1976 Summer Olympics

The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad, were held in 1976 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Other candidates in the bid to organise the Olympics were Moscow and Los Angeles. The final choice was made on May 12 1970 on the 69th IOC session. Los Angeles was eliminated in the first round of voting. In the last round, Montreal defeated Moscow, 41 votes to 28 (with one blank vote).

Highlights

• Canada, the host country, unfortunately left with only 5 silver medals and 6 bronze medals. It was the first time in Olympic history that the host country of the Summer Games won no gold medals. This feat had occurred previously only in the Winter Games - 1924 in Chamonix, France, 1928 in St. Moritz, Switzerland and again at the 1984 Winter Games in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia and once more for Canada at the 1988 Calgary Games.
• In a protest to a tour of South Africa by the New Zealand rugby team, Tanzania led a boycott of 22 African nations as the IOC refused to bar the New Zealand team. Some of the nations had already participated however, as the teams only withdrew after the first day.
• Following the Munich massacre, high security was part of the scene for these games.
• The organisation of the Olympics turned out bad financially for Montreal, as the city remained faced with debts well after the Games had finished. The Olympic Stadium, a daring design of French architect Roger Taillibert, remains a lasting monument to the huge deficit, as it never had an effective retractable roof, and the tower was only completed after the Olympics. Montreal 1976 are the most expensive Games ever organised.
• The Olympic Flame was "electronically" transmitted from Athens to Ottawa, by means of an electronic pulse derived from the actual burning flame. From Ottawa, it was carried by hand to Montreal. Following a rainstorm that doused the Olympic flame a few days after the opening of the games, an official relit the flame using his cigarette lighter. Organizers quickly doused it again and relit it using a backup of the original flame.
• 14-year-old Nadia Comaneci of Romania scored seven perfect 10s and won 3 gold medals, including the prestigious All Around, in women's gymnastics, 3 gold medals there had also been won by Nelli Kim of USSR. Nikolai Andrianov of USSR won 4 gold medals, including All Around, in men's gymnastics.
• Viktor Saneyev (Soviet Union) won his third consecutive triple jump gold medal, while Klaus Dibiasi of Italy did the same in the platform diving event.
• Alberto Juantorena of Cuba became the first man to win both the 400 m and 800 m at the same Olympics. Finland's Lasse Virén also achieved a double in the 5000 and 10000 m and finished 5th in the marathon, thereby failing to equal Emil Zátopek 1952 achievements.
• Boris Onischenko, a member of the Soviet Union's modern pentathlon team, was disqualified after he had rigged his épée to register a hit when there wasn't one. Due to this all USSR modern pentathlon team, which was a leader at the moment, was disqualified too. Onischenko earned enmity of other Soviet Olympic team members (e.g., USSR volleyball team members threatened to throw him out of hotel's window if they would meet him).
• Women's events were introduced in basketball, handball and rowing.
• Five American boxers - Sugar Ray Leonard, Leon Spinks, Michael Spinks, Leo Randolph and Howard Davis Jr. won gold medals in boxing. This has been often called the greatest Olympic boxing team the United States ever had, and, out of the five American gold medalists in boxing, all but Davis went on to become professional world champions.
• Princess Anne of the United Kingdom was the only female competitor not to have to submit to a sex test. She was a member of her country's equestrian team.
• Japanese gymnast Shun Fujimoto performed on a broken right knee, and helped the Japanese team win the gold medal for the team championship. Fujimoto broke his leg on the floor excercise, and due to the closeness in the overall standings with the USSR, he hid the extent of the injury. With a broken knee, Fujimoto was able to complete his event on the rings, performing a perfect triple somersault dismount, maintaining perfect posture. He scored a 9.7 thus securing gold for Japan. Years later, when asked if he would do it again, he stated bluntly "No, I would not."