page_title: 1976 Summer Olympics
section_title: Opening ceremony
hierarchical_section_title: 1976 Summer Olympics / Opening ceremony
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. ADN-ZB Gahlbeck 16.7.76 Montreal: XXI. Olympische Sommerspiele-Der 34 jährige Geher Hans-Georg Reimann vom SC Dynamo Berlin (M.), der bereits das vierte mal an Olympischen Spielen teilnimmt und 1972 über 20 km die Bronzemedaille gewann, wird zur feierlichen Eröffnung am 17.7. die DDR-Fahne in das Montraler Olympiastadtion tragen. Unser Foto zeigt ihn auf den Straßen des Olympischen Dorfes im Gespräch mit seinen Mannschaftskameraden Karl-Heinz Stadtmüller (Gehen, r.) und Waldemar Cierpinski (Marathon).
context_page_description: The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially called the Games of the XXI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1976, and the first Olympic Games held in Canada.
  Montreal was awarded the rights to the 1976 Games on May 12, 1970, at the 69th IOC Session in Amsterdam, over the bids of Moscow and Los Angeles. It was the first and, so far, only Summer Olympic Games to be held in Canada. Toronto hosted the 1976 Summer Paralympics the same year as the Montreal Olympics, and still remain the only Summer Paralympics to be held in Canada. Calgary and Vancouver later hosted the Winter Olympic Games in 1988 and 2010, respectively.
  Twenty-nine countries, mostly African, boycotted the Montreal Games when the International Olympic Committee refused to ban New Zealand, after the New Zealand national rugby union team had toured South Africa earlier in 1976 in defiance of the United Nations' calls for a sporting embargo. The Soviet Union won the most gold and overall medals.
context_section_description: The opening ceremony of the 1976 Summer Olympic Games was held on Saturday, July 17, 1976, at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec, in front of an audience of some 73,000 in the stadium, and an estimated half billion watching on television.
  Following an air show by the Canadian Forces Air Command's Snowbirds aerobatic flight demonstration squadron in the sunny skies above the stadium, the ceremony officially began at 3:00 pm with a trumpet fanfare and the arrival of Elizabeth II, as Queen of Canada. The Queen was accompanied by Michael Morris, Lord Killanin, President of the International Olympic Committee, and was greeted to an orchestral rendition of 'O Canada', an arrangement that for many years later would be used in schools across the country as well as in the daily sign off of TV broadcasts in the country.
  The queen entered the Royal Box with her consort, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and her son, Prince Andrew. (Her daughter, Princess Anne, was an equestrian competitor for the team from Great Britain. Prince Philip was also president of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) at the time of the 1976 Summer Olympics.) She joined a number of Canadian and Olympic dignitaries, including: Jules Léger, Governor General of Canada, and his wife, Gabrielle; Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and wife, Margaret; Robert Bourassa, Premier of the Province of Quebec; Roger Rousseau, chief of the Montreal Olympic Organizing Committee (COJO); Sheila Dunlop, Lady Killanin, wife of the IOC President; Mayor of Montreal, Jean Drapeau, and his wife, Marie-Claire.
  The parade of athletes began moments later with the arrival of the Greek team and concluded with the entrance of the Canadian team. All other teams entered the stadium according to French alphabetical order.  The ceremony was marked by the adorning of Israel’s flag with a black mourning ribbon, in memory of the eleven athletes and coaches killed by Palestinian terrorists at the previous Summer Olympic Games in Munich four years earlier. Although most would eventually boycott the Games in the days to follow, a number of African delegations did march in the parade. Much of the music performed for the parade was arranged by Vic Vogel and was inspired by late Quebec composer, André Mathieu.
  Immediately following the parade, a troupe of 80 women dancers dressed in white (representing the 80th anniversary of the revival of the Olympic Games) performed a brief dance in the outline of the Olympic rings.
  Following that came the official speeches, first by Roger Rousseau, head of the Montreal Olympic organizing committee, and Lord Killanin. Her Majesty was then invited to proclaim the Games open, which she did, first in French, then in English.
  Accompanied by the Olympic Hymn, the Olympic flag was carried into the stadium and hoisted at the west end of the stadium. The flag was carried by eight men and hoisted by four women, representing the ten provinces and two territories (at the time) of Canada. As the flag was hoisted, an all-male choir performed an a cappella version of the Olympic Hymn.
  Once the flag was unfurled, a troupe of Bavarian dancers, representing Munich, host of the previous 1972 Summer Olympics, entered the stadium with the Antwerp flag. Following a brief dance, that flag was then passed from the Mayor of Munich to the IOC President and then to the Mayor of Montreal. Next came a presentation of traditional Québécois folk dancers. The two troupes merged in dance together to the strains of "Vive le Compagnie" and exited the stadium with the Antwerp Flag, which would be displayed at Montreal City Hall until the opening of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
  Three cannons were then fired, as the 80-member troupe of female dancers unfolded special crates that released doves and ribbons in the five Olympic colours.
  Another trumpet fanfare announced the arrival of the Olympic Flame. The torch was carried by two 15-year-olds, Stéphane Préfontaine and Sandra Henderson, chosen as representatives of the unity within Canada's linguistic heritage. This would also be the fi
caption: East German athletes Waldemar Cierpinski, Hans-Georg Reimann and Karl-Heinz Stadtmüller at the Olympic Village
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