Clarendon Hills author to talk about 1972 Olympic basketball game

Updated: January 25, 2013 6:38PM

CLARENDON HILLS — Clarendon Hills resident Donald “Taps” Gallagher will talk about the book he co-authored, Stolen Glory, at 2 p.m. Jan. 26 at the Clarendon Hills Park District Community Center, 315 Chicago Ave.

Gallagher’s presentation is sponsored by the Clarendon Hills Historical Society. Admission is free.

Stolen Glory, released July 27, 2012, is about the historic Sept. 9, 1972 Olympic Gold Medal basketball game between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Gallagher will talk about the book and its story — how the gold medal was taken, as many believe, from the U.S. team.

In the game, the U.S. team appeared to have secured a 50-49 victory. However, the Soviet team was awarded three opportunities with the ball in the final 3 seconds because of direction from an official of the International Basketball Federation. On the third attempt, a Soviet player scored the winning basket, while knocking down a U.S. player in a 51-50 decision.

To this day, the 12 silver medals declined by the American team lay unclaimed in a storage room maintained for the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.~

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