Video: '1972 Olympic Gold Medal Basketball Game USSR vs USA'

(Saturday, September 9, 1972 from 11:45 p.m. to Sunday, September 10, 1972, 1:14 a.m. Central European Time; during the 1972 Olympic Men’s Basketball Final, part of the 1972 Summer Olympics) — In the gold medal match at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, the American men’s basketball team today lost to the Soviet Union, 51–50, on a shot at the buzzer by Alexander Belov in what is widely considered the most controversial game in international basketball history.

Video: '1972 Olympic Basketball Gold Medal story'

In a close-fought match, the U.S. team appeared to have won by a score of 50–49. However, the final 3 seconds of the game were replayed three times by judges until the Soviet team came out on top and claimed a 51–50 victory.

The Soviets won the gold medal, and the Americans voted unanimously to refuse the silver medals, which remained held in a vault in Lausanne, Switzerland.

It was the first time the United States did not win a gold medal since the sport’s inception in the Olympic Games in 1936.