Gad Tsobari ( he, גד צברי sometimes Tsabari, Zobari, or Zabari; born 30 January 1944) is an

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i-born light-flyweight freestyle

wrestler Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat spor ...

and a member of Israel's 1972

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

team. He finished 12th (of 50) in his event, and was considered a possible medal threat at the Montreal Games of 1976. Tsobari was the sole survivor of the six athletes housed in Apartment 3 at 31

Connollystraße The Connollystraße is a street in the Olympic Village and student quarter of the Olympic Park Munich. Description The street was named in 1971 after James Brendan Connolly, the first Olympic champion of the modern era (1896). It leads from t ...

, which was the second apartment taken by Arab terrorists in the early morning hours of 5 September 1972 in an event called the

Munich massacre The Munich massacre was a terrorist attack carried out during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, by eight members of the Palestinian militant organization Black September, who infiltrated the Olympic Village, killed two member ...

. Although he was originally taken hostage by the Black September terrorists, Tsobari was able to escape with the help of his already-wounded coach,

Moshe Weinberg Moshe Weinberg ( he, משה ויינברג sometimes Weinberger; 19 September 1939 – 5 September 1972) was an Israeli wrestler who was the coach of the national team, as well the coach of Hapoel Tel Aviv. He began his career in Hapoel Haifa. H ...

, who attacked the terrorists and received fatal gunshot wounds in the process. As Tsobari and his fellow Israelis were herded in single file, down the stairs to the ground floor, a terrorist wearing a balaclava at the foot of the stairs, gestured with his weapon the direction Tsobari was to go. At that moment, Tsobari pushed the terrorist's weapon aside and dashed down a flight of steps into the underground car park, pursued by a terrorist who shot two or three rounds at the fleeing Tsobari but missed. Tsobari carried on sprinting for seventy metres until he came to the Olympic Village fence which he jumped over and ran into the nearby Olympic press center. He was ignored for the first few seconds until taking a journalist aside and calmly explaining what had happened and who he was. After being escorted under police guard, Tsobari found a woman that spoke Hebrew and German. Over the next five hours he sketched on maps what had happened, how he had escaped, what kind of people, how many people were injured and how many terrorists. Nearly 18 hours later, Tsobari and the rest of the Israeli Olympians not taken hostage watched the helicopters take off for Fürstenfeldbruck airbase, where the remaining Israeli athletes taken hostage would be shot dead by the Palestinian terrorists, five of whom themselves were shot dead by German police snipers on 6 September.

Family

Tsobari is the uncle of windsurfer and Olympic bronze medalist

Shahar Tzuberi Shahar Tzuberi (or Zubari, he, שחר צוברי; born September 1, 1986) is an Israeli windsurfer and Olympic bronze medalist, surfing in the "Neil Pryde" RS:X discipline. He is a nephew of Gad Tsobari, the 1972 Olympic wrestler who escaped fr ...

Personal life

Tsobari owns and runs a bar in Israel.

References

1944 births Living people Wrestlers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Israeli male sport wrestlers Olympic wrestlers of Israel Sole survivors {{Israel-wrestling-bio-stub