More printer's pie today. Munich Olympics matchboxes lead to musings on what has and hasn't changed in nigh-on 40 years.
The two boxes were collected when we visited the Munich Olympic design studio run by Otl Aicher, with assistance from Ian McLaren. (Of whom more another day). The 1972 Olympic graphics were hugely influential and stand as a benchmark against which more recent offerings will be judged.
1972 was also the year of Waldi, the first official Olympic Mascot.
And it was the year that a young sprinter, Charlie Francis, had the conversations with other Munich competitors which persuaded him that racing "clean" was not an option. Fast forward to Seoul in 1987 and the Francis-coached Ben Johnson's disqualification for use of a steroid, stanozolol. Francis's obituary appeared the same day that the 2012 mascots were unveiled.
The Games were overshadowed when members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage and eventually murdered by Black September, a militant group with ties to Yasser Arafat’s Fatah organization.
We don't imagine we're the only ones who see an unfortunate echo in the design of our new strange couple. Let's be optimistic.
Different Stuff Same Day. In another strange conjunction, the cycling world is today digesting Floyd Landis's claims about doping in the sport (SSDD). Makes Mandeville's choice of headgear looks a bit unfortunate.
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