Uniting power of the Olympics: Uli Hoeneß remembers Munich 1972 & Klara Bühl Paris 2024

The Olympics are more than just a sporting event. They are a celebration of togetherness. On 26 October, a referendum will be held on whether Munich should once again put forward a bid to host the Olympic Games. In member magazine ‘51’, Uli Hoeneß recalls the spirit of optimism in 1972, while Klara Bühl reports on her experience at Paris 2024. Both show how the Olympics unite people – today as they did yesterday.

There were only a few minutes left before the official closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics began. Athletes from all over the world were waiting in front of the Stade de France for the ceremony to start. Suddenly, someone turned up the sound system. Moments later, the first people started dancing. There was no need to wait around quietly. Little by little, the music took hold of one person after another, and suddenly everyone was dancing together to the same rhythm, regardless of which nation they came from.

For Bühl, this was one of the most memorable moments she took home with her to Munich. The FC Bayern Women player was part of this sporting movement on 11 August 2024, “and at that moment you could really feel what the Olympics are all about: togetherness, across nations. It has its own special magic that you can't escape.” Not even the Germans, who are often said to be unemotional and rather stiff when it comes to dancing. “It took us the longest,” Bühl recalls with a laugh. “But then everyone in our delegation joined in. It was a real flash mob, a goosebump experience, heartfelt and moving.”

Hoeneß smiled at that anecdote. In order to participate in the 1972 Olympics in Munich, he had specifically signed on as an amateur when he transferred to FC Bayern in the summer of 1970, since professionals were not allowed to participate. “The Olympics were being held near my birthplace of Ulm and in the city where I started out as a footballer – that was a huge incentive for me,” he said. Franz Beckenbauer joked at the time that his young teammate was still working part-time as a gardener at Säbener Straße. The then president, Wilhelm Neudecker, quipped that Hoeneß stood at the franking machine in the post office of the club’s offices after training sessions. None of that mattered to Hoeneß – he enjoyed standing in line in the canteen of the Olympic Village with American swimming star and seven-time gold medallist Mark Spitz or the then 16-year-old high jump winner Ulrike Meyfarth. Sport brings people together – both the participants and the spectators in the stands, as Hoeneß still feels today: “The Olympics are a great idea.”

Olympics unite people

Bühl did not witness Meyfarth's sensational gold medal win in 1972 – understandably so, as she was only born in 2000 – but if the risk of injury for inexperienced athletes were not so great, she would like to try her hand at high jump. Being a sports enthusiast, she also enjoys following disciplines that are otherwise rarely in the spotlight during the Olympic Games. Surfing, for example, impressed her greatly in 2024, and she is also captivated by athletics on television. “In my eyes, that's exactly what the Olympic Games are all about – coming together through sport, looking beyond the playing field, opening up to new things. It goes far beyond sport. I'm an absolute Olympic fan because it brings people together.”

Unlike Hoeneß, Bühl did not initially stay in the Olympic Village with Germany’s women's football team. It was only when they reached the semi-finals that they moved to Paris, ultimately winning bronze. “The Olympics have always been a childhood dream of mine because I think they are the biggest sporting event in the world. Because I’m so interested in other sports myself, it was super exciting to be there live and experience the whole thing.” She said it was “impressive that so many athletes come together to represent their country. It inspires me, motivates me, excites me.” And she realised once again that this goes beyond sport when she grabbed bikes with Sydney Lohmann to ride through the Olympic Village. “You meet so many people there. You see athletes pursuing their dreams, who have a similar goal to be successful – for their country, but also for themselves personally. And the beauty of it is that so many personalities, so many cultures come together.” Last year, the Germany squad were allowed to spend two nights in the Olympic Village after reaching the semi-finals – “and we really made the most of every minute,” Bühl admitted.

Hoeneß left the Olympic Village in 1972, but not voluntarily, rather under the most dramatic circumstances imaginable. The historically colourful Games were abruptly interrupted by the terrorist attack on the Israeli team. The then Bayern player was among those who advocated abandoning the Games (“I simply couldn't imagine cheering on sport again after such a traumatic event”), but he has long since revised his opinion. “Anything other than continuing would simply have sent the wrong signal,” he says now. “We had to show that such actions achieve nothing and have no effect. It was an act of senseless violence.”

Sign of worldliness

Although the 1972 Games were no longer the same after the terrorist attack, Hoeneß would like to revive the incredible atmosphere that inspired everyone before it in Munich. “I can still feel today what a spirit of optimism prevailed in the city; you could really feel it. The Olympic Games are always a catalyst for development, beyond sport, affecting the infrastructure of the host city and society as a whole. Munich has often proven that we are outstanding hosts.” Therefore, according to FC Bayern’s honorary president, “I would like to encourage citizens to vote for the Olympics on 26 October.”

Bühl has researched the 1972 Games. She knows that the Olympics “not only changed Munich but also its people”, and she experienced something similar last year in Paris: “Hosting the Games helps you grow – as individuals, as a community, as a city.” In her view, hosting the Games again would be “a great opportunity for Munich to develop further, including in the areas of sustainability and cohesion.” The infrastructure is not the worst; venues are already available in the Olympic Park, the Allianz Arena, the SAP Garden and BMW Park, and Munich continues to demonstrate that the Olympics can be organised sustainably. While Olympic villages elsewhere have remained unused, here they are now home to students from all over the world.

The Olympics showed her “that you can grow”, Bühl concluded. It's the little moments that have a big impact. She still remembers how she took a photo with an African athlete, who let her wear his hat for the picture. “You grow beyond boundaries; I think that's a key message of the Olympic Games,” Bühl said. She experienced that last year, while Hoeneß had that experience in 1972 – and now it's up to Munich, where in 1972 the colours of the Olympic design alone conveyed a deep meaning: sunny yellow, cheeky apple green, delicate sky blue, cheerful orange. Designer Otl Aicher wanted to symbolise Bavaria's mountain and lake landscape, while at the same time avoiding black, white, red and purple – the colours of power. In 1972, Munich, then a young cosmopolitan city, was to radiate a new era. By hosting the Games once again, its citizens can once more send a message of worldliness, of togetherness, and of how Munich has developed.

This text appeared in the latest edition of members’ magazine ‘51’