Mark Spitz

“Seven gold medals in Munich, all with a mustache that was supposed to slow him down.”

96STACH SCORE

✂ Chevron Athlete Era: 1970s Born 1950 🏆 HOF Inductee

Is this a Legendary Stach?

Stach Stats

Stash Power95

Ruggedness75

Curl Factor30

Legend Status99

Stats are for entertainment purposes. The mustache committee's decisions are final and occasionally arbitrary.

Style: Chevron
Peak Era: 1970s
Born: 1950
Hall of Fame: Inducted 2026
Fan Votes: 0 legendary · 0 meh

The Story

About Mark Spitz

Mark Andrew Spitz was born in 1950 in Modesto, California, and was a world-record holder while still a teenager. He swam for Indiana University under legendary coach James "Doc" Counsilman and won two relay golds at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, short of his own brash predictions.

In Munich in 1972 he delivered one of the greatest performances in Olympic history: seven events, seven gold medals, seven world records. The feat stood as the single-Games record until Michael Phelps won eight in Beijing in 2008. Spitz retired at 22 with nine Olympic golds, a silver and a bronze, and 33 world records over his career.

He later worked in broadcasting and business, attempted a comeback for the 1992 Games at age 41, and remains one of the most recognizable American Olympians ever.

The Verdict

Why the Stach Became Iconic

Swimmers shaved everything, and then Spitz showed up to the Olympics with a dark, full mustache. He later told the story that a Soviet coach asked whether it slowed him down, and he replied that it actually deflected water away from his mouth; the next year, he said, every Soviet male swimmer had one.

Seven golds, seven world records, one mustache. It is possibly the most famous lip in Olympic history, and it made the Munich poster of Spitz in his medals an icon of the 1970s.

On the Record

Career Highlights

Indiana Hoosiers (1968–1972) — multiple NCAA championships
1968 Mexico City Olympics — two relay gold medals, a silver and a bronze
1972 Munich Olympics — seven gold medals, seven world records
International Swimming Hall of Fame, inducted 1977

Fun Facts

His seven-gold Munich haul stood as the Olympic single-Games record for 36 years.
He said he originally grew the mustache partly to annoy a coach who demanded clean-shaven swimmers.
He was a pre-dental student at Indiana before fame redirected him.
The poster of Spitz in a stars-and-stripes suit with seven medals sold in the millions.