Eleven athletes from Israel lost their lives in the attack. The ceremony was attended by International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. On September 5, 1972, a Palestinian commando from the Black September movement infiltrated the Munich Olympic village.

The hostage situation escalated into a massacre, leaving a lasting impact on Israel and revolutionising security measures at the Games. IOC President Thomas Bach remarked, "This day is the darkest day in Olympic history," during the commemoration at the Israeli embassy in Paris.

"It was an attack on the culture of peace that the Olympic Games promote," he stated, describing it as "a despicable act against all members of the Olympic community" and its "values." The ceremony, held on the occasion of each edition of the Games, saw participation from representatives of the French Jewish community, Paris Mayor Hidalgo, and the widows of the athletes, coaches, and referees who were killed fifty-two years ago.

In 1972, attackers killed two members of the Israeli delegation and took nine others hostage, hoping to exchange them for over 200 Palestinian prisoners. This year, the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, heightened tensions with Iran, and the fate of Israeli hostages in Gaza have influenced the commemoration.

On 7 October, during a bloody attack by the Palestinian Islamist group on Israeli soil, 251 people were kidnapped. According to the Israeli army, 111 remain captive in Gaza. In response, Israel launched a massive offensive, heavily bombarding the area. "The State of Israel is going through one of the most difficult periods in its history," said Yael Arad, head of the Israeli Olympic delegation.

"Being an athlete today in the international arena is not easy. It is not easy to face the threats, the worry for our loved ones at home, and the prayers for the return of the hostages in Gaza after 305 days," she continued.

In 2024, Israeli athletes are protected daily in Paris by French and Israeli elite units. Windsurfing gold medalist Tom Reuveni says he is "accustomed" to such security measures. "We are born with it, there is a reason why we have this security," he told AFP, but he hopes "another Munich will never happen again."

In Munich in 1972, intelligence warnings about a potential attack were ignored, and security was neglected. The "Joy Games," intended to help people forget the Berlin Games of 1936 under the Nazi regime, had eradicated all symbols of militarism, and security personnel were unarmed.

The intervention by German police on the Furstenfeldbruck airport tarmac turned into a fiasco, witnessed by the whole world. This tragic episode "changed the way of considering sporting events from a security point of view, and it also changed the way of approaching the question of terrorism," notes Mathieu Zagrodzki, associate researcher at the Center for Sociological Research on Law and Penal Institutions (CESDIP).

"Between Munich '72 and Montreal '76, security spending increased 50-fold, starting from very low levels since Munich had deliberately organised very open Games with weak security restrictions," he says.

Special intervention units were created following Munich. In addition to increased airport security, law enforcement intervention methods were rethought, and special units were established in various countries. West Germany created the GSG-9, and France formed an anti-commando unit within the Brigade de recherche et d'intervention (BRI) and later the GIGN.

Technological advancements have also been made, such as algorithmic video surveillance authorised experimentally for the 2024 Olympic Games. These Games, welcoming millions of spectators and athletes from over 200 countries, serve as a "crash test, a full-scale rehearsal of flow management," notes Zagrodzki. "The human cost of an attack can be extremely high, with the political and media repercussions that this has," he says, making it "an immense challenge."