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Mark Slavin

Mark Slavin was an Israeli Greco-Roman wrestler who was killed in the Munich massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

1954 to 1972Greco-Roman wrestlingVictim of the Munich massacre1971 Soviet junior championship

Born: 31 January 1954, Minsk
Died: 6 September 1972, Fürstenfeldbruck
Occupation: amateur wrestler, coach, athlete, Olympic competitor

Mark Slavin was born in 1954 in Minsk

Slavin was born in Minsk, then part of the Soviet Union, in 1954. As a youth he took up wrestling to defend himself against antisemitic attacks.

He won the Soviet junior Greco-Roman championship in the middleweight class in 1971. He was expected to represent the Soviet Union at the 1972 Olympics but chose to represent Israel instead. In May 1972 he moved to Israel with his family and joined Hapoel Tel Aviv and the Israeli Olympic team.

The Munich Games were to be his first international competition for Israel. He stayed in the Olympic Village with other Israeli wrestlers and weightlifters. On the day he was due to compete, Palestinian terrorists of Black September broke in and took him hostage with other Israeli athletes.

He was shot in a helicopter during a failed rescue attempt on 6 September 1972. He was buried at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery beside teammates. Guy Amir played him in the 2005 film Munich.