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Today, September 11, 2022, marks several historic dates: The 9/11 attacks took place 21 years ago; 49 years ago, Chile's president Salvador Allende was toppled in a military coup and committed suicide, leading to the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet; today in 2022, Queen Elizabeth II has left her beloved Balmoral Castle for the final time, with her coffin being taken from there towards Edinburgh and London; and 50 years ago today, the originally "serene Games" of Munich 1972 came to a close. The closing ceremony was much more somber and took one day later than originally planned, with the Bavarian dancers in their traditional costumes who were scheduled to perform standing in silence and a moment of silence for the victims of the atrocious terrorist attack on Israel's Olympic team six days before. A inflatable rainbow spanning along the perimeter of the Olympic Stadium lit up the night sky. To the sorrowful sounds of trumpets the Olympic Flame was extinguished. Only during the entrance of the athletes of all nations which were still present in Munich (the teams of Israel, Egypt, Algeria and Philippines had flown home after the terrorist attack) and after the official end of the closing ceremony, there were still some joyous moments with the athletes dancing on the infield to the sounds of Beethoven's Ode to Joy and a pop arrangement of the Munich 1972 fanfare. I hope you can open this video also from other countries than Germany - but here is some footage of that closing ceremony, starting at minute 09:38: Report made in 1997 by Bavarian public broadcaster BR about the closing day of the Munich 1972 Games So this marks the end of the 50 year anniversary of the Munich 1972 Games. And even if it is under much different conditions, the anniversary ends on a much more somber note than how it began, just like the Munich 1972 Games themselves. Back then, much of the originally happy and festive mood had gone after the senseless kidnapping and killing of the Israeli hostages. Now, the world is mourning Queen Elizabeth II which already had spent 20 years on the throne by the time that her husband Philip and her daughter Anne travelled to the Games of Munich. Four years later, Princess Anne would perform in the equestrian events of Montreal 1976, Games in a much less innocent and naive atmosphere, with heavy security measures, especially for the Israeli Olympic team. Munich 1972 presented a seismic shift in how the world perceived the conflicts in the Middle East and international terrorism. After the disastrous attempt to free the Israeli hostages at Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base, Germany formed the GSG-9 special unit which was successful in freeing the passengers and crew members aboard the Lufthansa plane "Landshut" which was kidnapped and abducted by Palestinian terorrists to Mogadishu in Somalia in October of 1977. 24 years after Mogadishu, the world got to know a whole new monstrous dimension of terrorism when the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked - 29 years to the day after the final moments of Munich 1972. It shows that we have to learn from historic experiences - and history keeps repeating itself, not always, but astonishingly often. I sincerely hope that we still strive to become a better humanity and to live in peace. Because then, the eleven Israeli athletes and coaches who lost their lives during the Munich 1972 Games have not died in vain. I dedicate this tribute to them and even if I wasn't even alive back then, I am deeply sorry that my home country Germany did not enough to protect or at least finally save their lives. It was a terrible mistake, born out of incredible naiveté and arrogance on the organisers' and politicians' part. Munich 1972 had the potential of becoming marvellous Olympic Games, much lighter, more open, less martial than the Berlin 1936 Games. In the end, the organisers' negligence led to another Olympic catastrophe on German soil. It remains to be shown whether Germany will ever host Olympic Games again and then finally pull off a truly happy, secure and successful edition of the Games. 50 years later, this is still a dream unfulfilled.

Here at this (australian) link; a nice article about the corgi's of the queen.. >> Queen Elizabeth II's Corgis: Everything You Need To Know About The Royal Dogs | Marie Claire Australia

I can see them going cap in hand to Pyeongchang. Same number of years as between the two Innsbruck games too. I think that's more likely than taking the risk of being rejected by Norway again, or taking any more drastic action to change the nature of the Games such as splitting indoor and outdoor events.

Her length of tenure is incredible. My Dad was born in 1951, me 1988 and my niece 2013, 62 years and separating and only one head of state was ever known. One of the last connections to the War, to an era of monarchy and leadership that has long past. Now only one woman sits on a throne of Europe. And she too is probably in the twilight of her life. It has been so long there is a lot of genuine confusion about the process of going through a change in who sits on the Throne of Canada. The level of general ignorance is kinda astounding to be honest. Previous governments have streamlined the process to make things a little more Quebec-proof. But the whining about the simple ceremony to proclaim Charles today at Rideau Hall was laughable.

The picture of Queen Elizabeth II appointing the 15th British Prime Minister of her reign just two days before her death sums up perfectly just what a profound and seismic period this is for our country. Whether you approve of the institution of monarchy or not, it is simply impossible to imagine that her record will ever be equalled, let alone surpassed. For just over 11 of the 70 years of her reign, I lived and worked just a few miles from the Sandringham estate in Norfolk and it was this that took me to nearby Wolferton a few weeks before the initial Covid lockdown, when Her Majesty opened a new pumping station that replaced the one which her father had opened as King in 1948. The connection that part of the world has to the Royal Family is particularly strong and those of us who worked there in the media never shared the excitement of colleagues in other parts of the country about a royal visit because of the depth of that connection. Perhaps it was for that reason that, as I heard the news of her passing while checking into a hotel in Liverpool where I've been attending a conference over the past couple of days and as I watched God Save The King sung before the start of play in the Test match at the Oval this morning, I felt much more emotional than I had expected to. We always knew the day would eventually come but, given you'd have to be nearing 80 years old to be able to remember any other head of state in this country, one cannot overstate its significance.

It's exceedingly unlikely we're going to see a new candidate for 2030, so let's get that notion out of our heads that the IOC can call up a city and magically whisk them into the discussion. For 2034, sure. Not for 2030. Especially if it's some crazy multi-country bid that you're trying to make up on the fly. Barcelona had their chance. It didn't work. It's a pipe dream to think they're still a viable candidate for 2030

It is actually sort of funny that in all the reports in German media I read about yesterday‘s ceremony (or in the lead up to the anniversary), there was not a single mention anywhere of Fencing 1976. I wasn‘t even aware he was there yesterday. Also tells you something about his standing here.