Montreal celebrates 30th Anniversary of 1976 Olympic Games

[Fiona]

Thirty years ago, the Olympic flame was about to be lit in Montreal in front of millions of spectators. The IOC President, Jacques Rogge, joined members of the Canadian, Quebec and international sport community to celebrate to 30th anniversary of Canada’s first Olympic Games.

“I am delighted to be in Montreal to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the 1976 Olympic Games,” said Rogge during the official celebration. “I had the privilege to compete in Montreal. This was my last participation and, as an athlete, I have strong memories of these Games. They were a great success for the City of Montreal and for Canada. It is through the success of these Games that Canada has created a strong Olympic legacy which paved the way for Calgary to host the Olympic Winter Games in 1988 and for Vancouver to host in 2010.”

Nadia Comaneci, star of the Games
The 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal were held from 17 July to 1 August and featured a total of 92 countries and 6,084 athletes competing in 21 sports and198 events. The former Soviet Union led all nations in total medals with 125 while the United States of America and the former German Democratic Republic finished second and third with 94 and 90 medals respectively.

Despite the African boycott, Montreal was the scene of historical performances such as the one of fourteen-year-old gymnast Nadia Comaneci of Romania who caused a sensation when, for her performance on the uneven bars, she was awarded the first-ever perfect score of 10.0. She eventually earned seven 10.0s.

Innovative Games
The Games in Montreal were innovative in many ways:

- the Olympic flame arrived by air, sent in the form of an electronic signal by a telephone cable towards a transmitter in the direction of a satellite from the Intelsat network. It was then forwarded to a receiver where the stored energy activated a laser beam which gave it back its original appearance

- women’s events were included for the first time in basketball, rowing and team handball and the

- hockey was played on an artificial pitch for the first time.

olympic.org