Monaco 1972. Una tragedia che poteva essere evitata

In 1972, Pietro Mennea was about to realize his dream of participating in the Olympics for the first time. In Munich – in the heart of Europe, scarred by the Cold War – there were days of great joy among hundreds of athletes of every nationality. But it was short-lived. Because on the night between September 4th and 5th, a Palestinian commando entered the Olympic Village and took Israeli athletes hostage. Two were killed immediately. Nine more died the following day at the airport. Drawing on his firsthand experience of those tragic days, Mennea – who combined sporting success with sincere civic and political commitment, reaching all the way to the European Parliament – in this well-documented essay reconstructs the controversial landscape of the Olympic world and the international plots that intertwine politics and terrorism, East and West, Israel and Palestine. To reread a piece of history, but also to understand the mistakes that must not be repeated.