Montreal 1976 Summer Olympics - results & video highlights Official Reports arrow African boycott The 1976 Montreal Games were marred by an African boycott involving 22 countries. The boycott was organised by Tanzania to protest the fact that the New Zealand rugby team had toured apartheid South Africa and that New Zealand was scheduled to compete in the Olympic Games. Debuts and firsts Women’s events in basketball, rowing and team handball all made their Olympic debut. Hockey was played on an artificial pitch for the first time, and boxer Clarence Hill of Bermuda earned a bronze medal to give Bermuda the honour of being the least populous nation (53,500) ever to have one of its athletes win a medal at the Summer Games. Memorable champions Alberto Juantorena of Cuba completed the first 400m and 800m double victory. The Japanese women’s volleyball team proved untouchable, winning all their matches in straight sets, and Miklos Németh of Hungary won the javelin to become the first son of an athletics gold medalist to win a gold of his own.

Perfect Nadia Fourteen-year-old gymnast Nadia Comaneci of Romania was the undoubted star of the Games. She shot to fame when, for her performance on the uneven bars, she was awarded the first-ever perfect score of 10.0. She went on to earn seven maximum marks in total. NOCs: 92 Athletes: 6,084 (1,260 women, 4.824 men) Events: 198 Media: n/a An Innovation in the transport of the flame For the Athens to Ottawa stage of the torch relay the Olympic flame travelled by air, but not by plane. Instead, a sensor used to detect ionized particles of the Flame turned them into coded impulses. The impulses were transmitted by satellite to Ottawa where they activated a laser beam which recreated the Olympic flame in its original shape. The African Boycott Despite there being no African athletes present (they participated in a boycott organised by Tanzania, in which 22 countries came together to protest against a tour of South Africa by the New Zealand national rugby team), the standard of the competitions at the 1976 Olympic Games was very high.

The Medal for the least populated country With its 53,500 inhabitants, Bermuda became the most sparsely-populated country to win a medal at the Summer Games, thanks to Clarence Hill who won the bronze medal in boxing in the heavyweight category. An Artificial pitch Hockey was played on an artificial pitch for the first time. Events open to women Women's events appeared in basketball, handball and rowing. Ceremonies Montreal 17 July 1976. Flags of the nations during the Olympic oath. Official opening of the Games by: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Lighting the Olympic Flame by: Stéphane Préfontaine and Sandra Henderson (two athletes aged 16 and 15). Olympic Oath by: Official Oath by: Maurice Forget (athletics) It is made up of the Olympic rings mounted on an Olympic podium, which is also the graphic interpretation of the letter M, the initial of Montreal. In the centre, the athletics track, the focal point of the Games. This emblem invokes the universal fraternity offered by the Olympic Ideal, as well as the glory of the winners, the gallant spirit of their battles and the accession of Montreal to the rank of Olympic city.

On the obverse, the design of Guiseppe Cassioli, created for the Amsterdam Games in 1928. The principal symbols are Victory, Fraternity and Universality. The reverse was designed as intentionally bare. It comprises a stylized laurel crown, symbol of victory since the Games of Antiquity, and the emblem of the Montreal Games. Number of torchbearers: 500 in Greece and 261 in Canada Total distance: 775 km including 514 in Greece Countries crossed: Greece, Canada More info The Games Organising Committee made two main series of posters. The first illustrated eight key themes: - the emblem of the International Olympic Committee (here) : entitled “The Invitation” and representing the five rings reflected symbolically by successive waves, thus inviting the athletes from all the continents to the 1976 Olympic Games. - the emblem of the Organising Committee - Kingston 1976 - Olympia and the Olympic torch carrier - Montreal and Antiquity - the Olympic Stadium - the international youth camp - the mascot The second series illustrates sports.

Published in 1978, the official report “Games of the XXI Olympiad Montreal 1976: official report” exists in French and English. Each of the three sets consists of three volumes (Organization; Facilities; Results). Montreal Olympics: African boycott of 1976 Games ‘changed the world’ | Montreal Gazette Rugby wasn’t even an Olympic sport. But black-ruled African countries saw an opportunity to punish the rugby-obsessed white minority of apartheid South Africa. And they chose the eve of the 1976 Montreal Olympics for their showdown, threatening to walk out unless the International Olympic Committee barred New Zealand. That country’s rugby team was touring South Africa, despite the recent Soweto uprising, which led to the deaths of hundreds of black protesters . South Africa had been excluded from the Olympics since 1964. But “white South Africans didn’t really care if they missed international sport competitions in badminton and Ping-Pong and synchronized swimming,” said Courtney W. Mason, a researcher who studied the impact of the Montreal Games on the anti-apartheid movement. “What (white South Africans) really cared about was rugby.

It was the most important sport for them, and their most important international competitor was New Zealand.” With the clock ticking toward Montreal’s opening ceremony, the boycott threat led to tense negotiations. They ended in stalemate, the IOC arguing its hands were tied because rugby was outside the Olympic movement. The rugby tour continued and New Zealand was not ejected. More than 30 countries walked out of the 1976 Games, mostly from Africa. Some athletes already taking part in preliminary competitions had to pack up and leave. It was a key moment in the fight against racial segregation and discrimination in South Africa, which would end almost 20 years later. “The Montreal Games really changed the world,” said Mason, a Canada Research Chair at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, B.C. “Historians will say it’s really the economic sanctions that ended apartheid and that’s true. “But what was really important about Montreal was that the word ‘apartheid’ appeared on the front page of every newspaper in the world, and people started talking about the issue and pressuring their own governments.” Seeing black athletes sacrificing their chance to play in the Games also raised the morale of black youth protesters in South Africa, Mason said.

The issue came to a head in Montreal, but the boycott had its roots in the decolonization of Africa in the 1950s and 1960s. Black Africans “didn’t have much of a voice in places like the United Nations and other global economic forums, but they had a lot of voice in international sports federations,” Mason said. “We saw newly independent countries in black Africa applying for IOC membership before they even applied for UN membership.” In 1966, the Supreme Council of Sport in Africa was born. The black African power block pushed for the exclusion of South Africa, and white-ruled Rhodesia, from international sports competitions, Mason said. “You had this unified black power group that started to flex its power because in the IOC one country gets one vote,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a powerful country like Germany or an African nation, you get one vote.” Black Africa showed its strength before the 1968 Mexico City Games. With the IOC planning to bring South Africa back into the fold, African countries threatened to boycott. The IOC backed down. They were unable to repeat that success in 1976.

“Montreal was kind of marred (by the boycott) because competition, especially in track and field — middle distance and long-distance running — was completely altered by so many countries not being there,” Mason said. Boycotts would also affect results in the two following Summer Games. Western countries, including Canada , boycotted the 1980 Games in Moscow over the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. Eastern Bloc countries retaliated in 1984 by not going to Los Angeles. Montreal 1976 - AOC Montreal 1976 Stéphane Préfontaine and Sandra Henderson (aged 16 and 15). Number of nations: 6,084 (4,824 men, 1,260 women) Number of sports: View Full Medal Tally In 1976, the Olympics were hosted by Canada for the first time, the first Games in North America since Los Angeles in 1932. The Games were beset by problems, both financial and political. Organisers greatly under-estimated the cost of hosting the Games, with the budget blowing out to four times its initial figure.

As well, 24 countries boycotted the Games, 22 of them African nations upset at New Zealand’s participation after an All Blacks rugby tour of South Africa – a curious protest against an action in a non-Olympic sport. There were 1000 less athletes competing in Montreal than in Munich four years earlier. The star of Montreal was 14-year-old Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci, one of the most revered Olympic champions of all time. Comaneci scored the first perfect 10.00 in an Olympic event in the uneven bars during the team competition. She went on to record seven perfect scores at the Games. She ended with three gold, including the all-around title, a silver and a bronze, her success eclipsing the efforts of the Soviet Union’s Olga Korbut, who just four years earlier had been gymnastics’ glamour girl. In athletics, the Flying Finn Lasse Viren completed a double for the ages, successfully defending his 5000m and 10,000 gold medals from 1972. He also placed fifth in the marathon.

Another rare double on the track was achieved by Cuba’s Alberto Juantorena, winning the 400m and 800m. American and German swimmers dominated in the pool, East German women winning 11 of 13 gold medals after having failed to win a single gold medal in 1972. Years later, proof of systematic doping in East German sports programs would lessen the lustre of these triumphs, and many others during a grave period of sporting history. Winning his second consecutive gold medal was weightlifting super-heavyweight Vassily Alekseyev, one of the strongest men ever to compete at the Games. He set 79 world records during his career, his huge size and appetites (he would breakfast on two dozen eggs) making him a fan favourite. The push for greater women’s involvement in the Games gained pace in Montreal. Women’s events debuted in basketball and handball, and six women’s events were introduced in rowing. The Soviet Union won both the women’s basketball and handball gold medals. Shooting also celebrated its first women’s medallist, American Margaret Murdoch winning silver in the small bore rifle, three positions, event.

In canoe/kayak, slalom (whitewater) events were held and proved popular. However, they would not appear on the program again until 1992. The Soviet Union was the most successful nation at the Games, winning 49 gold medals. The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) was second with 40 gold, with the Unites States third. This was the first time the US had not finished in the top two on the medal table. A nice aside in Montreal was the lighting of the Olympic flame by two teenagers, Sandra Henderson, of English descent, and Stéphane Préfontaine, of French origins, signifying Canada’s shared heritage. Years later the pair married. Olympic history: Montreal 1976 | London Spy - Yahoo Sport Olympic history: Montreal 1976 View gallery . If one of the reasons for taking the 1976 Games to Montreal rather than to Moscow or Los Angeles was to avoid possible boycotts it didn't quite work. A number of African nations stayed away, and a few more pulled out during the proceedings, in protest at the presence of New Zealand, whose rugby union team had undertaken a tour of South African earlier in the year.

But while numbers of nations and competitors were down on Munich, costs were up, partly because of the need for increased security but also because the Canadians were considered, not least by their own taxpayers, to have spent rather extravagantly. Some estimated the final bill at $1,400-million but Canada didn't take so much as a gold medal in return, becoming the only hosts to fail to win an event at their own Summer Olympics. The Soviets finished top of the medals table and much of their success came in gymnastics. Nikolai Andrianov won seven medals, including four golds from the seven individual events. View gallery . The reptilian-looking Olympic Stadium With the stars of previous Games, Ludmila Tourischeva and Olga Korbut, joined by the newcomer Nellie Kim the Soviets had a formidable women's team and took eight of the 18 medals on offer. But they were upstaged by Nadia Comăneci. Aged just 14, the Romanian won a medal in five of her six events, finishing with three golds, a silver and a bronze and only narrowly missing out on third place in the horse vault competition.

In the uneven bars event Comăneci became the first gymnast in Olympic history to be awarded a perfect 10, and she repeated the feat six times. The scoreboard couldn't cope; it could only display three digits and her score was displayed as 1.00. View gallery . Nadia Comaneci's perfect 10 appears as 1.00 Swimming was dominated by the United States and East Germany. Only David Wilkie of Great Britain stood between the Americans and a clean sweep of the men's medals as he took gold in the 200m breaststroke. Kornelia Ender won four golds in the women's events as East Germany took 11 out of 13. In diving, Klaus Dibiasi of Italy won a third successive gold in the men's platform and, added to his silver from Tokyo in 1964, became the first diver to win medals at four editions of the Games.

East Germany won nine out of 14 women's gold medals in track and field but there were notable successes for the Soviet Union's Tatyana Kazankina in the 800m and 1,500m double and for Poland's Irena Szewińska, whose 400m victory, complete with world record, was her third and final gold in a total of seven meals dating back to 1964. View gallery West Germany in the velodrome Top three performances 1-Nadia Comaneci (ROM) - Fourteen-year-old Comaneci scored seven perfect 10s en route to three gold medals. The scoreboard was not able to display the total, and instead showed 1.00. 2-Alberto Juantorena (CUB) - Became the first man to win a 400m-800m double at the same Olympics. 3-Bruce Jenner (USA) - Scored a world record 8,634 points en route to decathlon gold. View gallery Bruce Jenner crosses the line to clinch gold in the decathlon Did you know?

Canada were the only host nation to date to win no gold medals, claiming five silver and six bronze. Soviet modern pentathlon competitor Sergio Onishchenko was disqualified during the fencing competition when his epee was found to have been electronically rigged to register a 'hit' at the touch of a button. 28 African countries boycotted the Games in protest against the IOC's refusal to exclude New Zealand, whose rugby team had toured apartheid South Africa earlier in 1976. View gallery Olympic Boycotts and Political Crises Olympic Games Boycotts and Political Events 1936 Berlin Spain decided to boycott the Berlin Games, and with labour and socialist groups around the world, organized an alternative event, the People's Olympiad. However, the event was cancelled as the Spanish Civil War broke out. Ireland boycotted the games following the IAAF expelling an Irish athletics body for refusing to restrict itself to the Irish Free State rather than the island of Ireland. 1956 Melbourne Lichtenstein, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden boycotted the games in protest of the Soviet invasion of Hungary. Egypt, Lebanon, and Iraq also boycotted as a result of the Suez crisis.

The People's Republic of China refused to participate due to the inclusion of the Republic of China (Taiwan). 1964 Tokyo South Africa was banned by the IOC from taking part due to its oppressive apartheid regime. This ban lasted until 1992. Also, Indonesia and North Korea withdrew after the IOC decision to ban teams that took part in the 1963 Games of the New Emerging Forces. 1968 Mexico City In Mexico City, 10 days before the Olympics began, students protesting against the government were surrounded by the army who opened fire, killing 267 and injuring more than 1,000. During the Games, American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos were expelled for raising their fists in a "black power" salute on the winners' podium. 1972 Munich 11 Israeli athletes were taken hostage by Palestinian terrorists 'Black September', to protest against the holding of 234 Palestinian prisoners in Israel. The terrorists murdered two of their captives, then, as the result of a bungled rescue attempt by the authorities, the remaining nine captives were killed alongside three of their captors.

1976 Montreal At the 1976 Games 26 African countries boycotted in response to New Zealand's participation. Earlier that year a New Zealand team had undertaken a three-month rugby tour of segregated South Africa, but the IOC refused to ban them. Egypt competed for the first three days of the Games before withdrawing in support of the boycott by most other African nations. The Republic of China (Taiwan) team was also barred from entering the country, then allowed to enter if they agreed not to compete as "the Republic of China"; the Taiwanese considered this unacceptable and withdrew. 1980 Moscow Due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, President Carter called upon the U.S. Olympic Committee to boycott the Games. The Olympic Charter requires such committees to "resist all pressures of any kind whatsoever, whether of a political, religious or economic nature," but theory and practice diverge. The Americans stayed home, and in total 62 countries including West Germany and Japan refused to attend. In all, 80 nations participated in the Games, down from 122 nations in Munich. The USSR won 195 medals, but allegations of cheating tainted this astonishing result.

1984 Los Angeles 14 countries, including the USSR, boycotted the Games in what was widely seen as revenge for the Moscow Games four years earlier, though the official line was that they had security concerns. Iran and Libya also boycotted the Games for different reasons. Ironically, China chose this year to return to the Games after a 32-year absence. 1988 Seoul After failing to be recognized as co-host of the Games, North Korea (which was still technically at war with the South) boycotted the Games, with Cuba and Ethiopia joining them in solidarity. However there were no widespread boycotts for the first time since 1972. 1992 Barcelona It was a rare Olympic Games with no boycotts. The Soviet Union had broken up, and the new Russian republics competed under one banner ( unified team ). The Berlin Wall had been torn down - so East and West Germany competed together as a united country. South Africa returned to the Games after the end of apartheid and 32 years of sporting isolation. 2008 Beijing There was talk of a boycott to the Beijing Olympic Games due to China's treatment of the Tibetan people, and other human rights abuses, though no major protest eventuated.

Share: That Time When African Countries Boycotted the 1976 Montreal Olympics & Stuck it to Apartheid OkayAfrica That Time When African Countries Boycotted the 1976 Montreal Olympics & Stuck it to Apartheid 08.04.16 by Erin C.J. Robertson Just last month WNBA teams Indiana Fever, New York Liberty, Phoenix Mercury were fined $5,000 and individual players were given a $500 penalty for wearing “black lives matter” warm-ups as a show of solidarity in the wake of police killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile in Minnesota and Louisiana. While players like Tina Charles, forward for the Liberty, continued to wear their altered, black warm-ups after the fines were announced (they were later dropped) and both Fever and Liberty teams staged a media blackout after their match, refusing to answer any questions related to basketball—one can’t help but wonder what would happen if all black athletes from all sports refused to play until police brutality stopped or reparations were paid out?

I refuse to be silent @WNBA pic.twitter.com/INIAI1rSIF — Tina Charles (@tinacharles31) July 21, 2016 Sports protest used to be hardcore. Remember when the late, great Muhammad Ali was arrested, tried, convicted and stripped of his heavyweight title when he refused to be drafted into the Vietnam War? This caused him to miss out on three of his prime boxing years. When American Olympic sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos stood on the podium at the 1968 Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City and raised their black-gloved fists as the U.S. national anthem played, they were subjected to racist backlash. American sprinters Tommie Smith, John Carlos and Peter Norman during the award ceremony of the 200 m race at the Mexican Olympic games. Mexico city, Mexico, 1968. Photo credit: Wikipedia It’s difficult to imagine any of today’s athletes giving up their multi-million dollar salaries, endorsements and celebrity to boycott their respective sports. Perhaps one of the best examples of athletes standing up for racial and social justice was when African athletes boycotted the 1976 Montreal Games. Remember that?

Black-ruled African nations upset that New Zealand’s rugby team was touring South Africa—the country had been excluded from the Olympics since 1964 and largely shunned by the international sports community for apartheid— threatened to withdraw from competition on the eve of the 1976 Montreal Olympics. The 33 countries recognized an opportunity to stick it to the rugby-devoted, white minority rulers of South Africa. Their demand? The International Olympic committee had to ban New Zealand. It was a last minute, gutsy decision especially considering many of the athletes had arrived in Montreal and were already participating in preliminary matches when their governments decided to pull out. However, the nations recognized that there is strength and power in numbers, and palpable change happens only when wallets are affected. Egypt’s team participated in the opening ceremonies, but dropped out the next day, and even Iraq and Guyana joined the African protest. The countries’ decisions to forgo competition resulted in intense negotiations although ultimately the IOC didn’t concede, claiming rugby was outside of its jurisdiction. New Zealand’s rugby tour continued and the island nation was not barred from competition. However the African nations’ boycott caused cancellations, rescheduled events and $1 million in refunds .

Track and field contests were also significantly impacted with so many runners from African countries absent. Go figure. Apart from that, their show of unity, spurred by the decolonization of the African continent in the 1950s and 60s, led to the word “apartheid” appearing on front pages of newspapers. And citizens began pressuring their governments to act, which resulted in economic sanctions against South Africa that helped end formal apartheid rule two decades later. What’s more, black athletes sacrificing the pinnacle of their sports careers on the international stage boosted the morale of student protesters who took part in the Soweto uprisings in South Africa that happened a couple months prior to the 1976 Olympic games. Fast-forward to the present-day, what if athletes collectively agreed to stop playing or staged another boycott of the Olympics in Rio?

We can only imagine… Montreal Olympics: African boycott left Archie Moore without boxers to coach | Montreal Gazette Montreal Olympics: African boycott left Archie Moore without boxers to coach More from Pat Hickey, Montreal Gazette Published on: July 18, 2016 | Last Updated: July 19, 2016 3:06 PM EST Archie Moore, left, who was an assistant coach with the Nigerian boxing team that boycotted the 1976 Olympics, retains his light-heavyweight title with an 11th-round knockout of Yvon Durelle at The Forum in Montreal on Dec. 10, 1958. DAVID BIER / Gazette files Share Adjust Comment Print Archie Moore received some shocking news when he arrived in 1976 after an 18-hour journey from Lagos, Nigeria, to Montreal. The former light-heavyweight champion was an assistant coach with the Nigerian Olympic boxing team and had high hopes for his young fighters, including heavyweight Fatai Ayinla-Adekunle, who won a bronze medal at the world amateur championships two years earlier.

But shortly after arriving in Montreal, he learned that Nigeria had joined other African nations in boycotting the 1976 Olympic Games . Maj. Gen. Olufemi Olutoye, then-president of the Nigerian Olympic Committee, announces his country’s withdrawal from the Montreal Olympics in Montreal on July 16, 1976. Lynn Ball / The Canadian Press The African nations were upset over a decision by the New Zealand rugby team to tour South Africa, generally shunned by the international sporting community because of its apartheid policy. The Africans called for New Zealand’s expulsion from the Games, but the International Olympic Committee rejected the idea. Most of the athletes from the boycotting countries had already arrived in Montreal when their governments decided not to compete. The Egyptian team marched in the opening ceremonies before withdrawing a day later. Iraq and the tiny South American nation of Guyana joined the mostly African protest to bring the number of boycotting nations to 33. The boycott resulted in cancellations and rescheduled events, and organizers issued refunds totalling $1 million.

Among the top athletes denied an opportunity to compete were John Akii-Bua of Uganda, defending Olympic champion and world record-holder in the 400-metre hurdles, and Tanzania’s Filbert Bayi, world record-holder at 1,500 metres. A showdown between Akii-Bua and American Edwin Moses was expected to be one of the highlights of the track competition. Moses won gold medals in Montreal and in Los Angeles in 1984, but was deprived of a third chance for Olympic gold when the United States boycotted the 1980 Games in Moscow over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. U.S. Olympic track champion Edwin Moses, right, talks with Travis Tygart of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, left, and Zimbabwean swimmer Kirsty Coventry at a World Anti-Doping Agency meeting in 2015. In the 1976 Summer Olympics, a showdown between Moses and John Akii-Bua of Uganda never materialized when African nations boycotted the Games. Brennan Linsley / Associated Press Moses became one of the most respected figures in track and field.

He leads the Laureus World Sports Academy and is at the forefront in the fight against performance-enhancing drugs. Akii-Bua ended up in a refugee camp following the fall of Idi Amin in Uganda and died at the age of 47 in Kampala. While he was in Montreal, Moore made a nostalgic visit to the Forum where he had fought Yvon Durelle on Dec. 10, 1958. Moore was a heavy favourite to retain his light-heavyweight title, so the sold-out crowd was stunned when Durelle knocked Moore down three times in the first round. The fight might have ended there, but there was no three-knockdown rule for the title bout and the count after the first knockdown was delayed because Durelle was slow going to his corner and a groggy Moore regained his feet at the count of nine. Durelle scored another knockdown in the fifth round. But Moore held on and Durelle, a fisherman from New Brunswick, tired. Moore knocked Durelle down in the 10th round and retained his title with an 11th-round knockout.

When asked about his 1976 Olympic experience, Moore said: “I was disappointed, not for myself, but for the kids who worked so hard and had a dream taken away from them.” 1976 Montréal Summer Games | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com 1976 Montréal Summer Games Host City: Montréal, Canada (July 18, 1976 to August 1, 1976) Opening Ceremony: July 17, 1976 (opened by Queen Elizabeth II) Taker of the Olympic Oath: Pierre St.

Jean (athlete) Closing Ceremony: August 1, 1976 Events: 198 in 23 sports Participants: 6,073 (4,812 men and 1,260 women) from 92 countries Youngest Participant: Antonia Real (12 years, 311 days) Oldest Participant: Owen Phillips (70 years, 11 days) Most Medals (Athlete): Soviet Union (125 medals) Overview After the boycotts and the massacre of [Munich], the IOC hoped for an Olympic revival at Montréal in 1976. But all their wishes were not fulfilled. The city of Montréal spent extravagantly to host the Games, leaving the citizens of Canada and Québec with a tax debt they would be repaying for years. Many of the structures planned for the Games were not finished on time or came in well over estimates, and several of them, notably the elaborate, though beautiful, velodrome, proved to be white elephants that would be of little use after the Olympics. The Games were dubbed the billion-dollar circus by the Canadian press.

Mayor Jean Drapeau's efforts in hosting the Olympic were not appreciated by the Canadian citizenry. » Click to show/hide rest of overview Then shortly before the Games were to start they were marred by a boycott of 22 African countries, Guyana, and Chinese Taipei (then Taiwan). The African/Guyanan boycott was in protest of a recent tour of South Africa by the New Zealand national rugby side, almost mockingly (although unrelatedly) named the All-Blacks. As South Africa was ostracized from international sporting competition, the African nations demanded New Zealand not be allowed to compete at Montréal. But the IOC had little control over this problem, as rugby had no current affiliation with the Olympic Movement. New Zealand competed and most of Africa did not. Twenty-six nations eventually boycotted the Montréal Olympics. Twenty-two of these did not compete at all and are as follows\: Algeria, Central Africa, Chad, People's Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, Guyana, Iraq, Kenya, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Upper Volta, and Zambia.

In addition, four nations, Cameroon, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia, also boycotted, but a few of their athletes competed prior to their withdrawal and boycott. [James Gilkes] of Guyana was a top sprinter and petitioned to compete as an individual after his nation withdrew. The IOC refused this request stating that there was no allowance for this in the Olympic Charter. It seemed more than a bit hypocritical as the IOC, when decrying the use of national medal lists, had always proclaimed that the Olympics are for individuals, not for nations. In 1992, the IOC would change their stance and allow Yugoslavian athletes, ostracized by the United Nations because of their nation's civil war, to compete as Independent Olympic Participants (IOP). This occurred again in 2000 at Sydney when East Timor athletes, not yet an independent nation, and with no recognized NOC, were allowed to compete as Independent Olympic Athletes (IOA). The Taiwan boycott occurred when Canada at first refused to allow them to enter the country, as the Canadian government did not recognize the island nation. This was in direct violation of the contract they had signed as the host nation to admit all eligible nations in honoring the Olympic Charter.

The Canadians acquiesced and allowed the Taiwanese to compete, but refused to allow them to do so under the title of the Republic of China, their official national name. Several other countries protested and threatened withdrawal, notably the United States, if the Taiwan athletes were not allowed to compete. However, these protests were short-lived and the IOC finally gave in to the Canadian government. Taiwan watched the Olympics from afar, if at all. After all this the Olympics began. Despite the absence of some top African track athletes, they were well run and the boycotts had minimal effect on competition. Track & field saw the loss of its featured event, the [1,500 metres], in which [John Walker] (ironically of New Zealand) and [Filbert Bayi] (Tanzania) were to compete. They were the two best milers in the world by far, but Walker had only himself to beat, and he managed a comfortable gold medal victory. The most spectacular athlete on the track was likely Cuba's [Alberto Juantorena] who won both the [400] and [800 metres] runs.

The gymnastics competition saw the Olympic début of Romania's [Nadia Comăneci], who was awarded seven perfect 10s for her performances in the gym. She won five medals and three gold medals, dominating the competition. With Munich followed by the political and financial problems of Montréal, the Olympic Movement was reeling. [Moscow] would bring no better. Country Medal Leaders A Sports Reference Site : About SR/Olympics | Privacy Statement | Conditions & Terms of Service | Use of Data Data provided by OlyMADMen , led by Hilary Evans, Arild Gjerde, Jeroen Heijmans, and Bill Mallon. Members: David Foster, Martin Frank, Jørn Jensen, Carl-Johan Johansson, Taavi Kalju, Martin Kellner, George Masin, Stein Opdahl, Wolf Reinhardt, Ralf Regnitter, Paul Tchir, Magne Teigen, Christian Tugnoli, Morten Aarlia Torp, and Ralf Schlüter. Sports Reference LLC and are not sponsored by or affiliated with the Olympics, the United States Olympic Committee or the International Olympic Committee.

Trademarks featured or referred to on this website are the property of their respective trademark holders and not Sports Reference LLC or . Part of the IOC creates spectre of 'terrorism' at Olympics | Green Left Weekly IOC creates spectre of 'terrorism' at Olympics Wednesday, October 30, 1996 IOC creates spectre of 'terrorism' at Olympics By Stuart Russell Aboriginal leaders have reacted angrily to remarks suggesting that they intend to "hijack" the Sydney Olympic Games. After visiting last month, the chairman of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) warned that Aboriginal groups and "other ethnic minorities" might "hijack" and take "hostage" the games. Charles Perkins accused the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) of orchestrating the remarks in order to threaten Aboriginal people, and denounced the committee's lack of proper consultation with Aboriginal people. Lyle Munro, a former chairperson of the Aboriginal Legal Service, stated that Aboriginal groups might lobby black nations to boycott the games. In 1976, 22 African nations boycotted the Montreal Games, to protest the New Zealand rugby team's tour of South Africa.

The NSW minister for the Olympics has denied Perkins' claim that SOCOG encouraged the IOC to make the remarks, but this is not credible. Only a week before the IOC's visit, the chief executive officer of SOCOG publicly warned that Aboriginal people would use the games to highlight their grievances. At the same time, the coordinator of the Carpentaria Land Council stated that Aboriginal people should call on South Africa and other countries with indigenous-controlled governments to boycott the 2000 Olympics, as an act of solidarity with Aboriginal people in Australia. The games are a profit-making enterprise, and a boycott would further tarnish the Olympics image and reduce the profit margin of businesses. Aboriginal people have not"hijacked" the 2000 Olympics. Rather, the IOC is engaging in hijacking, by transforming a threat of peaceful protest into a criminal act of terrorism. It is obvious that the IOC was briefed by SOCOG about the threat of protests by Aboriginal people. The IOC was extremely embarrassed by the gigantic security failure at the Atlanta Games, and is going out of its way to ensure that it is not repeated in four years.

Attempting to whip up racist hysteria about Aboriginal people engaging in violent acts against the 2000 Games, is intended to turn public opinion against the Aboriginal community, in the hope that such pressure will force Aboriginal people, and every other sector of Australian society with a grievance, to keep quiet during the games. The IOC did not meet with Aboriginal people during its most recent visit. Rather it prefers to unleash a confrontational dynamic directed against one of Australia's most powerless communities. Such threats will increase the level of racism in Australia. John Howard's supposed support for "free speech" would not seem to extend to the right of Aboriginal people to protest peacefully at the Sydney Games, for he failed to speak out against the IOC's utterances. Aboriginal people have a legitimate right to use the Olympics as a forum in which to pursue their struggle for land rights and survival. And they have good reason to be angry about the Olympics. Their land claims have not been settled, and accordingly the many Olympic installations are housed on stolen land. There has been nothing more than tokenistic and minimal involvement of Aboriginal people in SOCOG.

Statements like those by the IOC are designed to create a climate of fear, which could provide the basis for anti-democratic emergency legislation against the right to protest during the games. Following the fiasco in Atlanta, it is clear that Sydney will be transformed into an armed encampment during the games to ensure that no security violations occur. Therefore the trade unions, the left and all movements for social change have a stake in strongly defending the right of Aboriginal people and every other community to protest during the games. The added danger is that ASIO and other security and police services will use the IOC's hysteria to step up surveillance of Aboriginal and ethnic groups. This may lead to invasions of privacy and other civil liberties violations. It may also include the use of agents provocateurs and informants, designed to discredit and destabilise the work of these communities. Following the Atlanta security scandal, security plans for the Sydney Games have been seriously upgraded, and ASIO will be asking the federal government for increased funds in connection with the Games. According to SOCOG, this security plan "will provide the highest level of security to all Olympics participants and visitors in an unobtrusive hospitable manner and will ensure that there are no disruptions to the Olympic Games".

Sydney is already shaping up as the "Fortress Games", with new plans for a giant chain-mail fence around the games site severely hampering crowd movement and limiting access points. Recent security technology like optic, voice and fingerprint technology, will be used to accredit officials, staff and athletes. The IOC's warnings also explode the myth of the "non-political" nature of sport. The sheer hypocrisy of the Olympic tradition is that it is fine for Coca-Cola and other multinationals to parade their corporate consumerist messages before the world at the Olympic Games, but it is unacceptable for Aboriginal people and other oppressed groups to mobilise around the fundamental right of survival. Similarly, it was fine for the US team to refuse to go to the Moscow Games in 1980 and the Russians to Los Angeles in 1984, but it is an outrage for Aboriginal people to call for a boycott of the Sydney Games. SOCOG, ASIO and the other arms of government are well organised for the 2000 Games. It would be naive and dangerous to wait until the year 2000 before countering the anti-democratic Olympics hysteria, when the pressure on public protest will be intense.

Now is the time to take action, to ensure that our civil liberties are not trampled on during the Sydney Games.

Question: African nations boycotted the Montreal Olympic Games in 1976, as a protest against a recent tour of South Africa by a rugby team from which country?
Answer: New Zealand