Gymnastics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's horizontal bar

Men's horizontal bar at the Games of the XX Olympiad
Mitsuo Tsukahara (on the rings)
Venue	Olympiahalle
Dates	27 August – 1 September
Competitors	113 from 26 nations
Winning score	19.725
Medalists
Mitsuo Tsukahara  Japan Sawao Kato  Japan Shigeru Kasamatsu  Japan
← 1968 1976 →

The men's horizontal bar competition was one of eight events for male competitors in artistic gymnastics at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. The qualification and final rounds took place on August 27, 29 and September 1 at the Olympiahalle. There were 113 competitors from 26 nations; nations entering the team event had 6 gymnasts while other nations could have up to 3 gymnasts.^[1] Japan reached the height of its success in the event this year, thoroughly dominating the event by taking the top five places (with the final Japanese gymnast placing 10th). Mitsuo Tsukahara was the winner, with Sawao Kato second and Shigeru Kasamatsu third. Japan had now won the event in four of the last five Games. The only finalist from outside Japan was Nikolai Andrianov of the Soviet Union.

Background

This was the 13th appearance of the event, which is one of the five apparatus events held every time there were apparatus events at the Summer Olympics (no apparatus events were held in 1900, 1908, 1912, or 1920). Four of the six finalists from 1968 returned: joint gold medalists Mikhail Voronin of the Soviet Union and Akinori Nakayama of Japan, bronze medalist Eizo Kenmotsu of Japan, and fourth-place finisher Klaus Köste of East Germany. Kenmotsu was the reigning (1970) world champion, with Nakayama the runner-up and Köste tied with Takuji Hayata of Japan (who was not on the Munich Olympic team).^[1]

Liechtenstein, New Zealand, and North Korea each made their debut in the men's horizontal bar. The United States made its 12th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the inaugural 1896 Games.

Competition format

Each nation entered a team of six gymnasts or up to three individual gymnasts. All entrants in the gymnastics competitions performed both a compulsory exercise and a voluntary exercise for each apparatus. The scores for all 12 exercises were summed to give an individual all-around score. (One gymnast who entered the all-around competition did not perform on the vault.) These exercise scores were also used for qualification for the apparatus finals. The two exercises (compulsory and voluntary) for each apparatus were summed to give an apparatus score; the top 6 in each apparatus participated in the finals; others were ranked 7th through 113th. Half of the scores from the preliminary carried over to the final.^[1][2]

Schedule

All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

Results

One-hundred thirteen gymnasts competed in the compulsory and optional rounds on August 27 and 29. The six highest scoring gymnasts advanced to the final on September 1.

Rank	Gymnast	Nation	Preliminary			Final
			Compulsory	Voluntary	Total	1⁄2 Prelim.	Final	Total
	Mitsuo Tsukahara	Japan	9.75	9.90	19.65	9.825	9.900	19.725
	Sawao Kato	Japan	9.85	9.70	19.55	9.775	9.750	19.525
	Shigeru Kasamatsu	Japan	9.75	9.75	19.50	9.750	9.700	19.450
4	Eizo Kenmotsu	Japan	9.65	9.75	19.40	9.700	9.650	19.350
5	Akinori Nakayama	Japan	9.65	9.60	19.25	9.625	9.600	19.225
6	Nikolai Andrianov	Soviet Union	9.60	9.60	19.20	9.600	9.500	19.100
7	Wolfgang Thüne	East Germany	9.50	9.65	19.15	Did not advance
8	Eberhard Gienger	West Germany	9.40	9.65	19.05	Did not advance
	Edvard Mikaelian	Soviet Union	9.45	9.60	19.05	Did not advance
10	Matthias Brehme	East Germany	9.30	9.55	18.85	Did not advance
	Teruichi Okamura	Japan	9.40	9.45	18.85	Did not advance
	Vladimir Schukin	Soviet Union	9.35	9.50	18.85	Did not advance
	Mikhail Voronin	Soviet Union	9.35	9.50	18.85	Did not advance
14	Li Song-sob	North Korea	9.30	9.50	18.80	Did not advance
15	Klaus Köste	East Germany	9.20	9.55	18.75	Did not advance
	Reinhard Rychly	East Germany	9.30	9.45	18.75	Did not advance
	Andrzej Szajna	Poland	9.15	9.60	18.75	Did not advance
18	Günter Spies	West Germany	9.25	9.40	18.65	Did not advance
19	Alexander Maleev	Soviet Union	9.20	9.35	18.55	Did not advance
20	Wolfgang Klotz	East Germany	9.05	9.45	18.50	Did not advance
21	Henri Boërio	France	9.05	9.40	18.45	Did not advance
	Robert Bretscher	Switzerland	9.15	9.30	18.45	Did not advance
	Steven Hug	United States	9.15	9.30	18.45	Did not advance
	Kim Song-il	North Korea	9.10	9.35	18.45	Did not advance
	Jürgen Paeke	East Germany	9.10	9.35	18.45	Did not advance
26	Kim Song-yu	North Korea	9.00	9.40	18.40	Did not advance
	Viktor Klimenko	Soviet Union	9.15	9.25	18.40	Did not advance
	Mikolaj Kubica	Poland	8.95	9.45	18.40	Did not advance
	Constantin Petrescu	Romania	9.00	9.40	18.40	Did not advance
30	Janez Brodnik	Yugoslavia	9.05	9.30	18.35	Did not advance
31	Walter Mossinger	West Germany	8.90	9.35	18.25	Did not advance
32	Christian Guiffroy	France	8.90	9.30	18.20	Did not advance
	Imre Molnár	Hungary	8.90	9.30	18.20	Did not advance
	Peter Rohner	Switzerland	8.85	9.35	18.20	Did not advance
35	George Greenfield	United States	8.80	9.35	18.15	Did not advance
	Zoltán Magyar	Hungary	8.85	9.30	18.15	Did not advance
	Petre Mihaiuc	Romania	8.90	9.25	18.15	Did not advance
38	Ladislav Morava	Czechoslovakia	8.65	9.45	18.10	Did not advance
39	Miloš Vratič	Yugoslavia	8.80	9.25	18.05	Did not advance
	Makoto Sakamoto	United States	9.20	8.85	18.05	Did not advance
41	Heinz Häussler	West Germany	8.90	9.10	18.00	Did not advance
42	Roberto Léon Richards	Cuba	8.60	9.35	17.95	Did not advance
	Jorge Rodriguez	Cuba	8.70	9.25	17.95	Did not advance
	Pavel Stanovsky	Czechoslovakia	8.75	9.20	17.95	Did not advance
45	Edwin Greutmann	Switzerland	8.75	9.15	17.90	Did not advance
	Mauno Nissinen	Finland	8.80	9.10	17.90	Did not advance
	Mieczyslaw Strzalka	Poland	8.65	9.25	17.90	Did not advance
48	Wilhelm Kubica	Poland	8.45	9.40	17.85	Did not advance
49	Jerzy Kruza	Poland	8.55	9.25	17.80	Did not advance
50	Philippe Gaille	Switzerland	8.85	8.90	17.75	Did not advance
	Milenko Kersnic	Yugoslavia	8.60	9.15	17.75	Did not advance
	Sylwester Kubica	Poland	8.25	9.50	17.75	Did not advance
	Jean-Pierre Miens	France	8.55	9.20	17.75	Did not advance
	Vladislav Nehasil	Czechoslovakia	8.50	9.25	17.75	Did not advance
	Shin Heung-do	North Korea	8.70	9.05	17.75	Did not advance
56	Franco Donega	Italy	8.55	9.15	17.70	Did not advance
	Bernd Effing	West Germany	9.05	8.65	17.70	Did not advance
	Dan Grecu	Romania	8.90	8.80	17.70	Did not advance
	István Kiss	Hungary	8.70	9.00	17.70	Did not advance
60	René Badell	Cuba	8.55	9.05	17.60	Did not advance
	Luigi Coppa	Italy	8.65	8.95	17.60	Did not advance
	Christian Deuza	France	8.80	8.80	17.60	Did not advance
	Jo Jong-ryol	North Korea	8.70	8.90	17.60	Did not advance
	Nicolae Oprescu	Romania	8.55	9.05	17.60	Did not advance
	Gheorghe Paunescu	Romania	8.65	8.95	17.60	Did not advance
	Geno Radev	Bulgaria	8.60	9.00	17.60	Did not advance
67	Bruno Banzer	Liechtenstein	8.50	9.05	17.55	Did not advance
	Béla Herczeg	Hungary	8.70	8.85	17.55	Did not advance
	Stefan Zoev	Bulgaria	8.45	9.10	17.55	Did not advance
70	Emilio Sagre	Cuba	8.55	8.90	17.45	Did not advance
71	Ho Yun-hang	North Korea	8.25	9.15	17.40	Did not advance
72	Antal Kisteleki	Hungary	8.80	8.50	17.30	Did not advance
73	Dimitar Koychev	Bulgaria	8.40	8.85	17.25	Did not advance
	Drago Sostaric	Yugoslavia	8.45	8.80	17.25	Did not advance
75	Max Brühwiler	Switzerland	8.55	8.65	17.20	Did not advance
	Jorge Cuervo	Cuba	7.70	9.50	17.20	Did not advance
	Agustin Sandoval	Spain	8.70	8.50	17.20	Did not advance
78	Ivica Hmjelovac	Yugoslavia	8.30	8.85	17.15	Did not advance
	Bozhidar Iliev	Bulgaria	8.25	8.90	17.15	Did not advance
	Zoran Ivanovic	Yugoslavia	8.40	8.75	17.15	Did not advance
81	Mircea Gheorghiu	Romania	8.00	9.10	17.10	Did not advance
82	Marshall Avener	United States	8.15	8.90	17.05	Did not advance
	Jifi Fejtek	Czechoslovakia	7.85	9.20	17.05	Did not advance
84	István Bérczi	Hungary	8.55	8.45	17.00	Did not advance
85	Peter Lloyd	Australia	8.20	8.70	16.90	Did not advance
86	Dimitar Dimitrov	Bulgaria	8.00	8.75	16.75	Did not advance
	Bernard Farjat	France	8.05	8.70	16.75	Did not advance
88	Steve Mitruk	Canada	8.10	8.50	16.60	Did not advance
89	Jim Culhane Jr.	United States	8.25	8.30	16.55	Did not advance
	Maurizio Milanetto	Italy	8.70	7.85	16.55	Did not advance
91	Georges Guelzec	France	8.05	8.45	16.50	Did not advance
	Reinhard Ritter	West Germany	8.70	7.80	16.50	Did not advance
93	Luis Ramirez	Cuba	7.80	8.55	16.35	Did not advance
94	Tore Lie	Norway	7.65	8.65	16.30	Did not advance
95	Stan Wild	Great Britain	7.60	8.50	16.10	Did not advance
96	Adolfo Lampronti	Italy	7.80	8.25	16.05	Did not advance
97	André Simard	Canada	7.70	8.25	15.95	Did not advance
98	José Ginés	Spain	7.25	8.55	15.80	Did not advance
99	Ole Benediktson	Denmark	7.65	8.10	15.75	Did not advance
	Cecilio Ugarte	Spain	7.30	8.45	15.75	Did not advance
101	Rogelio Mendoza	Mexico	7.60	8.10	15.70	Did not advance
102	John Crosby Jr.	United States	7.00	8.55	15.55	Did not advance
103	Fedele Spatazza	Italy	7.75	7.75	15.50	Did not advance
104	Ivan Kondev	Bulgaria	7.20	8.15	15.35	Did not advance
105	Ian Clarke	Australia	7.10	8.20	15.30	Did not advance
	Bohumil Mudrik	Czechoslovakia	6.60	8.70	15.30	Did not advance
107	Eddie Arnold	Great Britain	7.65	7.60	15.25	Did not advance
108	Carmine Luppino	Italy	6.35	8.80	15.15	Did not advance
109	Bill Norgrave	Great Britain	6.85	8.15	15.00	Did not advance
110	Terry Sale	New Zealand	6.15	8.40	14.55	Did not advance
111	Hans Ettlin	Switzerland	9.05	—	9.05	Did not advance
112	Miloslav Netusil	Czechoslovakia	8.70	—	8.70	Did not advance
113	Bruce Medd	Canada	3.90	—	3.90	Did not advance

References

• Official Olympic Report
• www.gymnasticsresults.com
• www.gymn-forum.net