The , officially known as the '''Games of the XXI Olympiad''', were held in 1976 in
Montreal ,
Quebec ,
Canada . These are the summer
Olympic Games organized by the
International Olympic Committee . Montreal was awarded the rights to the 1976 Games in May 1970 over the bid of
Moscow and
Los Angeles , who later hosted the 1980 and 1984 Summer Olympic Games respectively.
- The Games were opened by Queen Elizabeth II (as head of state of Canada) and the entire Canadian Royal Family attended the opening ceremonies.
- Canada , the host country, left with only five silver and six bronze medals. It was the first and only time to date in Olympic history that the host country of the Summer Games won no gold medals. This feat had occurred previously only in the Winter Games — 1924 in Chamonix , France and 1928 in St. Moritz , Switzerland . This later occurred at the 1984 Winter Games in Sarajevo , Yugoslavia , and once more for Canada at the 1988 Calgary Games.
- Taiwan withdrew after Canada informed them that they could not compete under the name "Republic of China". This was done because Canada officially recognized the People's Republic Of China . Canada did try and compromise by saying that the Taiwanese could retain their national flag and anthem, but the Taiwanese refused.
- In protest at a tour of South Africa by the New Zealand All Blacks Rugby team early in the year, Congo 's official Jean Claude Ganga led a boycott of 28 Africa n nations as the IOC refused to bar the New Zealand team. Some of the nations (including Morocco , Cameroon and Egypt ) had already participated, however, as the teams withdrew only after the first day. From Southern and Central Africa, only Senegal and Ivory Coast took part. Both Iraq and Guyana also opted to join the Congolese-led boycott.
- Because of the Munich Massacre , security at these games was in evidence, as they it been earlier in the year at the Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria , though far lower than the norm for today's olympic games.
- The organisation of the Olympics was financially terrible for Montreal, as the city faced debts well after the Games had finished. The Olympic Stadium , a daring design of French architect Roger Taillibert , remains a lasting monument to the huge deficit, as it never had an effective retractable roof, and the tower was completed only after the Olympics. The Montreal games of 1976 are the most expensive Games ever organised to date.
- The Olympic Flame was "electronically" transmitted via satellite from Athens to Ottawa , by means of an electronic pulse derived from the actual burning flame. From Ottawa, it was carried by hand to Montreal. After a rainstorm doused the Olympic flame a few days after the games had opened, an official relit the flame using his cigarette lighter. Organizers quickly doused it again and relit it using a backup of the original flame.
- 14-year-old three gold medals were also been won by Nellie Kim of USSR . Nikolai Andrianov of USSR won four gold medals, including All Around, in men's gymnastics.
- Viktor Saneyev ( Soviet Union ) won his third consecutive Triple Jump gold medal, while Klaus Dibiasi of Italy did the same in the platform Diving event.
- Alberto Juantorena of Cuba became the first man to win both the 400 m and 800 m at the same Olympics. Finland 's Lasse Virén also achieved a double in the 5000 and 10,000 m and finished 5th in the Marathon , thereby failing to equal Emil Zátopek 's 1952 achievements.
- Boris Onischenko , a member of the Soviet Union's modern pentathlon team, was disqualified after it was discovered that he had rigged his épée to register a hit when there wasn't one. Because of this, the USSR modern pentathlon team was disqualified. Onischenko earned the enmity of other Soviet Olympic team members and, for example, USSR volleyball team members threatened to throw him out of the hotel's window if they met him.
- Women's events were introduced in Basketball , Handball and Rowing .
- Five American Boxer s - Sugar Ray Leonard , Leon Spinks , Michael Spinks , Leo Randolph and Howard Davis Jr. won gold medals in Boxing . This has been often called the greatest Olympic boxing team the United States ever had, and, out of the five American gold medalists in boxing, all but Davis went on to become professional world champions.
- Princess Anne of the United Kingdom was the only female competitor not to have to submit to a Sex Test . She was a member of her country's Equestrian team.
- Japanese gymnast Shun Fujimoto performed on a broken right knee, and helped the Japanese team win the gold medal for the team championship. Fujimoto broke his leg on the floor exercise, and due to the closeness in the overall standings with the USSR, he hid the extent of the injury. With a broken knee, Fujimoto was able to complete his event on the rings, performing a perfect triple somersault dismount, maintaining perfect posture. He scored a 9.7 thus securing gold for Japan. Years later, when asked if he would do it again, he stated bluntly "No, I would not."
- The East German women's swim team won all but two gold medals, though it was later learned most of these women had been subject to testosterone injections by their own coaches and superiors. (See Doping (sport) ).
- Luann Ryan won the women's Archery gold for the USA;Ryan had never before competed at international level.
- Olympic Shooting Range, L'Acadie, Quebec - shooting
- Olympic Archery Field, Joliette, Quebec - archery
- Olympic Equestrian Centre, Bromont, Quebec - equestrian
- Le Pavilion d'éducation physique et des sports de l'Université Laval, Quebec City, Quebec - handball preliminaries
- Sherbrooke Stadium , Sherbrooke, Quebec - football/soccer preliminaries
- Sherbrooke Sports Palace, Sherbrooke, Quebec - handball preliminaries
- Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, Kingston, Ontario - yachting
- Varsity Stadium , Toronto, Ontario - football/soccer preliminaries
- Lansdowne Park , Ottawa, Ontario - football/soccer preliminaries
See the medal winners, ordered by sport:
The following 28 countries boycotted the Games.
1 The boycott was due to the participation of policies).
Note:
Zaire did not compete, but claimed financial causes rather than political. Both the
Republic Of China and the
People's Republic Of China boycotted the games over issues concerning the legitimacy of the other country.
Other candidate cities in the bid to host the 1976 summer Olympic Games were in 1980 and
Los Angeles in 1984.
1976 was the first time Canada hosted the Olympics, and it did so in what was, at the time, its largest city. Canada has subsequently hosted the
1988 Winter Olympics in
Calgary , the largest city in the province of
Alberta , and was selected to host the
2010 Winter Olympics in
Vancouver , the largest city in the province of
British Columbia , and it will become the largest city ever to host a
Winter Olympics . Coincidentally,
Toronto hosted the
1976 Summer Paralympics . These Summer Olympics marked the first time in which the host country did not win a gold medal.
Montreal saw the 1976 games as a chance to build on the prestige that it had gained during the 1967
World's Fair , known as
Expo 67 , held in Canada's
Centennial Year .
Montreal massively overspent on the Olympics, following Mayor rapid mass transit system first built for Expo 67.
Following the news of the massive financial losses of the Montreal Games, few cities wished to host the Olympics. This was seen as a threat to the future of the Olympic Games, and was not until the financially successful
1984 Summer Olympics in
Los Angeles that cities began to line up to be hosts again. The Los Angeles and Montreal Games are seen as examples of what to do and not to do when organizing the Olympics, and serve as object lessons to prospective host cities. Since then, additional object lessons have been drawn from
Atlanta In 1996 (the need to avoid commercialization) and
Athens In 2004 (the need to organize and build to schedule).
The capital of the host province of the Olympics,
Quebec City , was a candidate city of the
2002 Winter Olympics . It lost to
Salt Lake City . The cost overruns in Montreal's 1976 games were a factor in Quebec City's loss.
Olympic Bid Election History - Voting Records and Result
