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). » How Did Montreal Get Its Big O? The History of the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Montreal How Did Montreal Get Its Big O? The History of the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Montreal History Lessons In order to commemorate the closing of the XXX Olympic Games in London, we here at The Main MTL would like to rewind that tape deck of yours, back to an era where rock n’ roll reigned supreme. In 1976, our beloved Montreal became the first Canadian city to host the Olympic Games – a feat they completed in memorable fashion. In a number of ways, the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Montreal was cast in a dark shadow from the very beginning. First off, in part to prevent an international outbreak, the IOC awarded Montreal the honour in 1970, granting them victory over the two remaining superpowers.

Additionally, due to fear of unpopularity amongst sovereignists, Premier of Quebec Robert Bourassa sent a letter to Canadian Monarch Queen Elizabeth II, asking her to formally decline Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s invitation to attend the games. Needless to say, his request was denied. Furthermore, an African boycott involving 22 sovereign nations was spawned in reaction to the New Zealand rugby team’s tour of apartheid South Africa. Taiwan, then known as the Republic of China, was denied permission to participate under that name, as Canada had already officially recognized the People’s Republic of China. The combination of these two left 26 countries out of the competition. Drug allegations were also rampant at the Olympics, with East German swimmers in the spotlight for using anabolic steroids. Curiously, the East German swimmers won all but two gold medals in 1976. However, of greatest importance perhaps is that the Summer Olympic Games in Montreal did not come cheap. A significant amount of construction was needed prior to the event – a large portion of which Montreal either struggled, or flat out failed, to complete in time.

A number of long-lasting strikes (resulting in a loss of 155 work-days) affected construction of the Olympic Park, leading to official threats in early 1976 that the Games could be moved elsewhere. In a prediction that would later haunt and embarrass him, mayor Jean Drapeau notoriously stated, “The Montreal Olympics can no more have a deficit, than a man can have a baby.” Held from July 17 to August 1 1976, the Olympic Games cost the city of Montreal a pretty penny. Actually, let me rephrase that. The Olympics were an economic calamity for Montreal, resulting in costs of over $2 billion (1976) and leaving the city in debt for three decades. (The debt was finally paid off in December 2006, thanks to a tax placed on the purchase of tobacco. Thanks, smokers!) The stadium, often called The Big O, has been sarcastically referred to as The Big Owe, a testament to popular sentiment regarding the financial disaster surrounding its construction and maintenance.

The Olympic Stadium – now the symbol, landmark, reminder, and official headache of the Games – was opened for action without its famous tower and retractable roof, which was to be a pioneer achievement for engineers at the time. As a result of the failure, severe rainstorms affected the men’s diving event as puddles formed in the high jump area, forcing Olympic athletes to clean up the mess themselves… talk about bush league! However, despite numerous complications and drawbacks, the 1976 Summer Olympics were actually quite monumental; 27 world-records were broken over the course of the Games. Women’s events in basketball, rowing, and team handball all made their Olympic debut, while field hockey was played on an artificial pitch for the first time. Amongst several other notable achievements, fourteen-year-old gymnast Nadia Comaneci of Romania was the true star of the Games, earning the first-ever perfect score of 10.0. Unfortunately, Canada finished the Games with only five silver and six bronze medals.

This was the first time that the host country of the Summer Games had not won any gold medals – a feat that we would repeat again in 1988 Winter Games in Calgary, before skier Alexandre Bilodeau won Canada’s first gold medal on Canadian soil in Vancouver 2010. In the years following the Olympics, the Montreal Expos and Montreal Alouettes moved into Olympic Stadium, staying until 2004 and 1997, respectively. Nowadays, the Olympic Stadium does not have an official host, and it remains to be seen what the future holds for The Big O, but something tells me it won’t be pretty. What historical landmark or event are you most curious about? Tweet us @TheMain ! 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 1976 Montreal Olympics: City was a nervous wreck days before opening ceremony | Montreal Gazette 1976 Montreal Olympics: City was a nervous wreck days before opening ceremony More from Andy Riga, Montreal Gazette Published on: July 30, 2016 | Last Updated: October 13, 2016 10:17 AM EST Eight months before the Games started, the Olympic Stadium was plagued with labour troubles. On Oct. 25, 1975, workers were reluctantly heading back to work, waiting for the gates to open. Four days earlier, they had walked off the job, protesting against the existence of a so-called blacklist. An injunction ordered the men back to work. Gazette files Gazette files Share Adjust Comment Print Montreal was a city on the verge of a nervous breakdown in the weeks before the 1976 Olympics . The Olympic Stadium tower and retractable roof wouldn’t go up for years, but it looked like competition facilities would be completed on time. The Games would go on. Excitement was building.

But so many things were going wrong. At the vast east-end Olympic Park, chaos reigned. Construction workers were sabotaging the work site and working to rule, hoping to use their leverage to squeeze higher wages out of Quebec. Fraud, collusion and corruption allegations were flying. There were growing calls for an investigation into enormous cost overruns. Soldiers patrolled airports, X-ray machines hummed in hotel lobbies, military helicopters buzzed overhead. Officials feared terrorists would target Montreal as they had the Munich Games four years earlier, when Palestinian terrorists murdered 11 members of Israel’s team. Political turmoil was rife. Pierre Trudeau, prime minister at the time, was threatening to bar Taiwan from the Games, angering the United States and other countries. Dozens of African, Arab and Caribbean countries were warning of a boycott if New Zealand were allowed to compete, pointing to its rugby team’s tour of apartheid South Africa. Locally, the tension was thick between Montreal and Quebec. Then-premier Robert Bourassa, in a panic over lagging preparations, had taken control of the Games from then-mayor Jean Drapeau, who would later be officially blamed for the Olympic financial disaster.

There was, of course, an English-French war raging. The issue: the language of the air. As the world was preparing to fly to Montreal, thousands of Canadian pilots and air-traffic controllers walked off the job over Ottawa’s decision to allow the use of French between pilots and control towers in Quebec. Construction workers involved in building 1976 Montreal Olympics facilities. Len Sidaway / Gazette files Labour strife was rampant. Workers of various stripes – from hospital nurses to liquor store workers to Hydro-Québec technicians to subway-car builders – paralyzed workplaces. Did we mention the city was suffering through a heat wave? Starting today through Aug. 1, the Montreal Gazette will run a special series looking at the 1976 Olympics — the triumphs, the scandals, the personal stories. As Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, deals with its own monumental problems in the buildup to the 2016 Summer Games , here’s a look at the tense six weeks before the Olympic Cauldron was lit in Montreal. *** June 1: Work on the Vélodrome is completed, two years behind schedule. It was originally slated to open for the world cycling championships in June 1974.

Former Montreal mayor Jean Drapeau shows off the Olympic Vélodrome to then-IOC president Lord Killanin before the Montreal Games. DOUG BALL / The Canadian Press June 2: Accused of slowdowns and sabotage, plumbers working at the Big O speak out. They describe frequent shortages of tools, equipment and construction materials; thefts of equipment by individuals, work gangs and companies; constantly changing engineering plans forcing workers to tear up completed work and redo it; surprise electrical blackouts that leave crews with nothing to do for hours or entire shifts. The situation had been even worse in 1975, according to the biography Drapeau , by Brian McKenna and Susan Purcell: “Workers were being asked to work seven 12-hour days. Some took to sleeping their entire shifts in shacks on the site, others played cards endlessly for high stakes. A bootlegger sold booze and some workers were drunk most of the time. A lottery was established. Loan sharks set up shop. Marijuana and even heroine were available on the site.

An investigation turned up a time-clock fraud, whereby workers paid certain time clerks to punch them in and out illegally, while they remained at home in bed, gambled or stayed in the tavern all day.” June 3: Emergency safety precautions are put in place after the National Research Council declares the 7,000-seat Vélodrome roof a potential fire hazard because its plastic materials burn twice as fast as wood when ignited. Twelve firefighters will be stationed at the Vélodrome during competitions. June 4: The opposition Parti Québécois demands a formal warning be issued to foreign visitors that they attend events at the Vélodrome at “their risk and peril.” June 6: An eastern extension of the métro’s Green Line opens, adding nine stations over eight kilometres, including two stops — Viau and Pie-IX — that bookend the Olympic Park. But a strike by Bombardier workers has delayed the arrival of new subway cars. To deal with the expected crush of riders, cars are taken from the Orange Line. June 7: About 1.5 million Olympic tickets go on sale.

Available at Eaton’s downtown store, they must be purchased in person — no phone or mail orders — and can be charged to Eaton accounts or paid in cash. June 8: Canadian-born media baron Lord Thomson of Fleet says Quebec has botched the Games. “If we had done the job in Ontario, we would not have had all this graft and corruption,” he tells a reporter. “Ontario would have done a better job.” A month earlier, the Olympic Installations Board had accused plumbers and electricians of cutting wires, plugging pipes and staging slowdowns. It had obtained an injunction that ordered the mischief to stop, but more than 100 workers had been fired for defying the order. And the OIB now says some electricians never returned to a regular work pace. “If (electricians’) work rhythm does not return to normal, we may not have as much electricity as we wanted,” the OIB says. This Quebec government advertisement ran in the Montreal Gazette on June 9, 1976. Montreal Gazette June 9: Ticket buyers are waiting up to 30 minutes at the Eaton’s counter.

“We sold about 20,000 to 25,000 tickets the first two days, and there were several hundred people lined up before store opening hours” on the second day, an Eaton’s spokesperson says. With a provincial election in the offing and the PQ playing up Olympic mayhem, Bourassa had taken over the organizing of the Games. In a provincial government ad in the Gazette, Quebec portrays itself as a saviour and takes a jab at Montreal. “Yes, we’re ready and fiercely proud of what we’ve done and of the Quebec workers on the world’s biggest single project. Proud, too, that Quebec took up the challenge, saved the Games, and gave the whole world something to remember.” June 11: The Quebec government says it isn’t clear yet whether it will launch a public inquiry into the Olympic price tag, which has risen to more than $1 billion. In 1970, Drapeau said the Games would cost no more than $120 million.

(In the end, Quebecers would finally pay off the Olympics’ $1.5-billion debt in 2006, 30 years after the Games.) June 13: Quebec officially hands over Olympic facilities to organizers. In a speech, Bourassa does not mention the role of Montreal – or Drapeau, who is at the ceremony but pointedly declines to speak. Bob Keaton, a councillor with the opposition Montreal Citizens’ Movement, says Bourassa’s Liberals are “just as much responsible for the incompetence, maladministration and exorbitant costs as the city administration.” The premier tells reporters a legislature committee with full powers to summon witnesses will “get the whole truth about the cost of the Games.” June 15: A Gazette editorial pooh-poohs Bourassa’s legislature probe, saying it would be “dominated by the governing party of one of the levels involved in the investigation.” Instead, what is needed is an independent inquiry, it says. June 16: With the Munich Olympic massacre still fresh in the world’s memory, security is tight at Montreal airports. RCMP and Canadian Armed Forces personnel man command posts around-the clock. Soldiers are armed with semi-automatic rifles and 9-mm pistols.

“All sorts of additional armaments are available to us, but I’m not prepared to say what they are,” an official tells reporters. In the run-up to the Games, reports had surfaced about alleged “Arab terrorist” plots to target Montreal. In April 1975, the Gazette reported that terrorists had “penetrated the special security screen set up by the federal immigration department for the 1976 Olympics” and were in Canada. In the end, terrorism would not rear its head in Montreal. Security was tight at Mirabel Airport during the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Gazette files June 18: Eighty-thousand health-care workers start walking off the job, threatening to paralyze most Montreal hospitals. They want more money and changes to training and scheduling rules. Emergency rooms and occupancy rates are reduced to bare minimum. “It has become a crisis situation,” a Montreal police spokesperson tells the Gazette. “We don’t know where to take emergency cases anymore.” June 20: Pilots and traffic controllers start walking off the job in a dispute that would last nine days, shutting down airlines and airports. Pilots say allowing French in flight communication makes flying dangerous.

A post-Olympic economic slump is predicted, with few significant construction projects in sight. “The projected $1-billion deficit of the Games has thrown a monstrous monkey-wrench into both city and provincial finances,” the Gazette reports. A $2.8-billion post-Olympic transport plan — métro extensions, and road, bridge and commuter-train improvements — has been shelved. Military choppers are flying over Montreal to familiarize military officers with the city. Motorcycle cops are zipping around to estimate driving times in case of an Olympic emergency. June 22: CF-5 fighter planes and military helicopters begin policing off-limits airspace over the Olympic sites. “We recognize there are many terrorist-guerilla organizations active today and because of worldwide television and newspaper coverage, the Games would provide a perfect setting for their exposure,” an official tells reporters. Instead of saddling residents with a direct bill, Drapeau suggests Quebec explore methods of “voluntary taxation” to finance Montreal’s $200-million share of the Games deficit. He proposes an extension to the Olympic lottery and a new tax on tobacco. 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal: Debbie Field and Mitchell Ettinger show off their tickets.

Tedd Church / Gazette files June 24: Striking nurses are urged to defy a court injunction ordering them back to work. American pilots are refusing to fly into Canada, saying tension over bilingual flight communications have made Canadian skies unsafe. Queen Elizabeth’s itinerary is announced. She will arrive at St-Hubert airport July 16, and be met by Bourassa and Drapeau. The next day, before she opens the Games, she will visit Montreal city hall to sign the Golden Book and have lunch at an event hosted by Drapeau. She will attend competitions over several days before departing July 26. June 25: Some of the 1,000 official hostesses and guides are grumbling about training. Hostesses have been instructed to not chew gum, smoke, drink or get “personally involved” with the public while in uniform. “You wouldn’t want to be known as ‘les femmes faciles’ — easy women — around the world,” one hostess says her group was told. “They spend so much time telling us to take baths, keep our hair combed, brush our teeth, and wear deodorant, there is no time for us to find out what we are supposed to do,” she says.

“I’m really concerned about what is going to happen when we actually start working and we don’t know how to direct the delegations to one of the stadiums.” June 28: “Confusion reigned backstage at the dress rehearsal for the Olympic Games this weekend as organizers grappled with communication problems, ticket foul-ups, technical adjustments and security problems,” the Gazette reports. About 49,000 tickets were sold for the 35,000 available seats. During a downpour, the Vélodrome roof leaks, sending water onto the cycling track. Some spectators at dress rehearsals gripe about outrageous food prices — 75-cent hot dogs, $1 beer, $2 boxed lunches. June 29: English-speaking pilots and traffic controllers call off their strike after Ottawa backs down. Angry francophone air-traffic controllers call a 48-hour “unlimited, selective work-to-rule campaign.” Jean Marchand, federal environment minister at the time, would resign from cabinet in protest. Quebec politicians suggest the racism and bigotry stirred up could lead Quebec to separate.

(In 1979, French was finally allowed in the air, after a royal commission concluded bilingual control could be safely implemented.) Fraud and conspiracy charges are laid against developers of the Olympic Village. The OIB had seized control of the complex in April, citing escalating costs. The original estimate: $30 million. The new estimate: $90 million. Some English-speaking athletes complain about the Olympic Village. “Even though Village authorities have gone to great lengths to hire help for those who speak even obscure dialects, cafeteria staff refused to or could not speak English during the weekend,” the Gazette reports. Quebec says all commercial establishments, except grocery stores, can remain open beyond legal closing hours to accommodate an expected influx of hundreds of thousands of tourists. Share Gallery: 1976 Summer Olympics photo flashbacks The eyes of the world were on Montreal during the last two weeks of July 1976, when top athletes converged on the city for the Summer Olympics. History was witnessed – a male-female torch-bearer team, Nadia Comaneci’s perfect 10s, the African boycott. Here are some key moments captured during competitions, in the stands and around Montreal.

The Montreal Olympics marked the first time in Olympic history that a woman and a man carried the flame together. On July 17, 1976, Stéphane Préfontaine, a 15-year-old Montreal francophone, and Sandra Henderson, a 16-year-old Ontario anglophone, lit the Olympic urn in front of a Big O crowd of 73,000. ''The crowd exploded,” Préfontaine would say of the moment he and Henderson entered the stadium. “It's a good thing there was no roof on the stadium, because it would have blown off.” Four years later, the two were asked to deliver the official Olympic flag to the next host city, Moscow. Normally, then-mayor Jean Drapeau would have handed it off but he could not because Canada boycotted the Games over the Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan. MICHAEL DUGAS/Gazette files At the Montreal Olympics, Romanian Nadia Comaneci became the first gymnast in Olympic history to be awarded a perfect score: 10. But the crowd at the Montreal Forum took a second to realize they had witnessed history on the uneven bars. That’s because the electronic scoreboard flashed 1.00.

It was not equipped to reflect perfection. /AFP/Getty Images 14-year-old Nadia Comaneci, of Romania, went on to become the darling of the Games, earning six more perfect 10s. Comaneci won three Gold medals, as well as silver and bronze medals. (Seen here: Comaneci dismounts from the uneven parallel bars during a perfect "10" performance at Montreal's Summer Olympics, July 18, 1976.) PAUL VATHIS/Associated Press African countries boycotted the 1976 Montreal Games in protest over the participation of New Zealand. They were angered by New Zealand’s rugby team’s decision to take part in a competition in apartheid South Africa. (Seen here: Members of the Nigerian Olympic team prepare for their journey home at Montreal's Mirabel Airport July 16, 1976) STF/Canadian Press More than 30 African teams walked out of the Games after failing to convince the International Olympic Committee to bar New Zealand from the Games.

(Seen here: Kenyan athletes wait for a bus outside Olympic Village, on their way to the airport after the African nation decided to boycott the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympic Games.) /Montreal Gazette files Queen Elizabeth spent 10 days in Quebec and Ontario during the 1976 Olympics, arriving at St-Hubert airport on July 16 where she was met by then-premier Robert Bourassa and then-mayor Jean Drapeau (seen here). Her daughter, Princess Anne, competed in equestrian events. A provincial police honour guard, however, missed their opportunity to greet her. Security was so tight the army wouldn’t let them onto the tarmac because the police officers didn’t have the necessary credentials. That evening, the Queen and Prince Philip gave a dinner for Premier Robert Bourassa and other guests on the Royal Yacht Britannia, moored in Montreal harbour. Wally Hayes/CANADIAN PRESS The next day, before officially opening the Games, she went to Montreal city hall to sign the golden book and have lunch at an event hosted by then-mayor Jean Drapeau (seen here).

Queen Elizabeth attended Olympic competitions over several days before departing on July 26, with Prince Philip remaining behind until the closing of the Games on Aug. 1. HAYES/Canadian Press Just before the Montreal Games, then prime minister Trudeau took part in a memorial service in Montreal for 11 Israeli athletes killed four years earlier at the 1972 Games in Munich. Trudeau spent a lot of time in Montreal during Olympics. Two days before the opening ceremony, Trudeau joined Canadian athletes at a reception atop Mount Royal. “Wearing an open-collared jersey and leather jacket (he) was in a mood reminiscent of his early political campaigning, as he kissed women team members and at one point began sparring with a member of the Olympic boxing team,” the Gazette reported. (Seen here: Trudeau tries on a sword presented to him by the Canadian Olympic Association.) /Montreal Gazette files Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau watches Olympic Wrestling, while sons Alexandre (Sacha), age 2, centre, and Justin, age 4, seem content to watch the crowd. The Trudeaus visited the wrestling competition in Montreal July 24, 1976.

/The Canadian Press A dramatic leaning tower and innovative retractable roof were supposed to be highlights of the Montreal’s Olympic Stadium during the 1976 Games. But it would take another 12 years before they were in place. The retractable roof, made of Kevlar, installed in 1987 was opened and closed a total of only 88 times before it was left permanently closed, due to repeated tears. CHUCK STOODY/The Canadian Press The Olympic Stadium retractable roof was replaced in late 1998 by a fixed fibreglass membrane roof. A year later, that roof ripped, sending tonnes of snow down on workers setting up the Montreal auto show. Five people were injured. The 165-meter tower, at a 45-degree angle, is described as the tallest inclined tower in the world. Visitors reach the top via a funicular. (Seen here: Then Montreal mayor Jean Drapeau with a model of the proposed Olympic Stadium in the Quebec City national assembly in January, 1975. /Canadian Press The massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Games four years earlier cast a shadow over the 1976 Olympics.

Montreal and provincial police were joined by the RCMP and soldiers to deal with possible threats, with officials claiming security would be the tightest in the history of the Olympics. Some complained parts of the city felt like armed camps. /Gazette files “Montreal should not become or look like or project an image of being a city or a country in a phase of war,” then-mayor Jean Drapeau told an interviewer after the 1972 Munich massacre. “It will never look like – I don’t want it to look like – an army-guarded site.” He said he was confident security officials “would not destroy the image that is most important – the image of peace, harmony, brotherhood, fraternity that have to go along with the Games.” (Seen here: Security at the Olympic Village during the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.) /Gazette files Kornelia Ender from East German dominated in the pool during the 1976 Olympics, winning four gold and one silver medal at the Games. There were strong suspicions that East German athletes were being given steroids. In the 1990s, it emerged that East Germany had been systematically giving athletes injections for years.

Enders later said she started receiving injections at age 13. She didn’t know what they were at the time but later suspected they were steroids. /Gazette files The 1976 Summer Games were the first where women competed in basketball, handball and rowing. The number of female competitors has been growing steadily since women first took part in the Games, in 1900. In Montreal, 231 women competed, compared to 205 at the previous games, in Munich. More than 1,000 now take part in Summer Games. (Seen here: Anita Defrantz and the USA women's rowing team at the 1976 Olympic Games.) /International Olympic Committee Sixty-seven marathoners started the run but only 60 completed the gruelling event. It took place on Montreal rain-soaked streets, including Cote-Ste-Catherine Rd., Sherbrooke St. and Gouin Blvd. American Frank Shorter was the favourite. But the gold medal went to East German Waldemar Cierpinski (seen here, running alongside a young boy).

He was so focused on his running he didn’t realize he had passed the finished line despite the roar of 70,000 cheering spectators at the Big O. Then, he looked up and saw someone running ahead of him. “It was when I saw Shorter stop at the finish line that I understood what I had done - I had run one lap too many,” Cierpinski later said. /Montreal Gazette files Waldemar Cierpinski (Eastern Germany) set an Olympic record - 2:09:55.0, beating Frank Charles Shorter (USA) by 50 seconds. Documents that surfaced decades later indicated Cierpinski may have been part of East German's steroid program. (Seen here: Marathon runners with Cierpinski in first position, and Shorter in second position, in the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Montreal.) International Olympic Committee/Montreal City Archives By the time the Games started, 11 men had been killed in work-related accidents during construction of Olympic facilities. Families of dead workers were each given two tickets to the opening ceremony.

Jean Pierre Rivest/Gazette files Canada was the first Summer Olympics host country to not win a gold medal but Greg Joy helped the country end the Games on a high, winning a silver in the high jump. Cheering spectators in the Olympic Stadium were also happy because Dwight Stones, an American who had been the favourite to win ended up with a bronze. Stones had been booed repeatedly. Francophones were incensed after Stones – a controversial figure known as “the mouth with legs” and “the mouth that soars” – was quoted saying: "I'm very upset with the French-Canadians. The stadium isn't finished, and that's just plain rude.” Hoping to quell the ensuing furor, Stones took to wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with a message: “I love French-Canadians.” It didn’t help. “When he began his approach to the bar it built to a crescendo - wave on wave of hate pouring down from the upper echelons,” the Gazette reported on July 31, 1976.

FILE/The Canadian Press At the 1976 Summer Games, Princess Anne, daughter of Queen Elizabeth, became the first member of the British Royal family to compete in the Olympics. A member of the British equestrian team at the 1976 games, she rode Goodwill, a horse belonging to the queen. On the second day of her event, in front of a crowd that included her parents, she fell and got a concussion at the Olympic Equestrian Centre in Bromont, south east of Montreal. She got back on her horse and completed the course, later telling an interviewer that she doesn’t remember much of what happened that day. Princess Anne is a member of the International Olympic Committee and was a member of the organizing committee for the London Games in 2012. (Seen here: Prince Philip talks to Princess Anne while Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles and Prince Andrew listen in, prior to the equestrian event.) CHUCK MITCHELL/The Canadian Press “Amik,” a black beaver with a red strip featuring the 1976 Games logo, was the symbol of the Montreal Olympics. A national competition was held to name the mascot. Amik means beaver in Algonquin.

The red strip represents the ribbon used for winners’ medals. Official Olympic mascots were introduced in 1972 for the Munich Games. A colourful dachshund was chosen. /International Olympic Committee After 16 days, the Games were over. Montreal breathed a sigh of relief, celebrated and didn't think about the bills to come. “Montreal came up with one of the more emotional Olympic closing ceremonies of all time last night to ring down the curtain on the Games of the XXI Olympiad in a simply delightful spirit of happy song and dance,” the Gazette reported. Michael Dugas/Gazette files “The fun of any Games closing as opposed to the opening ceremony is that spontaneity and innovation play a much more important role. The organizing committee has much more leeway to do its own thing, and last night Montreal was quick to take advantage. “The effect on the once again jammed stadium was electric from beginning to end with thousands of athletes frolicking on the track and in the infield a half-hour after the schedule had called for their departure from the infield,” reported the Gazette.

TEDD CHURCH/Gazette files From left: Robert Bourassa, then-premier of Quebec, then-mayor Jean Drapeau, then-Prime Minister Trudeau Prime Minister of Canada and Roger Rousseau, then-president of COJO during closing ceremonies at the 1976 Olympic Summer Games in Montreal. Mac Juster/Gazette files July 1: The International Olympic Committee threatens to withdraw its sponsorship of the Montreal Games, saying Ottawa is overstepping its authority. The issue: Taiwan. Though Taiwan is self-ruled, the People’s Republic of China considers the island part of its territory. Under pressure from China, Ottawa is threatening to ban Taiwan unless it stops referring to itself as the Republic of China (Taiwan’s official name), using the flag of China, and playing the victory anthem of China. Taiwan won’t back down. The IOC says only it can decide who can compete. “We are in a position, one step removed, from cancelling the Olympic Games,” an IOC representative tells a reporter. “We would remove the name ‘Olympic’ from the Games and cancel all ceremonies and medal presentations. They would just become a Montreal sporting event.” Canada’s seven largest banks and a group of U.S.

banking giants agree to a $700-million loan to cover a major portion of the Olympic debt. July 2: Three thousand opening ceremony and 6,000 closing ceremony tickets are still available. Most are standing-room. Some Montrealers are renting their homes to out-of-towners attending the Games, for anywhere from $300 to $3,000 a week. Many are bypassing the official Olympic lodging bureau, created to inspect accommodations and set prices. Thirty families made homeless during the Games due to demolition or steep rent hikes have moved into temporary lodgings in a former school on Fullum St. An opposition MCM city councillor complains “the city can spend $1.5 billion for grandiose projects” but does “nothing for the real needs of the people.” July 5: Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital, which was to treat any sick and injured Olympic athletes, can’t meet its agreement due to a staff shortage caused by ongoing strikes by nurses and X-ray technicians. “We look mighty stupid, but we can’t even serve our own population,” a hospital spokesperson says. The Montreal General Hospital steps in.

Quebec liquor-store workers begin an unlimited strike, saying they’ll shut stores at least until after the Games. About 10,000 Hydro-Québec workers are holding rotating strikes. Hundreds of downtown business, restaurants and hotels are hit by electrical failures. July 6: Ottawa orders that Taiwanese athletes, coaches and officials be barred from entering Canada while negotiations continue over their team’s official designation. Furious that New Zealand’s All Blacks rugby team is touring apartheid South Africa, African nations want the IOC to ban New Zealand from the Games. The IOC refuses, saying it has no power over rugby because it is not an Olympic sport. Architect Roger Taillibert, centre, describes the Olympic Stadium design for then-mayor Jean Drapeau, left, and then-governor-general Jules Leger at the construction site in 1975. Gazette files July 7: Roger Taillibert, the controversial French architect who designed the Vélodrome, dismisses suggestions the facility is a fire hazard. He says in an emergency the building could be cleared in less than three minutes.

Taillibert, who also designed the grandiose and grossly over-budget Olympic Stadium, notes the Vélodrome is made largely of concrete — “the most beautiful modelling clay of this century” — which proved more resilient to fire than steel during the Second World War. Montreal is experiencing a heat wave, with highs hovering around 30 degrees Celsius. Equipped with 16 large air conditioners, the Olympic Village disco is proving popular with athletes. “The great thing about the place is nobody needs an interpreter — the music is loud, the psychedelic light patterns gyrate on white screens above the dance floor, making conversation tough,” the Gazette reports. July 9: Tanzania is the first country to withdraw over New Zealand’s rugby tour of South Africa. Forty-seven African, Arab and Caribbean countries are threatening to join the boycott. (In the end, more than 30 countries would pull out of the Games.) Kenyan athletes wait for a bus outside Olympic Village. They were on their way to the airport after their nation decided to boycott the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympic Games.

Gazette files July 11: On the Taiwan issue, the IOC gives in to Canada and recommends barring Taiwan after the Taiwanese team refuses to compromise. Just arrived in Montreal, Taiwanese track and field athlete Chi Cheng, an Olympic medalist in 1968, is stunned. Choking back tears in her room at the Olympic Village, she says: “I’m hurt. Really hurt.” July 12: About 1,800 people, including then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau, gather at a Westmount synagogue for a memorial service for 11 Israeli athletes slain by terrorists during the 1972 Munich Games. Widows and relatives of three of the murdered athletes are there. With Quebec liquor stores closed by a strike, Ottawa and Quebec relax rules so Olympic delegations can bring with them enough wine, beer and spirits to get them through the Games. French and Italian delegations have packed wine, while the Germans are arriving with their own beer. July 13: A labour dispute is boiling over between Teleglobe Canada and 350 technicians who are threatening to pull the plug on overseas radio and TV coverage of the Games. Taiwan athletes at the 1976 olympics in Montreal.

Gazette files July 14: Behind the scenes, the IOC and the U.S. are still trying to find a Taiwan compromise. Gerald Ford, U.S. president at the time, has criticized Canada over the affair. Ronald Reagan, seeking the Republican nomination, is among those calling for the U.S. to withdraw from the Games. The U.S. says it is “very much a possibility” that its team will withdraw, perhaps persuading other countries to follow suit. (In the end, Taiwan packed up and went home rather than follow an IOC order to change its official designation to Taiwan. And the U.S. did not withdraw.) Hundreds of tourists are lining up at Eaton’s to buy Olympic tickets. Car-rental agencies and stores that rent TVs report a booming business, but some hotels, restaurants and shopkeepers say they’re still waiting for the expected boom. The 10-day liquor-board strike continues, but restaurants and bars can still buy liquor from liquor-board warehouses. A strike continues to cripple 37 French-language hospitals. July 15: A laser-ignited Olympic flame starts its journey to Montreal.

In Greece, the flame is placed in a sensor activating an electronic signal that bounces off a satellite, then triggers a laser beam recreating the flame on Parliament Hill, where then-prime minister Trudeau receives the first torch. Twelve torch bearers will carry the flame to Montreal. Teleglobe technicians ratify a new contract, ending the threat to overseas radio and TV coverage. A group of 25 welfare recipients arrive at the main gate of the Olympic Village to collect the large quantities of food reportedly being thrown out by kitchen staff. The director of food services turns them away, denying good food was being dumped. The opposition MCM announces it will boycott Olympic events. It says the vast amount spent on the Olympics should have gone to pay for low-income housing, water purification, métro extensions and better facilities for children and the aged. Queen Elizabeth at the 1976 Olympic Games opening ceremonies, with then-mayor Jean Drapeau and his wife, standing beside her.

TEDD CHURCH / Gazette files *** Gazette columnist Tim Burke captured Montrealers’ mixed feelings in the hours before the July 17 opening ceremony: “For six rancorous years, this benighted undertaking has been staggering uphill on clay feet, obstructed by mishap and sabotage, undermined by corruption, incompetence and political strife and all but blown away by inflation,” he wrote. “Somehow, though, it’s all coming off on schedule, and this afternoon when the Olympic Flame is borne into the stadium and the Queen proclaims the opening of the Games, let Montreal be transported into a two-week state of nirvana. “Let’s enjoy the Games to the hilt, because there’s the strongest possibility that this will be Montreal’s last hurrah. No matter how successful the Games may be, can we ever erase the terrible tab we owe the piper? Or the feeling that we’ve run out of excuses to give the world?” For better or worse, the Montreal Olympics were actually about to begin.

The Quirky Buildings of Montreal: 1976 Summer Olympics | Untapped Cities The Quirky Buildings of Montreal: 1976 Summer Olympics Share The 1976 Summer Olympics Stadium in the Montreal winter of 2013 The 1976 Summer Olympics were held in the francophone metropolis of Canada. In the first installment of this series about Montreal’s quirky buildings , we covered the installations that were built for the 1967 World Fair and that remain standing today. Expo 67 is not the only major international event that has taken place in Montreal . Mayor Jean Drapeau , responsible for the modernization of the city and also in power in 1967, wanted to make Montreal a part of the very select list of cultural capitals. As other Canadian cities like Toronto or Vancouver where becoming economic capitals, Drapeau said: ‘Let Toronto become Milan, Montreal will always be Rome’. This is why he chose to make Montreal a city of big events such as the Olympics. After a few failed attempts, Montreal was officially chosen over Moscow and Los Angeles on May 12th 1970 for the Summer Olympics of 1976.

Over the next six years, preparations were under way in order to be able to host the numerous sporting events and the thousands of people who would be flowing into the city for the two weeks of competitions. Olympics often push countries to build impressive, audacious buildings (see London , Turin , Tokyo , Beijing ). This common practice is often attributed to the fact that between 1912 and 1952, medals for excellence in architecture were also given out at the games. Though prizes are not being given out anymore, the tradition has kept on throughout the years and Montreal proved no exception. Here are two important, very quirky, permanent structures that were built to serve for the 1976 Summer Olympics: The Olympic Stadium and the Tower of Montreal The Olympic stadium circa 1976. The famous leaning tower was not completed in time for the summer games. Every city that hosts Olympic games needs a venue with a large seating capacity where sport competitions can be held. Though certain cities already have these (football arenas are frequently used), many others like Montreal must build one. Jean Drapeau and the Olympic committee chose French architect Roger Taillibert to design the stadium and other venues for the Olympic Park.

Taillibert already had a stellar reputation around the world, having built Paris’ famous Parc des Princes football stadium. In terms of style, he dabbled in the constructivist and organic modernist currents. The stadium he conceptualized for Montreal’s 1976 Summer Olympics is without a doubt his most famous structure to this day. The unusual, curvaceous forms of the arena and the leaning tower are often compared to an insect or an alien, and the building has become one of the most well-known Olympic stadiums of all time. Today, the building is one of the most important symbols of Montreal and citizens have come to accept it and (mostly) love it but it wasn’t always so. The construction process was marred by numerous obstacles (strikes, delays, problems with the retractable roof and a quickly mounting price tag that frustrated citizens). Mayor Drapeau had promised that the stadium would be done and paid for by the end of the games, but it ended up being completed only in 1986 and it took the population of Quebec 30 years to fully pay the bill (hence the stadium’s longstanding nickname, ‘The Big Owe’).

Regardless of this, it is still a fascinating piece of architecture and a remarkable part of Montreal’s collection of quirky buildings. The stadium is underused, as it has no official function since Montreal lost its Major League Baseball team, the Expos, in 2004. However, promoters are trying to reinforce a possible use as a concert venue and parts of the basement presently serve as office space for various sports and leisure federations. Montreal’s Olympic stadium, architectural detail Montreal’s Olympic Stadium The Olympic Village The idea of having an Olympic Village during the Games initially came from the founder of Modern Olympics himself, Pierre de Coubertin . He realized that it would be less costly for the hosting cities to build structures that could eventually be sold as housing, instead of putting all the athletes and their entourages into hotel rooms. It also helped create a sense of sharing and community, an idea not uncommon with one of the actual purposes of the Games themselves: to bring all nations together in peace for a brief period of friendly competition. In 1976, 11,000 athletes stayed in the two pyramids of Montreal’s Olympic Village for the duration of the games.

Located less than 1 mile away from the stadium, the housing complex was also designed and built under the supervision of Roger Taillibert. After the Games were over, the hundreds of rooms were turned into rental apartments and are still quite coveted today. A bird’s eye view of the Olympic village taken in the 1970s. The Olympic village today When the Eiffel tower was first erected for the 1889 World Fair in Paris, people hated it and wanted it taken down. Nowadays, Paris wouldn’t be Paris without the beautiful iron structure standing proudly in front of the Seine. In a way, the Olympic Stadium is Montreal’s Eiffel tower, a quirky, downright strange element of architecture which most people have grown to love. Without it, Montreal just wouldn’t be the same. This is the second part in a series about The Quirky Buildings of Montreal . Get in touch with the author @ModStoryteller and read her blog .

Question: Which city hosted the 1976 Summer Olympic Games ?
Answer: MONTREAL