Backgrounder: Olympic Games Montreal 1976: A bilingual competition

The 21st Olympic Games was held in the Canadian city of Montreal between July 17 and August 1 in 1976 after Canada beat Moscow in the final round of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) voting.

Canada's central government did not provide financial support when it came to building the facilities necessary for the international sporting event. For that reason, the financial responsibility fell completely on the city of Montreal's local authorities, an administration that assumed a very high deficit after organizing the Games.

The organizing committee did everything possible to meet all the Olympic criteria and built high-standard facilities and sporting venues, such as the National Stadium and the Olympic Village, made up of four buildings that resembled two pyramids of up to 19 floors.

Important urban renovations were also carried out for the occasion, including inaugurating a modern metro and a new airport.

The Games of the XXI Olympiad, as its known officially, was the setting for the first official boycott in Olympic history after 22 African countries pulled out of the sporting event in protest of New Zealand's rugby team's visit to South Africa. The countries that boycotted felt that New Zealand should have been suspended from participating in the Games since South Africa was suspended from participating in Olympic Games since 1964 due to its discriminatory apartheid regime and it was excluded from the IOC. Senegal and Cote d'Ivoire were the only sovereign countries in Africa that did not boycott the Games.

A total of 6,084 athletes (1,260 women) from 92 countries and regions participated in 198 events throughout the Games. During the opening ceremony, held in Montreal's Olympic Stadium, the Israeli delegation walked out wearing black bands in memory of the athletes that were murdered in the Munich Olympics in 1968.

Also during the opening ceremony, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom officially opened the Games with a speech in both English and French, which was a gesture of great symbolic importance for Montreal as it is located in the French-speaking province of Quebec.

The last leg of the Olympic torch relay and lighting the torch was carried out by two young athletes together; Stephane Prefontaine (16) and Sandra Henderson (15). One of the athletes was a French speaker while the other spoke English, showing the harmony between the two languages within the same country.

Romania's 14-year-old gymnast Nadia Comaneci 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 throughout her career and at the Montreal Olympics she won three gold medals, one silver and one bronze.

Cuba's Alberto Juantorena became the first man to win both the 400 and 800 meters at the same Olympics, breaking the world record in the 800 meters.

In the swimming pools, East Germany's women won all but two gold medals. Kornelia Ender bettered the world record in the 100 meters and won four gold medals and a silver. In diving, Italy's Klaus Dibiasi won his third consecutive gold medal in Montreal.

OLYMPIC GAMES MONTREAL 1976 MEDAL TABLE

COUNTRY GOLD SILVER BRONZE TOTAL

USSR 49 41 35 125

East Germany 40 25 25 90

U.S. 34 35 25 94

West Germany 10 12 17 39

Japan 9 6 10 25

Poland 7 6 13 26

Bulgaria 6 9 7 22

Cuba 6 4 3 13

Romania 4 9 14 27

Hungary 4 5 13 22

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