.2	4					Did not advance
Jon Anderson	10,000 m	28:34.2	8	—				Did not advance
Jeff Galloway		29:35.0	11					Did not advance
Frank Shorter		27:58.23	3 Q					27:51.32	5
Willie Davenport	110 m hurdles	13.97	2 Q	—		13.73	3 Q	13.50	4
Tom Hill		13.62	1 Q			13.47	1 Q	13.48
Rod Milburn		13.57	1 Q			13.44	1 Q	13.24 WR
Dick Bruggeman	400 m hurdles	54.36	6	—		Did not advance
Ralph Mann		50.18	2 Q			49.53	2 Q	48.51
Jim Seymour		49.81	2 Q			49.33	1 Q	48.64	4
Doug Brown	3000 m steeplechase	8:41.2	9	—				Did not advance
Mike Manley		8:50.4	10					Did not advance
Steve Savage		8:39.0	7					Did not advance
Larry Black Eddie Hart Robert Taylor Gerald Tinker	4 × 100 m relay	38.96	1 Q	—		38.54	1 Q	38.19 WR
Jack Bacheler	Marathon	—						2:17:38	9
Kenny Moore								2:15:39	4
Frank Shorter								2:12:19
Tom Dooley	20 km walk	—						1:34:58.8	15
Goetz Klopfer								1:38:33.6	19
Larry Young								1:32:53.4	10
Steve Hayden	50 km walk	—						4:36:07.2	27
William Weigle								4:22:52.2	17
Larry Young								4:00:46.0

Field events

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Preston Carrington	Long jump	8.22	2 Q	7.99	5
Arnie Robinson		7.99	4 Q	8.03
Randy Williams		8.34	1 Q	8.24
John Craft	Triple jump	16.32	10 Q	16.83	5
Dave Smith		14.55	32	Did not advance
Art Walker		15.29	29	Did not advance
Chris Dunn	High jump	2.12	20	Did not advance
Ron Jourdan		2.12	22	Did not advance
Dwight Stones		2.15	=1 Q	2.21
Jan Johnson	Pole vault	5.10	10 Q	5.35
Bob Seagren		5.10	=6 Q	5.40
Steve Smith		4.80	18	Did not advance
Al Feuerbach	Shot put	19.94	=6 Q	21.01	5
Brian Oldfield		19.95	5 Q	20.91	6
George Woods		19.96	4 Q	21.17
John Powell	Discus throw	59.30	13 Q	62.82	4
Jay Silvester		61.20	6 Q	63.50
Tim Vollmer		59.60	10 Q	60.24	8
Fred Luke	Javelin throw	81.34	5 Q	80.06	8
Bill Schmidt		78.96	10 q	84.42
Milt Sonsky		79.96	8 q	77.94	10
George Frenn	Hammer throw	62.14	27	Did not advance
Tom Gage		69.40	7 Q	69.50	12
Al Schoterman		65.18	22	Did not advance

Combined event – Decathlon

Athlete	Event	100 m	LJ	SP	HJ	400 m	110H	DT	PV	JT	1500 m	Points	Rank
Jeff Bannister	Result	11.09	7.20	14.21	1.86	46.79	DQ	42.00	4.00	56.98	4:15.8	7022	21
	Points	783	861	741	734	958	0	724	807	724	690
Jeff Bennett	Result	10.73	7.26	12.82	1.86	46.25	15.58	36.52	4.80	56.98	4:12.2	7974	4
	Points	872	873	653	734	984	789	616	1005	730	718
Bruce Jenner	Result	11.35	6.53	13.56	1.92	49.49	15.59	42.24	4.55	66.02	4:18.9	7722	10
	Points	721	721	700	788	829	788	729	945	833	668

Women

Track events

Athlete	Event	Heat		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Iris Davis	100 m	11.34	1 Q	11.27	1 Q	11.36	2 Q	11.32	4
Barbara Ferrell		11.47	3 Q	11.38	3 Q	11.49	4 Q	11.45	7
Mattiline Render		11.60	5 Q	11.67	6	Did not advance
Barbara Ferrell	200 m	23.38	2 Q	23.30	4 Q	23.39	7	Did not advance
Pam Greene		23.96	2 Q	23.85	5	Did not advance
Jackie Thompson		23.67	3 Q	23.22	3 Q	23.18	6	Did not advance
Debra Edwards	400 m	54.43	5	Did not advance
Mable Fergerson		52.05	3 Q	52.93	3 Q	51.91	4 Q	51.96	5
Kathy Hammond		53.45	1 Q	52.44	4 Q	51.92	4 Q	51.64
Wendy Koenig	800 m	2:08.71	6	—		Did not advance
Madeline Manning		2:02.63	2 Q			2:02.39	5	Did not advance
Cheryl Toussaint		2:08.90	6			Did not advance
Doris Brown	1500 m	DNS		—		Did not advance
Francie Kraker		4:14.73	4 Q			4:12.76	8	Did not advance
Francie Larrieu		4:11.18	3 Q			4:15.26	8	Did not advance
Patty Johnson	100 m hurdles	13.28	2 Q	—		13.26	5	Did not advance
Lacey O'Neal		13.78	4 Q			13.89	7	Did not advance
Mamie Rallins		13.51	3 Q			13.76	7	Did not advance
Iris Davis Mildrette Netter Mattiline Render Martha Watson	4 × 100 m relay	43.07	3 Q	—				43.39	4
Mable Fergerson Kathy Hammond Madeline Manning Cheryl Toussaint	4 × 400 m relay	3:28.60	2 Q	—				3:25.15

Field events

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Kim Attlesey	Long jump	5.80	29	Did not advance
Martha Watson		6.09	23	Did not advance
Willye White		6.39	5 Q	6.27	11
Cindy Gilbert	High jump	1.70	32	Did not advance
Sandi Goldsberry		1.60	38	Did not advance
Deanne Wilson		1.70	=30	Did not advance
Maren Seidler	Shot put	16.18	14	Did not advance
Jan Svendsen		14.96	16	Did not advance
Olga Connolly	Discus throw	51.58	16	Did not advance
Roberta Brown	Javelin throw	47.88	19	Did not advance
Sherry Calvert		51.38	15	Did not advance
Kate Schmidt		58.84	3 Q	59.94

Combined event – Pentathlon

Athlete	Event	100H	SP	HJ	LJ	200 m	Points	Rank
Gale Fitzgerald	Result	14.47	11.25	1.65	5.97	23.97	4206	19
	Points	809	672	885	900	940
Jane Frederick	Result	14.60	12.92	1.74	5.60	24.45	4167	21
	Points	793	775	974	817	808

Basketball

Main article: Basketball at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Summary

Team	Event	Preliminary round								Semifinal	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
United States men	Men's tournament	Czechoslovakia W 66–35	Australia W 81–55	Cuba W 67–48	Brazil W 61–54	Egypt W 96–31	Spain W 74–70	Japan W 99–33	1 Q	Italy W 68–38	Soviet Union L 50–51

Boxing

Main article: Boxing at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Reggie Jones was controversially eliminated in the second round of the light middleweight division (– 71 kg) by Valeri Tregubov of the Soviet Union, nine years his senior, in a fight he was generally accepted to have won.^[3]

Athlete	Event	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Final
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Davey Armstrong	Light flyweight	Dorgu (TUR) W 4–1	Rodríguez (ESP) L 0–5	—	Did not advance			=9
Tim Dement	Flyweight	Bye	Gharbi (TUN) W 5–0	Perez (COL) L 0–5	Did not advance			=9
Ricardo Carreras	Bantamweight	Bye	O'Brien (AUS) W TKO	Ganbat (MGL) W 3–2	Solomin (URS) W 3–2	Zamora (MEX) L 1–4	Did not advance
Louis Self	Featherweight	Apeang (FRA) W 5–0	Theotokatos (GRE) W 5–0	Botos (HUN) L 2–3	Did not advance			=9
James Busceme	Lightweight	Bye	Vichit (THA) W 5–0	Szczepański (POL) L 0–5	Did not advance			=9
Ray Seales	Light welterweight	Beyer (GDR) W 3–2	Montague (IRL) W 5–0	—	Molina (CUB) W 3–2	Vujin (YUG) W 5–0	Angelov (BUL) W 3–2
Jesse Valdez	Welterweight	Kalipe (TOG) W 5–0	Burga (PER) W 4–1	Jackson (UGA) W 4–1	Khohlov (URS) W 5–0	Correa (CUB) L 2–3	Did not advance
Reggie Jones	Light middleweight	Bye	Tregubov (URS) L 2–3	Did not advance				=17
Marvin Johnson	Middleweight	Bye	Jarmer (FRG) W 5–0	—	Montoya (CUB) W 5–0	Lemeshev (URS) L TKO	Did not advance
Ray Russell	Light heavyweight	Thega (KEN) W TKO	Gortat (POL) L 2–3	—	Did not advance			=9
Duane Bobick	Heavyweight	Nesterov (URS) W 5–0	—		Stevenson (CUB) L TKO	Did not advance		=5

Canoeing

Main article: Canoeing at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Slalom

Men

Athlete	Event	Run 1		Run 2		Best
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Jamie McEwan	C-1	421.52	8	335.95	2	335.95
Angus Morrison		393.77	6	432.88	10	393.77	10
Wickliffe Walker		494.40	12	399.76	9	399.76	11
John Burton Tom Southworth	C-2	427.83	10	407.55	6	407.55	12
John Evans Russ Nichols		522.02	13	440.08	9	440.08	14
Sandy Campbell	K-1	500.62	35	381.99	23	381.99	28
Eric Evans		296.34	4	299.15	5	296.34	7
John Holland		345.19	15	337.82	14	337.82	19

Women

Athlete	Event	Run 1		Run 2		Best
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Lyn Ashton	K-1	481.45	6	475.41	7	475.41	9
Cynthia Goodwin		576.80	15	528.50	11	528.50	14
Louise Holcombe		697.20	19	532.30	12	532.30	15

Sprint

Men and Women

Athlete	Event	Heat		Repechage		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
András Törő	Men's C-1 1000 m	439.92	5 SF	—		4:25.23	6	Did not advance
Roland Muhlen Andreas Weigand	Men's C-2 1000 m	4:16.50	6 R	4:02.01	2 SF	3:52.25	2 QF	4:01.28	6
Robert Mitchell	Men's K-1 1000 m	4:15.76	7 R	4:02.43	4	Did not advance
John Brosius Alan Whitney	Men's K-2 1000 m	3:55.38	7 R	3:47.91	2 SF	3:46.43	6	Did not advance
Stephen Kelly Philip Rogosheske John van Dyke Jerry Welborn	Men's K-4 1000 m	3:32.94	7 R	3:22.89	4	Did not advance
Marcia Smoke	Women's K-1 500 m	2:12.43	4 R	2:06.19	1 SF	2:09.13	2 QF	2:07.98	9
Linda Murray Nancy Purves	Women's K-2 500 m	2:11.50	6 SF	—		2:01.27	4	Did not advance

Key: QF - Qualified to medal final; SF - Qualified to semifinal; R - Qualified to repechage

Cycling

Main article: Cycling at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Fifteen cyclists represented the United States in 1972.

Road

Athlete	Event	Time	Rank
John Allis	Road race	4:17:09	63
John Howard		4:17:09	61
Robert Schneider		DNF
Emile Waldteufel		DNF
Richard Ball John Howard Ron Skarin Wayne Stetina	Team time trial	2:17:06.4	15

Track

Pursuit

Athlete	Event	Qualifying		Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Final / BM
		Time	Rank	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
John Vande Velde	Individual	4:32.87	12	Did not advance
David Chauner David Mulica Jim Ochowicz John Vande Velde	Team	4:38.19	17	Did not advance

Sprint

Athlete	Event	Round 1	Repechage 1	Round 2	Repechage 2	Round of 16	Repechage 3	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Jeffrey Spencer	Sprint	Cho (JPN),  Quintyn (FRA) L	Edwards (BAR) W 12.46	Cooke (GBR),  Kravtsov (URS) L	Kučírek (TCH) L	Did not advance					=9
Roger Young		Burnside (BAH),  Marion (ITA) L	Reece (BAR) W 11.99	King (TRI),  Kučírek (TCH) L	Cardi (ITA) L	Did not advance					=9
Jeffrey Spencer Ralph Therrio	Tandem	Semenets / Tselovlnikov (URS) L	Díaz / Narváez (COL),  Snellinx / Soetaert (BEL) L	—				Did not advance			13

Time trial

Athlete	Event	Time	Rank
Steven Woznick	1 km time trial	1:08.56	12

Diving

Main article: Diving at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Men

Athlete	Event	Preliminary		Final		Total
		Points	Rank	Points	Rank	Points	Rank
David Bush	3 m springboard	327.06	20	Did not advance
Michael Finneran		378.84	7 Q	178.50	5	557.34	5
Craig Lincoln		386.79	4 Q	190.50	3	577.29
Richard Earley	10 m platform	287.94	12 Q	174.51	2	462.45	6
Michael Finneran		289.80	11 Q	140.67	11	439.47	9
Richard Rydze		302.16	5 Q	178.59	1	480.75

Women

Athlete	Event	Preliminary		Final		Total
		Points	Rank	Points	Rank	Points	Rank
Janet Ely	3 m springboard	269.91	9 Q	151.08	3	420.99	4
Micki King		289.14	3 Q	160.89	1	450.03
Cynthia Potter		264.90	10 Q	148.68	4	413.58	7
Janet Ely	10 m platform	204.33	6 Q	148.35	3	352.68	4
Micki King		205.08	5 Q	141.30	5	346.38	5
Cynthia Potter		173.82	21	Did not advance

Equestrian

Main article: Equestrian at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Dressage

Athlete	Horse	Event	Grand Prix		Ride-off
			Points	Rank	Points	Rank
Edith Master	Dahlwitz	Individual	1480	=18	Did not advance
Lois Stephens	Fasching		1345	31	Did not advance
John Winnett	Reinald		1458	22	Did not advance
Edith Master Lois Stephens John Winnett	As above	Team	4283	9	—

Eventing

Athlete	Horse	Event	Dressage		Cross-country		Jumping		Total
			Points	Rank	Points	Rank	Points	Rank	Points	Rank
Bruce Davidson	Plain Sailing	Individual	–40.33	9	34.47	6	–10.00	=16	24.47	8
Kevin Freeman	Good Mixture		–51.33	=19	39.87	3	–10.00	=16	29.87	5
Michael Plumb	Free and Easy		–38.33	5	–33.53	22	–10.00	=16	–45.53	20
James Wofford	Kilkenny		–53.33	=26	–99.33	32	–0.50	13	–99.83	30
Bruce Davidson Kevin Freeman Michael Plumb James Wofford	As above	Team	–129.99	3	170.80	=3	–20.50	3	10.81

Jumping

Athlete	Horse	Event	Round 1		Round 2		Total		Jump-off
			Faults	Rank	Faults	Rank	Faults	Rank	Faults	Rank
Kathryn Kusner	Fleet Apple	Individual	4.00	=4 Q	16.00	13	20.0	=10	Did not advance
Neal Shaprio	Sloopy		4.00	=4 Q	4.00	=1	8.00	=1	8.00
William Steinkraus	Snowbound		12.00	=22	Did not advance
Frank Chapot Kathryn Kusner Neal Shaprio William Steinkraus	White Lightning Fleet Apple Sloopy Main Spring	Team	16.25	2 Q	16.00	=1	32.25		—

Fencing

Main article: Fencing at the 1972 Summer Olympics

19 fencers represented the United States in 1972.

Individual

Men

Athlete	Event	Round 1 pool		Round 2 pool		Quarterfinal pool		Semifinal pool		Final pool
		W–L	Rank	W–L	Rank	W–L	Rank	W–L	Rank	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Carl Borack	Foil	1–4	5	Did not advance
Joseph Freeman		5–1	2 Q	2–3	5	Did not advance
John Nonna		0–5	6	Did not advance
George Masin	Épée	1–4	4 Q	2–3	4	Did not advance
James Melcher		2–2	5	Did not advance
Stephen Netburn		3–2	4 Q	2–3	5	Did not advance
Paul Apostol	Sabre	2–3	4 Q	3–2	2 Q	3–2	3 Q	2–3	4	Did not advance
Alfonso Morales		3–2	3 Q	2–3	4 Q	1–4	5	Did not advance
Alex Orban		4–1	2 Q	2–3	4 Q	2–3	5	Did not advance

Women

Athlete	Event	Round 1 pool		Quarterfinal pool		Semifinal pool		Final pool
		W–L	Rank	W–L	Rank	W–L	Rank	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Harriet King	Foil	2–3	5	Did not advance
Ann O'Donnell		1–4	6	Did not advance
Ruth White		2–3	3 Q	1–4	5	Did not advance

Team

Athlete	Event	Round 1 pool				Round 2	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Classification pool				Final / BM / Pl.
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank	Opposition Result	Rank
Carl Borack Martin Davis Joseph Freeman John Nonna Tyrone Simmons	Men's foil	Japan (JPN) L 4–12	Soviet Union (URS) L 4–12	—	3	—	Did not advance
Edward Bozek Paul Makler George Masin James Melcher Stephen Netburn	Men's épée	Thailand (THA) W 9–4	Soviet Union (URS) L 4–12	—	2 Q	Sweden (SWE) L 2–9	Did not advance
Paul Apostol Robert Dow Alfonso Morales Alex Orban	Men's sabre	Cuba (CUB) L 7–9	France (FRA) L 5–11	—	3	—	Did not advance
Tatyana Adamovich Natalia Clovis Harriet King Ann O'Donnell Ruth White	Women's foil	Poland (POL) L 8–8 (43–47)	West Germany (FRG) L 2–9	Italy (ITA) L 6–10	4	—	Did not advance		—				Did not advance

Football

Main article: Football at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Summary

Team	Event	First round				Second round				Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank	Opposition Result	Rank
United States men	Men's tournament	Morocco T 0–0	Malaysia L 0–3	West Germany L 0–7	4	Did not advance					14

• Team Roster

• Mike Ivanow (GK)
• Casey Bahr
• John Bocwinski
• Horst Stemke
• Neil Stam
• Archie Roboostoff
• Mike Seerey
• John Carenza
• Buzz Demling
• Manuel Hernandez
• Hugo Salcedo
• Al Trost
• Joe Hamm
• Steve Gay
• Shep Messing (GK)
• Wally Ziaja
• Mike Flater
• Mike Margulis
• Jim Zylker

• Coach: Bob Guelker

Gymnastics

Main article: Gymnastics at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Men

Team

Athlete	Event	Apparatus												Total
		F		PH		R		V		PB		HB
		C	O	C	O	C	O	C	O	C	O	C	O	Score	Rank
Marshall Avener	Team	8.50	8.90	8.95	9.30	9.15	9.15	8.95	9.15	8.10	9.15	8.15	8.90	103.65	=50
John Crosby		8.95	9.30	7.75	8.85	7.85	9.00	8.90	9.25	8.65	9.25	7.00	8.55	103.30	=77
Jim Culhane		8.35	8.65	8.35	8.90	8.50	8.80	9.10	8.90	8.65	9.00	8.25	8.30	103.75	=72
George Greenfield		8.10	8.95	6.35	8.70	8.85	8.90	8.80	8.60	7.75	9.05	8.80	9.35	102.20	=83
Steve Hug		8.85	8.85	9.15	9.40	9.00	9.05	9.15	9.15	9.10	9.30	9.15	9.30	109.45	=26 Q
Makoto Sakamoto		8.95	9.00	5.35	8.75	9.35	9.30	9.30	9.05	9.30	9.30	9.20	8.85	105.70	56
Total		88.60		85.75		90.25		90.90		89.35		88.50		533.85	10

Individual final

Athlete	Event	Apparatus												Total
		F		PH		R		V		PB		HB
		P	F	P	F	P	F	P	F	P	F	P	F	Score	Rank
Steve Hug	All-around	8.850	9.050	9.275	9.300	9.025	9.000	9.150	9.150	9.200	8.250	9.225	9.400	108.875	31

Women

Team

Athlete	Event	Apparatus								Total
		V		UB		BB		F
		C	O	C	O	C	O	C	O	Score	Rank
Kimberly Chace	Team	9.10	9.10	9.10	9.20	9.25	8.95	9.10	9.25	73.05	=18 Q
Linda Metheny		8.95	9.20	9.25	9.10	8.40	9.10	9.15	9.35	72.50	=26
Joan Moore		8.90	9.10	9.00	9.10	9.20	8.65	9.15	9.40	72.50	=26 Q
Roxanne Pierce		8.90	9.25	9.20	9.30	9.00	9.00	8.95	8.95	72.55	25 Q
Cathy Rigby		9.10	9.15	9.20	9.40	9.25	9.35	9.30	9.50	74.25	10 Q
Nancy Thies		9.05	9.10	8.85	9.15	8.90	8.90	8.95	9.05	71.95	=35
Total		90.90		91.90		90.90		92.90		365.90	4

Individual finals

Athlete	Event	Apparatus								Total
		V		UB		BB		F
		P	F	P	F	P	F	P	F	Score	Rank
Kimberly Chace	All-around	9.100	9.200	9.150	8.400	9.100	9.400	9.175	9.400	72.925	28
Joan Moore		9.000	9.250	9.050	9.350	8.925	9.100	9.275	9.500	73.450	21
Roxanne Pierce		9.075	9.300	9.250	9.250	9.000	8.450	8.950	9.200	72.475	33
Cathy Rigby		9.125	9.400	9.300	9.500	9.300	9.350	9.400	9.550	74.925	10

Handball

Main article: Handball at the 1972 Summer Olympics

The United States, which had lost all three of its games in the first Olympic handball tournament, fared no better in the first round of the second tournament. The Americans lost to Hungary, Yugoslavia, and Japan to finish last place in the division, sending them to the thirteenth- to sixteenth-place consolation round. There, they finally got their first handball win over Spain before being defeated by Denmark.

Summary

Team	Event	Preliminary round				Final round			Classification semifinal	Final / BM / Pl.
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
United States men	Men's tournament	Hungary L 15–28	Yugoslavia L 15–25	Japan L 16–20	4	Did not advance			13-16 semifinal  Spain W 22–20	13th place final  Denmark L 18–19	14

Men's Team Competition:

• United States - 14th place (1-4-0)
• Roster - Richard Abrahamson, Fletcher Abram Jr., Roger Baker, Dennis Berkholtz, Larry Caton, Vincent DiCalogero, Elmer Edes, Thomas Hardiman, Rudolph Matthews, Sandor Rivnyak, James Rogers, Richard Schlesinger, Kevin Serrapede, Robert Sparks, Joel Voelkert, and Harry WinklerThomas Jandris)]

Judo

Main article: Judo at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Athlete	Event	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Repechage 1	Repechage 2	Repechage 3	Semifinal	Final
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Kenneth Okada	63 kg	—	Byuadaa (MGL) L 00–00 D	Did not advance								=19
Patrick Burris	70 kg	—	Dörbrandt (FRG) L 00–00 D	Did not advance								=18
Irwin Cohen	80 kg	Bye	Gogolauri (URS) L 00–10	Did not advance								=19
Jimmy Wooley	93 kg	—	Marin (PUR) W 10–00	Kim (KOR) W 10–00	Bosman (NED) W 00–00 D	Starbrook (GBR) L 00–10	Bye		Chochishvili (URS) L 00–10	Did not advance		=5
Douglas Nelson	+93kg	—	Bye	Tempesta (ITA) W WO	Ruska (NED) L 00–10	Did not advance	—	Ben Kassou (MAR) W 00–00 D	Glahn (FRG) L 00–10	Did not advance		=9
Johnny Watts	Open	—	Djiba (SEN) W 02–00	Bajčetić (YUG) W 10–00	Parisi (GBR) L 00–00 D	Did not advance	Bye	Did not advance				=11

Modern pentathlon

Main article: Modern pentathlon at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Three pentathletes represented the United States in 1972.

Athlete	Event	Riding (cross-country steeplechase)			Fencing (épée)			Shooting (25 m rapid fire pistol)			Swimming (300 m freestyle)			Running (4000 m cross-country)			Total
		Time	Rank	MP points	W–L	Rank	MP points	Score	Rank	MP points	Time	Rank	MP points	Time	Rank	MP points	MP points	Rank
John Fitzgerald	Individual	2:12.90	7	1090	33–25	=14	848	188	=21	868	3:28.50	=4	1204	13:55.60	32	1060	5070	11
Charles Richards		2:18.30	=14	1060	28–30	=31	753	192	=8	956	3:21.70	1	1260	14:00.70	35	1045	5074	9
Scott Taylor		2:37.20	35	965	24–34	=42	677	177	=55	626	3:41.90	17	1100	12:39.10	2	1288	4656	29
John Fitzgerald Charles Richards Scott Taylor	Team	—	3	3115	—	11	2278	—	10	2450	—	1	3564	—	5	3393	14800	4

Rowing

Main article: Rowing at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Athlete	Event	Heat		Repechage		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Jim Dietz	Single sculls	7:57.85	4 R	7:59.13	1 SF	8:21.54	2 FA	7:24.81	5
Larry Hough Dick Lyon	Coxless pair	7:33.16	4 R	7:37.34	2 SF	7:50.26	4 FB	7:38.64	9
Aaron Herman Luther Jones Mike Staines	Coxed pair	7:50.00	1 SF	Bye		8:25.40	5 FB	8:04.80	11
Thomas McKibbon John Van Blom	Double sculls	7:08.91	4 R	7:19.63	3	Did not advance
Dick Dreissigacker Charles Hewitt William Miller James Moroney	Coxless four	6:57.05	4 R	7:13.95	4	Did not advance
Stewart MacDonald Chad Rudolph Charles Ruthford David Sawyier Mike Vespoli	Coxed four	6:56.01	4 R	7:02.68	1 SF	7:18.59	3 FA	6:41.86	5
Gene Clapp Bill Hobbs Franklin Hobbs Paul Hoffman Cleve Livingston Mike Livingston Tim Mickelson Pete Raymond Lawrence Terry	Eight	6:06.01	1 SF	Bye		6:27.53	3 FA	6:11.61

Qualification legend: FA = Final A (medal); FB = Final B (non-medal); SF = Semifinal; R = Repechage

Sailing

Main article: Sailing at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Athlete	Event	Race							Total
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Points	Rank
Edward Bennett	Finn	16.0	21.0	20.0	13.0	DNF	DNF	27.0	148.0	22
Scott Allan Tim Stearn	Flying Dutchman	25.0	25.0	17.0	27.0	26.0	DSQ	20.0	140.0	23
Peter Dean Glen Foster	Tempest	14.0	DSQ	5.7	3.0	8.0	14.0	3.0	47.7
Richard Gates Alan Holt	Star	19.0	DSQ	19.0	13.0	3.0	18.0	17.0	89.0	10
William Allen William Bentsen Buddy Melges	Soling	0.0	3.0	5.7	8.0	0.0	0.0	—	8.7
Don Cohan Charles Horter John Marshall	Dragon	8.0	18.0	10.0	11.7	0.0	18.0	—	47.7

Shooting

Main article: Shooting at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Fourteen shooters represented the United States in 1972. Lones Wigger and John Writer won golds and Lanny Bassham and Vic Auer won silver medals.

Athlete	Event	Score	Rank
Bill McMillan	25 m rapid fire pistol	572	45
Jim McNally		589	10
Hershel Anderson	50 m pistol	540	34
Jimmie Doresy		544	28
Charles Davis	50 m running target	540	19
Edmund Moeller		550	9
Victor Auer	50 m rifle prone	598
Lones Wigger		597	7
Lanny Bassham	50 m rifle three positions	1157
John Writer		1166 WR
Lanny Bassham	300 m rifle three positions	1144	7
Lones Wigger		1155
Donald Haldeman	Trap	187	17
James Poindexter		192	6
Jack Johnson	Skeet	192	9
Tony Rosetti		186	34

Swimming

Main article: Swimming at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Key

• Note-Ranks for first round are against the entire field, ranks for semifinals and finals are within the swimmer's heat only
• Q = Qualified for the next round on rank
• q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser
• * = Swimmer competed in preliminary round(s) but not the final

Men

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Jerry Heidenreich	100 m freestyle	52.38	2 Q	52.31	1 Q	51.65
John Murphy		53.07	7 Q	53.17	4 q	52.08	4
Mark Spitz		52.46	3 Q	52.43	2 Q	51.22 WR
Steve Genter	200 m freestyle	1:55.42	2 Q	—		1:53.73
Mark Spitz		1:55.29	1 Q			1:52.78 WR
Fred Tyler		1:56.04	5 Q			1:54.96	5
Rick DeMont	400 m freestyle	4:05.70	3 Q	—		DSQ
Steve Genter		4:05.89 OR	4 Q			4:01.94
Tom McBreen		4:06.09	6 Q			4:02.64
Mike Burton	1500 m freestyle	16:09.56	2 Q	—		15:52.58 WR
Rick DeMont		DSQ				DSQ
Doug Northway		16:15.30	4 Q			16:09.25
Mitch Ivey	100 m backstroke	58.15	1 Q	57.99 OR	1 Q	58.48	4
John Murphy		59.93	3 Q	58.64	2 Q	58.35
Mike Stamm		58.63	2 Q	58.74	2 Q	57.70
Mitch Ivey	200 m backstroke	2:09.32	6 Q	—		2:04.33
Tim McKee		2:08.19	4 Q			2:07.29	5
Mike Stamm		2:07.51 OR	2 Q			2:04.09
Tom Bruce	100 m breaststroke	1:06.45	6 Q	1:06.05	3 Q	1:05.43
Mark Chatfield		1:05.89	1 Q	1:06.08	4 Q	1:06.01	4
John Hencken		1:05.96	2 Q	1:05.68 WR	1 Q	1:05.61
Rick Colella	200 m breaststroke	2:25.40	4 Q	—		2:24.28	4
John Hencken		2:24.88	3 Q			2:21.55 WR
Brian Job		2:26.91	11			Did not advance
Dave Edgar	100 m butterfly	57.30	5 Q	56.88	3 Q	56.11	5
Jerry Heidenreich		56.86	3 Q	56.18	2 Q	55.74
Mark Spitz		56.45	=1 Q	55.98	1 Q	54.27 WR
Robin Backhaus	200 m butterfly	2:03.11 OR	2 Q	—		2:03.23
Gary Hall Sr.		2:03.70 OR	3 Q			2:02.86
Mark Spitz		2:02.11 OR	1 Q			2:00.70 WR
Steve Furniss	200 m individual medley	2:09.97	3 Q	—		2:08.45
Gary Hall Sr.		2:09.85	2 Q			2:08.49	4
Tim McKee		2:10.44	4 Q			2:08.37
Steve Furniss	400 individual medley	4:39.33	5 Q	—		4:35.44	4
Gary Hall Sr.		4:38.95	4 Q			4:37.38	5
Tim McKee		4:40.78	6 Q			4:31.983
Gary Conelly* Dave Edgar David Fairbank* Jerry Heidenreich John Murphy Mark Spitz	4 × 100 m freestyle relay	3:28.84 WR	1 Q	—		3:26.42 WR
Mike Burton* Gary Conelly* Steve Genter John Kinsella Tom McBreen* Mark Spitz Fred Tyler	4 × 200 m freestyle relay	7:46.42 OR	1 Q	—		7:35.78 WR
Tom Bruce David Fairbank* Gary Hall Sr.* Jerry Heidenreich John Hencken* Mitch Ivey* Mark Spitz Mike Stamm	4 × 100 medley relay	3:51.98	1 Q	—		3:48.16 WR

Women

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Shirley Babashoff	100 m freestyle	59.51	=3 Q	59.05 OR	1 Q	59.02
Jenny Kemp		1:00.42	10 Q	59.93	5	Did not advance
Sandy Neilson		59.51	=3 Q	59.41	2 Q	58.59 OR
Shirley Babashoff	200 m freestyle	2:08.48	5 Q	—		2:04.33
Ann Marshall		2:08.12 OR	4 Q			2:05.45	4
Keena Rothhammer		2:07.48 OR	1 Q			2:04.92
Shirley Babashoff	400 m freestyle	4:31.98	8 Q	—		4:23.59	4
Keena Rothhammer		4:24.82	2 Q			4:24.22	6
Jenny Wylie		4:27.53 OR	4 Q			4:24.07	5
Jo Harshbarger	800 m freestyle	9:14.46	6 Q	—		9:01.21	6
Keena Rothhammer		8:59.69	1 Q			8:53.68 WR
Ann Simmons		9:11.94	5 Q			8:57.62	4
Susie Atwood	100 m backstroke	1:08.30	12 Q	1:06.26	2 Q	1:06.34
Melissa Belote		1:06.60	2 Q	1:06.08 OR	1 Q	1:05.78 OR
Karen Moe		1:07.69	6 Q	1:06.27	3 Q	1:06.69	4
Susie Atwood	200 m backstroke	2:22.13	2 Q	—		2:20.38
Melissa Belote		2:20.58	1 Q			2:19.19 WR
Lynn Skrifvars		2:26.40	13			Did not advance
Cathy Carr	100 m breaststroke	1:16.01	1 Q	1:15.00 OR	1 Q	1:13.58 WR
Judy Melick		1:16.75	3 Q	1:16.22	2 Q	1:16.34	5
Lynn Vidali		1:18.80	=22	Did not advance
Claudia Clevenger	200 m breaststroke	2:44.74	7 Q	—		2:42.88	4
Barbara Mitchell		2:47.05	13			Did not advance
Dana Schoenfield		2:43.97	4 Q			2:42.05
Ellie Daniel	100 m butterfly	1:04.33	3 Q	1:04.25	3 Q	1:04.08	6
Deena Deardurff		1:04.80	5 Q	1:03.97	1 Q	1:03.95	4
Dana Shrader		1:05.09	8 Q	1:04.54	3 Q	1:03.98	5
Lynn Colella	200 m butterfly	2:18.80	4 Q	—		2:16.34
Ellie Daniel		2:17.18 OR	1 Q			2:16.74
Karen Moe		2:18.15	2 Q			2:15.57 WR
Jenny Bartz	200 m individual medley	2:25.83	4 Q	—		2:24.55	4
Lynn Vidali		2:24.92	1 Q			2:24.06
Carolyn Woods		2:26.98	8 Q			2:27.42	8
Jenny Bartz	400 m individual medley	5:07.31	2 Q	—		5:05.56	4
Mary Montgomery		5:13.62	8 Q			5:09.98	6
Lynn Vidali		5:09.67	4 Q			5:13.06	7
Shirley Babashoff Jane Barkman Jenny Kemp Ann Marshall* Sandy Neilson Kim Peyton* Lynn Skrifvars*	4 × 100 m freestyle relay	3:58.93	2 Q	—		3:55.19 WR
Susie Atwood* Shirley Babashoff* Melissa Belote Cathy Carr Deena Deardurff Judy Melick* Sandy Neilson Dana Shrader*	4 × 100 m medley relay	4:27.57	1 Q	—		4:20.75 WR

Water polo

Main article: Water polo at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Summary

Team	Event	Preliminary round						Final round
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
United States men	Men's tournament	Romania W 4–3	Cuba W 7–6	Canada W 8–1	Mexico W 7–5	Yugoslavia W 5–3	1 Q	West Germany T 4–4	Hungary L 3–5	Soviet Union T 6–6	Italy W 6–5

Team Roster

• Peter Asch
• Steven Barnett
• Bruce Bradley
• Stanley Cole
• James Ferguson
• Eric Lindroth
• John Parker
• Gary Sheerer
• James Slatton
• Russell Webb
• Barry Weitzenberg

Weightlifting

Main article: Weightlifting at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Athlete	Event	Military press		Snatch		Clean & jerk		Total
		Weight	Rank	Weight	Rank	Weight	Rank	Weight	Rank
Dan Cantore	–67.5 kg	140.0	9	117.5	12	162.5	7	420.0	9
Russell Knipp	–75 kg	160.0	4	127.5	11	170.0	9	457.5	8
Fred Lowe		147.5	11	135.0	9	175.0	4	457.5	9
Mike Karchut	–82.5 kg	160.0	8	145.0	4	NVL		DNF
Phil Grippaldi	–90 kg	170.0	6	140.0	9	195.0	2	505.0	4
Rick Holbrook		162.5	9	145.0	7	197.5 OR	1	505.0	5
Alan Ball	–110 kg	167.5	18	162.5	6	185.0	14	515.0	11
Frank Capsouras		170.0	15	150.0	11	200.0	6	520.0	11
Ken Patera	+110 kg	212.5	3	NVL		DNF

Wrestling

Main article: Wrestling at the 1972 Summer Olympics

Key:

• TO – Victory by fall.
• SP - Win by technical superiority
• PP - Win by technical points
• D2 - Both wrestlers disqualified for passivity

Athlete	Event	Elimination stage								Final stage
		Opposition Result (Penalty points)	Opposition Result (Penalty points)	Opposition Result (Penalty points)	Opposition Result (Penalty points)	Opposition Result (Penalty points)	Opposition Result (Penalty points)	Opposition Result (Penalty points)	TPP	Opposition Result (Penalty points)	Opposition Result (Penalty points)	FPP	Rank
Sergio Gonzalez	Freestyle 48 kg	Javadi (IRN) T (2.0)	Lacour (FRG) T (2.0)	Möbius (GDR) T (2.0)	EL	—			6.0	Did not advance
James Carr	Freestyle 52 kg	Kim (KOR) L TO (4.0)	León (PER) W TO (0.0)	Bertie (CAN) L TO (4.0)	EL			—	8.0	Did not advance
Richard Sanders	Freestyle 57 kg	Hatziioannidis (GRE) W TO (0.0)	Dumitru (ROM) W TO (0.0)	Maggiolo (ARG) W TO (0.0)	Yanagida (JPN) L PP (3.0)	Nath (IND) W TO (0.0)	Shavov (BUL) W PP (1.0)	Klinga (HUN) W TO (0.0)	4.0	—		3.0
Gene Davis	Freestyle 62 kg	Oidov (MGL) W TO (0.0)	Abe (JPN) L SP (3.5)	Abdulbekov (URS) L TO (4.0)	EL			—	7.5	Did not advance
Dan Gable	Freestyle 68 kg	Sali (YUG) W TO (0.0)	Rost (FRG) W SP (0.5)	Ioannidis (GRE) W TO (0.0)	Wada (JPN) W PP (1.0)	Cieślak (POL) W TO (0.0)	—		1.5	—	Ashuraliyev (URS) W PP (1.0)	2.0
Wayne Wells	Freestyle 74 kg	Demirtaş (TUR) W TO (0.0)	Sereeter (MGL) W TO (0.0)	Musil (TCH) W TO (0.0)	Nitschke (GDR) W PP (1.0)	Robin (FRA) W PP (1.0)	Pavlov (BUL) W TO (0.0)	—	2.0	Karlsson (SWE) W PP (1.0)	Seger (FRG) W PP (1.0)	2.0
John Peterson	Freestyle 82 kg	Barraclough (GBR) W TO (0.0)	Neumari (FRG) W PP (1.0)	Wypiorczyk (POL) W TO (0.0)	Tediashvili (URS) L PP (3.0)	Iorga (ROM) W PP (1.0)	Stottmeister (GDR) W PP (1.0)	—	6.0	—
Ben Peterson	Freestyle 90 kg	Kurczewski (POL) W PP (1.0)	García (MEX) W TO (0.0)	Strakhov (URS) T (2.0)	Khorrami (IRN) W PP (1.0)	Morgan (CUB) W TO (0.0)	Petrov (BUL) W TO (0.0)	—	4.0	—		2.0
Henk Schenk	Freestyle 100 kg	Csatári (HUN) L PP (3.0)	Hecher (FRG) L PP (3.0)	EL			—		6.0	Did not advance
Chris Taylor	Freestyle +100 kg	Medved (URS) L PP (3.0)	Eskander-Filabi (IRN) W PP (1.0)	Isogai (JPN) W TO (0.0)	Dietrich (FRG) W PP (1.0)	Duraliev (BUL) W PP (1.0)	—		6.0	—	Did not advance
Wayne Holmes	Greco-Roman 48 kg	Drechsel (GDR) L TO (4.0)	Sarı (TUR) L PP (3.0)	EL			—		7.0	Did not advance
David Hazewinkel	Greco-Roman 57 kg	An (KOR) L PP (3.0)	Björlin (FIN) L PP (3.0)	EL					6.0	—	Did not advance
Jim Hazewinkel	Greco-Roman 62 kg	Koletić (YUG) L TO (4.0)	Păun (ROM) L PP (3.0)	EL				—	7.0	—			Did not advance
Robert Buzzard	Greco-Roman 68 kg	Ranzi (ITA) L TO (4.0)	Hışırlı (TUR) L TO (4.0)	EL				—	8.0	—		Did not advance
Gary Neist	Greco-Roman 74 kg	Kecman (YUG) L PP (3.0)	Karlsson (SWE) L PP (3.0)	EL			—		6.0	—	Did not advance
Jay Robinson	Greco-Roman 82 kg	Ostrowski (POL) L PP (3.0)	Blanco (ARG) W TO (0.0)	Yağmur (TUR) L TO (4.0)	EL		7.0	Did not advance
Wayne Baughman	Greco-Roman 90 kg	Andersson (SWE) W PP (1.0)	Kowalewski (FRG) L TO (4.0)	Pércsi (HUN) L SP (3.5)	EL		—		8.5	Did not advance
Burke Deadrich	Greco-Roman 100 kg	Yakovenko (URS) L TO (4.0)	Skrzydlewski (POL) L TO (4.0)	EL			—		8.0	—	Did not advance
Chris Taylor	Greco-Roman +100 kg	Dietrich (FRG) L TO (4.0)	Kment (TCH) L D2 (4.0)	EL		—			8.0	—	Did not advance

Water skiing (demonstration sport)

Men's slalom:

• Wayne Grimditch - 38.5 points, silver medal
• Ricky McCormick - 27.5 points, 9th place

Men's Figure skiing:

• Ricky McCormick - 5340 points, gold medal
• Wayne Grimditch - 4510 points, silver medal

Men's Jump:

• Ricky McCormick - 43.75 points, gold medal
• Wayne Grimditch - 30.15 points, 14th place

Women's slalom:

• Liz Allen-Shetter - 35.0 points, gold medal

Women's Figure skiing:

• Liz Allen-Shetter - 1550 points, 5th place

Women's Jump:

• Liz Allen-Shetter - 25.70 points, bronze medal

See also

• United States at the 1971 Pan American Games
• United States at the 1972 Summer Paralympics