To start with I went to the Munich Olympics by default. My boss veteran sports writer J.K.Addo- Twum (now Nana Addo-Twum) should have covered the Games for the Daily Graphic but he stepped aside at the last moment and I gleefully stepped into his shoes.

Addo Twum was not particularly fond of traveling and on second thought he felt like giving an opportunity to his young adventurous assistant to taste his first Olympiad.

I literally stepped into his shoes because I used his name for the accreditation. The explanation is that even though the picture on the ID card was mine the name wasn’t.

The accreditation papers had been posted to Germany two months earlier. In those days the accreditation process was not all that stringent and I only had to claim I was Addo Twum from the Daily Graphic, Accra , Ghana, took the picture and presto I was an accredited journalist to cover the Games. There was no problem as long as I had the large accreditation dog chain card around my neck I had assess to all facilities at the Press Centre and I could also visit the Games Village.

Together with my three other Ghanaian colleagues Willie Kwateng, Sports Editor of the Ghanaian Times, Eugene Thompson, Sports Editor of the Ghana News Agency and Nana Essilfie Conduah Ghana News Agency correspondent based in London we had quite an exciting time and patronised quite well the Press Bar that run 24 hours. Soon we were able to pick phrases like “ein bier bitte” (one beer please) “danke gut” (thank you)

The press centre was a beehive of activities and the gap between the third world media and those of the advanced countries was very distinct. While journalists from the first world were filing their reports right from the stadium and sports centres we had to type our stories and send them by cable. The cable office in Accra would then call the various press houses to collect the stories.

The typing pool at the press centre was full of Olympia brand type writers and little did I know that there were differences in keyboards for various languages. Here I was one day typing my stories when I realized I was typing some strange characters. I looked up to see a notice that it was the Spanish section. I quietly moved to the English section I suspect nobody took notice. Everybody was busy at work

The Press restaurant had a heavily subsidized package and you could eat till you drop dead with free wine. Willie always topped the wine drinking chart and I had enough tomato ketchup that could sustain me for three months. It was great camaderie at the press centre as we made many friends especially from other African countries and cracked jokes. Peter Osugo from the Daily Times of Nigeria kept on complaining jokingly that the Germans were constantly calling his name. “Bitte” (please) in German sounds like Peter so Osugo kept on turning his head whenever this commonplace word is used thinking they are calling him. How we laughed at him. Tommy Sithole another likeable character from Zimbabwe who was then exiled in Tanzania kept on advising that we should shun our poor African sense of maintenance and leave the wonderful German showpiece intact. I am happy to report that Sithole progressed in the Olympic family to become President of the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee. We met again in Seoul 1988 in different categories this time.- me Olympic Attache and he Olympic boss. Sorry for the digression. Back to Munich

The British journalists stole the show at the press centre as most of them sported T shirts

with the inscription “Bedford for gold”. David Bedford was an outstanding British long distance runner and the British media had highly tipped him to win but in the end he was nearly overlapped. You can imagine the discomfiture of the British journalists at the press centre after the race.

This was in sharp contrast with the hilarious mood of the African media when John Akii Bua of Uganda won the 400 metres hurdles. Instantly all of African journalists became Ugandans and accepted kudos from our white colleagues.

Akii Bua’s victory completely compensated for the Black Stars humiliating 4-0 defeat at the hands of the German Democratic Republic which was played immediately after the grand opening ceremony at the giant Munich Olympic Stadium that left all of us with long faces.

The surprise was that the Black Stars had had an intensive European tour in preparation for the Games and Ghanaians expected a far more inspiring performance. What they put up was most disappointing

Later events showed that discipline was lacking in camp. Coaches Asebi Boakye and C.K.Gyamfi did not appear to have much control over the boys and German technical director Karl Marotzke on the other hand appeared too strict for the players.

I was with the team when Marotzke was reviewing the disastrous show against East Germany and trying to psyche them up for the next match against Poland some of the players showed open rebellion. Marotzke told them to expect a stiffer opposition from Poland. In his typical German fiery mood he specifically mentioned winger Lubanski. “I say don’t only police him, look into his eyes “,he told the Black Stars. One arrogant Black Star player shot up to say that Marotzke was rather frightening them before they take to the pitch. Obviously Marotzke’s advice fell on deaf ears. The Black Stars were beaten 4-0 with Lubanski creating a lot of problems with his fast runs on the wing.

Of course with such indiscipline the Black Stars could not stand even lowly rated Colombia in their last qualifying match and lost 3-1 to return home quite early.

Meanwhile as the Games were gathering momentum we woke up one morning to find the whole Olympic Village and Press centre surrounded by the military. Helicopters were hovering all around the place and you could see tension at close quarters. As we were all wondering what the matter could be a hurriedly packed press conference was organised by Munich Police who disclosed that some Palestinian bandits had stormed the Israeli dormitory at the Games Village and taken 11 Israeli athletes hostage. The Games were therefore on hold as negotiations were going on with the kidnappers he said.

There were periodic press briefings on the incident till far into the night only to be told the following morning that the 11 athletes had been killed in a shootout with the kidnappers.

Then began the great debate whether the Games should be abandoned or not. Opinion was sharply divided but International Olympic Committee President Avery Brundage of the US insisted that the IOC should not succumb to terrorists and that the Games must continue This was accepted after a huge debate and the following day a memorial service was held at the Munich Stadium for the slain athletes.

Human memory being what it is the solemn atmosphere changed a few hours after the memorial service as athletes assembled to continue with the games backed by a cheering crowd. However the atmosphere in Games Village was never the same. Infact some athletes and officials had lost appetite for the sports festival and left home. Many post Games activities planned for officials were cancelled. The daily announcement of the tonnage of food and drinks consumed by athletes and officials that blurred on the stadium loudspeakers were no longer exciting. Team officials were busily checking on their flights back home.

I had traveled together with Willie Kwateng on Ghana Airways to Germany and I was the custodian of the tickets. It was when everybody was talking about return flight that I decided to look for our tickets which I had kept in one of the beautiful folders specially made for the media. To my astonishment the tickets were nowhere to be found and we had less than a week to the end of the Games. An official report was made and the promise was that contacts would be established with Accra for fresh tickets to be issued. We checked regularly and the tickets never came till the Games ended with a massive stampede at the airport as everybody wanted to catch the first available plane.

Willie and I had the uncomfortable duty to see off the Ghana contingent and our two media colleagues at the airport and that was when C.K.Mann’s song “ Nkrofo reko a mede mennko bi” meaning my people are leaving me behind came to my mind.

Well the consolation was we were told the Games Village was still available to us and with our Olympic accreditation card we could still eat free and enjoy free bus and train service. The snag was that the Olympic Village was deserted leaving a handful of stern faced German security men who were unwilling or unable to communicate with us in English

Willie was completely downhearted but I decided to make the best out of the situation hoping that the air tickets would arrive soon. Meanwhile I decided to storm town while Willie opted to stay at the Games Village

I asked for directions to the city centre and took a train to Marienplatz. I had a whole lot to see but I was attracted by a big signboard. SEX SHOP. My curiosity took me to the shop and for the first time in my life I saw all kinds of artificial sex symbols in various designs and shapes. Then I heard a bell ring inviting people to a film show inside the shop. I saw an elderly man enter and I followed him. That was the first time I saw what was later described to me as blue film. I spent only five minutes in that poorly lit room and surreptitiously sneaked out and took a train back to the Games Village to inform Willie of my traumatic experience.

After a long plea that Willie should see things for himself he obliged but the shop was closed at the time we got there so we made it the following day. I stood outside the shop as Willie went in He returned just after five minutes sweating and murmuring ‘nkwaseasem ara kwa” loosely translated meaning “foolish things”.

On our way back to the Games Village we checked on the airline and luckily the tickets had arrived. You can check from the archives, Willie and I hold the record of being the last foreigners to leave the Munich Olympic Village in 1972.

Post Script; Willie Kwateng died three years ago after a protracted illness. Eugene Thompson now lives in London with his family after retirng from the Ghana News Agency. Nana Essilfie Conduah is a lecturer at the African University of Journalism in Accra.