A Film That Is Deserving of Attention

They have been training for months, under the code name “Operation Gold,” preparing themselves for any possible act of terrorism during the Sydney Olympics.

These Special Forces troops will be stationed at four bases around Sydney, on call 24 hours a day, from mid-August through late October, equipped to deal with threats ranging from chemical weapons to ocean liner hijackings.

“[This is] a warning to anybody who wants to interfere with the Olympic Games: We will interfere with them,” Special Forces commander Philip McNamara said during a meeting of military officers in Sydney this week. “We are prepared to meet any challenge.”

“Operation Gold” is the legacy of the tragedy of the 1972 Munich Olympics, when 11 Israeli athletes and coaches were taken hostage by Palestinian terrorists and killed, most of them during a failed rescue attempt at a Munich airport. At a horrible cost, the Munich massacre sounded a warning for subsequent Olympic Games, teaching future organizers hard lessons in security and police control.

Lest anyone forget, a new documentary film about the Munich tragedy drives those lessons home in indelible and heartbreaking fashion. “One Day in September” deals with the events of Sept. 5, 1972, when eight Palestinian terrorists sneaked into the athletes’ village, kidnapped 11 members of the Israeli team and held them hostage, demanding the release of 200 prisoners being held in Israeli prisons.

Two Israelis were killed while the terrorists were breaking into the team’s dormitory. Nine others were murdered at the airport when, after a tortuous day of negotiations, an ambush-and-rescue plan by local police was thwarted by miscommunication, disorganization and incompetence.

“One Day in September” retells the agonizing story through eyewitness accounts, among them the first interview with the last surviving terrorist, Jamal Al Gashay, who has been living in secrecy in Africa. It is, ultimately, one long tale of despair, seeing nine lives hang in the balance while officials and organizers bungle one attempt after another to save them.

According to Al Gashay, the terrorists had a virtual free pass into the athletes’ village. The 1972 Olympics were the first postwar international showcase for West Germany and organizers, intent on demonstrating to the world the openness of the “new Germany,” purposely relaxed security during the Games--banning police from the athletes’ village and replacing them with a few unarmed security guards.

Having to scale a chain-link fence to get inside the compound, the terrorists were spotted by members of the U.S. team, returning after curfew from a long night of bar-hopping. Mistaking the terrorists for fellow athletes--the gunmen were dressed in sweatsuits, their weapons hidden inside athletic tote-bags--the Americans happily helped their “comrades” scale the fence in return for the same.

Later that day, during negotiations for the release of the hostages, an armed rescue team was sent into the village, with several agents positioned on the roof of the Israeli dormitory, awaiting the word to break inside. The ambush had to be aborted; each dormitory room was equipped with a television set, and with the hostage-situation receiving worldwide TV coverage, the terrorists were able to watch every move the rescue team made outside.

A second rescue attempt was staged at the airport, with snipers assigned to gun down the terrorists on the tarmac, but the plan imploded from bad planning at virtually every angle: not enough snipers (authorities guessed there were only five terrorists, instead of eight, so only five snipers were deployed), snipers were positioned poorly (one was hit by friendly fire), no walkie-talkie communication between the shooters.

The horrific result: During the ambush, one terrorist made his way to the helicopter carrying the hostages and lobbed a grenade, killing everyone inside.

Arthur Cohn, the film’s producer, says he initially envisioned a dramatic recreation of the Munich massacre, similar to what “Oliver Stone did with ‘JFK’ But we realized it would not be possible to work with actors and keep the authenticity of what happened.”

Cohn and director Kevin MacDonald instead chose a documentary approach--with a plot line that builds like a drama, particularly when Al Gashay’s clinical version of events is juxtaposed with the anguished recollections of the widow of Andre Spitzer, the slain Israeli fencing coach.

“I was very intrigued that for 27 long years, this incredible tragedy and human drama had not been dealt with by film directors,” says Cohn, a five-time Academy Award winner.

“One Day in September” could make it six. The film is one of five nominated for Best Documentary Feature, and it ranks with “Hoop Dreams” and “When We Were Kings” as the finest sports-related documentaries of recent years.

Yet, for the moment, it remains a film in search of a distributor. Cohn, who screened the film in Los Angeles in January, says he is hoping to complete a deal in the next two weeks with a “proper distributor, one that will do it justice.”

That much, it would seem, is overdue.

More than an Academy Award, “One Day in September” is a film that deserves an audience.

HARD WIND BLOWING

Apparently, you don’t need Juan Antonio Samaranch to tell you which way the wind blows.

Days after the International Olympic Committee president toured Stadium Australia, site of the Sydney Olympic track and field competition, and pronounced it the best ever for a Summer Games, several athletes have voiced complaints about swirling winds inside the facility.

During last week’s Australian track championships at the Olympic stadium, men’s 100-meter champion Matt Shirvington said the wind blew so strongly and erratically, he could feel it change directions during a sprint heat.

“I’ve never felt that before,” Shirvington said. “And it will definitely affect a fast race.”

After winning the women’s 100-meter championship, Melinda Gainsford-Taylor proposed moving the Australian Olympic trials, scheduled for Stadium Australia in August, to Brisbane.

However, John Whatmore, designer of the stadium, claims wind patterns in February are not the same as those in late September. Whatmore said last week’s gusts were caused by a southerly wind and that by September, the wind will be blowing in a different direction.

“I think we took every step that was possible to reduce the wind effect inside the stadium but there’s always going to be some wind effects in a windy place,” Whatmore said.

FIFA 1, IOC 1?

Samaranch met with international soccer officials last week in an effort to free more top players for this year’s Olympic soccer tournament and secure more over-age exemptions to the Olympic 23-and-under age limit.

For the moment, call it a split decision.

FIFA, international soccer’s governing body, refused to increase the number of overage players from the current total of three per team, but is considering rescheduling some important European games in conflict with the Olympics, scheduled Sept. 15-Oct. 1.

Franco Carraro, president of the Italian professional soccer league and a member of the IOC, proposed moving Champions League and UEFA Cup matches from September to February to accommodate the Olympics.

“It would be a sign of respect . . . to the Olympic Games,” Carraro said. “The Olympic calendar has been known for seven years, so we can’t say it’s a surprise.”

With most European leagues beginning their seasons in August, Samaranch said he will consider moving the start of the Athens Olympic soccer tournament up to late July to avoid a similar conflict in 2004.