Why are there triangles on the olympic stadium

In my little mind, I thought they were something to with the fact that we were now in September. The camera view of the village where they were being held will remain one of my abiding childhood images. For what seemed much longer than it was 20 hours David Coleman departed from his sports commentating to give us minute by minute briefings. The TV picture of that accommodation never moved.

No different angles. Just cut-glass tension. We saw fleeting glimpses of the terrorists on the balcony. It was like a bolt of lightning as a balaclava head and frame broke up the up to then still images of the jutting, linear architecture that had transfixed us.

Instead of Olympic Rings, the blue triangles of the Israeli flag were now the defining shapes of that Olympiad. It remains a dark stain on Olympic history. Two years on and as mentioned we were all back in the Olympic Stadium in the World Cup. There were several matches there but of course, it was seen in all its daylight glory in the final on that first Sunday of July.

Franz Beckenbauer held the World Cup high in the north Munich stadium for the world to see. The ground would keep popping up every now and again in my life.

Part of the trip involved an hour or so around the old Olympic park which if I remember seemed to either double as or had become an amusement park. I do recall being at the top of some construction and seeing the Olympic stadium about a kilometre away. For some reason, all my thoughts about the previous decade did not seem to permeate. Perhaps camera work had improved or more likely the game was replayed over and over but the footage reawakened something in me from almost thirty years ago.

The circle was eventually to be completed in a shuddering fashion. I found myself after a bit of a walk looking down at the now redundant Olympic stadium. Bayern and Munich, of course, had debunked to the Allianz Arena. I thought of Viren, Beckenbauer, Clough and Owen who all had their moments of glory there.

It looked exactly as it had through all those TV highpoints. I climbed through the decades in memory. I turned around and then was hit with a thudding visual jolt. Right in front of me was the old Olympic village. Right there was that image of 5 September that that had been branded onto our minds all those years ago. I stood transfixed as I was dragged back 37 years. I was in the exact same camera position of that day.

The speed of it knocked the breath out of me. You can imagine I stood there for some time computing the fact that the top of the football ground led onto that massive 20th Century moment. Olympic Rings and Israeli triangles suddenly were linked by that football ground that periodically appeared in my life. It was a sobering experience, no doubt amplified by my initial reception of it all being at such tender years. Sign in. Bottom right is positioned on Shooters Hill.

And bottom-left is down in Peckham. Hmm, we can't think of any Olympic connections with most of these, but let us know if you can find a link. A Masonic handshake for the best suggestion. The best things to do in London.

The must-read London articles. The coolest London events from our partners. By M Last edited months ago. The map with medal absent. Red dots represent the vertices and centre of the triangle, blue dots are the corners of the rectangle.

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