Host City: Montreal, 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):  Nikolay Andrianov (7 medals)
Most Medals (Country): Soviet Union (125 medals)

The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially called the Games of the XXI Olympiad (French: Les XXIes olympiques d'été), was an international multi-sport event in Montreal, Canada, in 1976, and the first Olympic Games held in Canada.

Montreal was awarded the rights to the 1976 Games on May 12, 1970, at the 69th IOC Session in Amsterdam, over the bids of Moscow and Los Angeles. It was the first and, so far, only Summer Olympic Games to be held in Canada. Calgary and Vancouver later hosted the Winter Olympic Games in 1988 and 2010, respectively.

Twenty-nine countries, mostly African, boycotted the Montreal Games when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) refused to ban New Zealand, after the New Zealand national rugby union team had toured South Africa earlier in 1976 in defiance of the United Nations' calls for a sporting embargo.

Overview by Sprorts-Reference.com

Host city selection

The vote occurred on May 12, 1970, at the 69th IOC Session in Amsterdam, Netherlands. While Los Angeles and Moscow were viewed as the favourites given that they represented the world's two main powers, many of the smaller countries supported Montreal as an underdog and as a relatively neutral site for the games. Los Angeles was eliminated after the first round and Montreal won in the second round. Moscow would go on to host the 1980 Summer Olympics and Los Angeles the 1984 Summer Olympics. One blank vote was cast in the second and final round.

Toronto had made its third attempt for the Olympics but failed to get the support of the Canadian Olympic Committee, which selected Montreal instead

By 1844, the Montreal Olympic Games had already hosted disciplines such as the sprint over 108 yards, hammer throw, a mile of walking, swinging upright and a three-mile run. A century later, after Montreal had already unsuccessfully applied for hosting the Winter Olympics in 1932 and 1944, they made another attempt for the year 1956. This time they tried to get the summer games awarded. But here, too, the IOC moved with Melbourne another city.

During the preparations for the World Expo 67 in Montreal, Mayor Jean Drapeau made a trip to Lausanne . He also visited the Olympic Museum and was inspired to start another application for hosting the 1972 Summer Games. However, this provoked discussions in the Canadian Olympic Committee , which favored a candidacy of Calgary for the winter games of the same year and saw by a simultaneous candidacy of Montreal its chances dwindled. Nevertheless, Drapeau convinced the NOK to support the applications of both cities. In the selection of the host cities were subject to both Canadian applicants, the winter games were awarded to the Japanese Sapporo and the Summer Games in Munich .

Montreal renewed its bid to host the 1976 event, winning 41:28 against Moscow in the second round of the May 1970 Summer Games in Amsterdam , with Drapeau's convincing performance at the presentation of the candidate cities being the key factor.

Organization

Robert Bourassa, then the Premier of Quebec, first asked Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to advise Canada's monarch, Elizabeth II, to attend the opening of the games. However, Bourassa later became unsettled about how unpopular the move might be with sovereigntists in the province, annoying Trudeau, who had already made arrangements.^[ The leader of the Parti Québécois at the time, René Lévesque, sent his own letter to Buckingham Palace, asking the Queen to refuse her prime minister's request, though she did not oblige Lévesque as he was out of his jurisdiction in offering advice to the Sovereign.

In 1976, Trudeau, succumbing to pressure from the Communist Chinese, issued an order barring Taiwan from participating as China in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, although technically it was a matter for the IOC. His action strained relations with the United States – from President Ford, future President Carter and the press.

The organization of XXI. The Montreal Summer Olympics were under no good star from the start. The Canadian government did not want to provide tax money to cover any financial deficit, which had to come from the city of Montreal itself or the province of Quebec . To finance the games, therefore, a coin program consisting of 28 silver coins at 5 and 10 Canadian dollars, and a gold coin at 100 Canadian dollars was launched. However, the coin program did not bring the hoped-for success and instead of the budgeted $ 310 million, the organizing committee COJO only took $ 115 million. The main source of income of the games, however, unexpectedly became the Olympics lottery. Instead of the planned $ 32 million, here 235 million Canadian dollars were recorded. ^[

Soon after the beginning of the construction of the Olympic sports facilities, it became apparent that the originally estimated costs were completely out of control. Within just a few years, Canada's inflation rate rose to 40%, and hence the cost of construction, from its original estimate of $ 250 million to $ 700 million. This also meant that construction workers in Montreal demanded higher wages, which escalated in several-week strikes and also massively influenced the construction progress at the Olympic sports venues. When the timely completion was in question, the workers had to be forced to work in court. In order to be able to cope at all and to reduce the costs a bit, one renounced the completion of the tower at the Olympic Stadium and the construction of the press center. In addition, the Organizing Committee proposed that the swimming competitions should be removed from the program and not be discharged until the autumn, which the IOC rejected. Meanwhile, there was speculation that the IOC could deprive Montreal of hosting the games and instead again awarded to Munich. Also, the Ruhr brought in early 1975 as a substitute host into the game. However, all these requests were rejected by the IOC. 

Also in terms of personnel, the organizing committee COJO had to cope with severe setbacks. Within a few months, Vice-Presidents Pierre Charbonneau and Simon St. Pierre passed away after a serious illness or after a riding accident. 

In the appearance of the games was based on the games of Munich and took over the designed by Otl Aicher pictograms and the font Univers . As the main color of the games, the color red was chosen, which was deliberately avoided in Munich. The logo of the games shows a stylized M over the Olympic rings. As usual since 1972, a mascot was also designed. This is a black beaver named Amik .

Cost and cost overrun

The Oxford Olympics Study estimates the outturn cost of the Montreal 1976 Summer Olympics at USD 6.1 billion in 2015-dollars and cost overrun at 720% in real terms. This includes sports-related costs only, that is, (i) operational costs incurred by the organizing committee for the purpose of staging the Games, e.g., expenditures for technology, transportation, workforce, administration, security, catering, ceremonies, and medical services, and (ii) direct capital costs incurred by the host city and country or private investors to build, e.g., the competition venues, the Olympic village, international broadcast center, and media and press center, which are required to host the Games. Indirect capital costs are not included, such as for road, rail, or airport infrastructure, or for hotel upgrades or other business investment incurred in preparation for the Games but not directly related to staging the Games. The cost overrun for Montreal 1976 is the highest cost overrun on record for any Olympics. The cost and cost overrun for Montreal 1976 compares with costs of USD 4.6 billion and a cost overrun of 51% for Rio 2016 and USD 15 billion and 76% for London 2012. Average cost for the Summer Games from 1960 to 2016 is 5.2 billion 2015 US dollars, average cost overrun is 176%.

Much of the cost overruns were caused by the Conseil des métiers de la construction union whose leader was André "Dede" Desjardins, and who kept the construction site in "anarchic disorder" as part of a shakedown. The French architect Roger Taillibert who designed the Olympic stadium recounted in his 2000 book Notre Cher Stade Olympique that he and Montreal mayor Jean Drapeau tried hard to buy off Desjardins, even taking him to a lunch at the exclusive Ritz-Carlton hotel in a vain attempt to end the "delays". Ultimately Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa made some sort of secret deal to buy off Desjardins, which finally allowed work to proceed. Taillibert wrote in Notre Cher Stade Olympique "If the Olympic Games took place, it was thanks to Dede Desjardins. What irony!"

Opening ceremony

Following an air show by the Canadian Forces Air Command's Snowbirds aerobatic flight demonstration squadron in the sunny skies above the stadium, the ceremony officially began at 3:00 pm with a trumpet fanfare and the arrival of Elizabeth II, as Queen of Canada. The Queen was accompanied by Michael Morris, Lord Killanin, President of the International Olympic Committee, and was greeted to an orchestral rendition of 'O Canada', an arrangement that for many years later would be used in schools across the country as well as in the daily sign off of TV broadcasts in the country.

The queen entered the Royal Box with her consort, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and her son, Prince Andrew (Her daughter, Princess Anne, was an equestrian competitor for the team from Great Britain. Prince Philip was also president of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) at the time of the 1976 Summer Olympics.). She joined a number of Canadian and Olympic dignitaries, including: Jules Léger, Governor General of Canada, and his wife, Gabrielle; Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and wife, Margaret; Robert Bourassa, Premier of the Province of Quebec; Roger Rousseau, chief of the Montreal Olympic Organizing Committee (COJO); Sheila Dunlop, Lady Killanin, wife of the IOC President; Mayor of Montreal, Jean Drapeau, and his wife, Marie-Claire.

The parade of athletes began moments later with the arrival of the Greek team and concluded with the entrance of the Canadian team. All other teams entered the stadium according to French alphabetical order. The ceremony was marked by the adorning of Israel’s flag with a black mourning ribbon, in memory of the eleven athletes and coaches killed by Palestinian terrorists at the previous Summer Olympic Games in Munich four years earlier. Although most would eventually boycott the Games in the days to follow, a number of African delegations did march in the parade. Much of the music performed for the parade was arranged by Vic Vogel and was inspired by late Quebec composer, André Mathieu.

Immediately following the parade, a troupe of 80 women dancers dressed in white (representing the 80th anniversary of the revival of the Olympic Games) performed a brief dance in the outline of the Olympic rings.

Following that came the official speeches, first by Roger Rousseau, head of the Montreal Olympic organizing committee, and Lord Killanin. Her Majesty was then invited to proclaim the Games open, which she did, first in French, then in English.

Accompanied by the Olympic Hymn, the Olympic flag was carried into the stadium and hoisted at the west end of the stadium. The flag was carried by eight men and hoisted by four women, representing the ten provinces and two territories (at the time) of Canada. As the flag was hoisted, an all-male choir performed an a cappella version of the Olympic Hymn.

Once the flag was unfurled, a troupe of Bavarian dancers, representing Munich, host of the previous 1972 Summer Olympics, entered the stadium with the Antwerp flag. Following a brief dance, that flag was then passed from the Mayor of Munich to the IOC President and then to the Mayor of Montreal. Next came a presentation of traditional Québécois folk dancers. The two troupes merged in dance together to the strains of "Vive le Compagnie" and exited the stadium with the Antwerp Flag, which would be displayed at Montreal City Hall until the opening of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.

Préfontaine and Henderson

lighting the Olympic Flame

1976 Montreal Olympic Opening Ceremony

Three cannons were then fired, as the 80-member troupe of female dancers unfolded special crates that released doves and ribbons in the five Olympic colours.

Another trumpet fanfare announced the arrival of the Olympic Flame. The torch was carried by two 15-year-olds, Stéphane Préfontaine and Sandra Henderson, chosen as representatives of the unity within Canada's linguistic heritage. This would also be the first time two people would light the Olympic flame, and Henderson would become only the second woman to do the honours. The duo would make a lap of the stadium and then climbed a staircase on a special dais at the center of the stadium to set the Olympic flame alight in a temporary white aluminum cauldron. The flame was later transported to a more permanent cauldron just outside the running track to burn throughout the duration of the Games. A choir then performed the Olympic Cantata as onlookers admired the Olympic flame.

Then, the 'Youth of Canada' took to the track to perform a colourful choreographed segment with flags, ribbons and a variety of rhythmic gymnast performers.

The flag bearers of each team then circled around the speaker's dais as Pierre St-Jean recited the Athletes' Oath and Maurice Forget recited the Judges' Oath, in English and in French, with right hand over the heart and the Canadian flag clutched in the left.

Finally, a choral performance of 'O Canada' in both French and English marked the close of the opening ceremony, as the announcers concluded with a declaration of 'Vive les Jeux de Montreal! Long Live the Montreal Games'.

The Montreal ceremony would be the last of its kind, as future Olympic ceremonies, beginning with the 1980 Moscow Games, would become more focused on theatrical, cultural and artistic presentations and less on formality and protocol.

Closing ceremony

At the closing ceremony, which began at 9:00 pm on August 1, the Governor General of Canada, Jules Léger , was present instead of the Queen. After the performances of 500 schoolchildren, five Indian tents in the colors of the Olympic rings were set up for Indian music. Other Indians accompanied the athletes, who marched in loose sequence in the stadium. According to the protocol of the IOC, the flags of Greece , Canada and the USSR were hoisted and their national anthems played. Lord Killanin declared the games finished, inviting "The Youth of the World" to the games of the XXII. Olympics to Moscow in 1980 . Under the sounds of the Olympic anthem, the Olympic flag was overtaken. Then Canadian jazz musician Maynard Ferguson blew a trumpet solo while the Olympic flame went out. On the scoreboard pictures from Moscow were shown and Russian songs played. The games of the XXI. Olympics were over.

Emblems

The mascot of the 1976 Games is called "Amik", a term derived from the Algonquin language meaning " beaver ". This animal was chosen as a mascot because he is known for his patience and hard work. In addition, he is a great national symbol in Canada where he is found on certain coins, and postage stamps.The music of these Montreal Games is the work of pianist-composer André Mathieu . The musical director and conductor was Vic Vogel . The song Bienvenue à Montréal , written by Vogel and Mathieu on lyrics by Claude Lacombe and sung by René Simard (in versions in French and in English), was published before the games as a promotional tool but will be shunned by radio stations, considering too generic .Songwriter Stéphane Venne is organizing a contest to find a new song and it was replaced by Je t'aime written by Jean Robitaille and Christian Saint-Roch , performed by Estelle Ste-Croix, the latter two members of the Ville Émard group. Blues Band

Highlights

• These Olympics were the first of two summer games to be organised under the IOC presidency of Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin.
• Taro Aso was a member of the Japanese shooting team. 32 years later, he would be elected as the prime minister of Japan.
• The Games were opened by Elizabeth II, as head of state of Canada, and several members of the Royal Family attended the opening ceremonies. This was particularly significant, as these were the first Olympic games hosted on Canadian soil. The Queen's daughter, Princess Anne, also competed in the games as part of the British riding team. Additionally, the Queen's husband, Prince Philip, was President of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) at the time.
• After a rainstorm doused the Olympic Flame a few days after the games had opened, an official relit the flame using his cigarette lighter. Organizers quickly doused it again and relit it using a backup of the original flame.
• The Israeli team walked into the stadium at the opening ceremony wearing black ribbons in commemoration of the 1972 Munich massacre.
• Women's events were introduced in basketball, handball and rowing.
• Canada, the host country, finished with 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. This feat had occurred previously only in the Winter Games – 1924 in Chamonix, France, and 1928 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. This later occurred at the 1984 Winter Games in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, and again at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
• Because of the Munich massacre, security at these games was visible, as it had been earlier in the year at the Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria.
• At age 14, gymnast Nadia Comăneci of Romania became the first person to score a perfect 10 at the Olympics, recording seven 10.00 scores and winning three gold medals, including the all-around. The scoreboard could hold only 3 digits and the score was shown as 1.00.
• 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 repeated his 1972 double win in the 5,000 and 10,000 m runs, the first runner to successfully defend a 5,000 m win (since equalled by Britain's Mo Farah in 2016). Virén finished 5th in the marathon, thereby failing to equal Emil Zátopek's 1952 achievements.
• Hasely Crawford won Trinidad and Tobago's first Olympic gold medal by finishing first in the 100 meter dash.
• Viktor Saneyev of the Soviet Union won his third consecutive triple jump gold medal, while Klaus Dibiasi of Italy did the same in the platform diving event.
• Boris Onishchenko, a member of the Soviet Union's modern pentathlon team, was disqualified after it was discovered that he had rigged his épée to register a hit when there wasn't one. Because of this, the Soviet modern pentathlon team was disqualified. Due to his disqualification, it was suggested that he earned the nickname of "Boris DISonish-chenko". However, many assumed that he was a victim of a Soviet "win it all" mentality.
• 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 exercise, 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."
• The U.S. men's swimming team won all but one gold medal. John Naber won four gold medals and a silver medal.
• In winning the gold medal for the men's 100m freestyle, Jim Montgomery became the first person to break the 50 second mark in the event, taking first place in the final in a time of 49.99.
• Luann Ryon won the women's Archery gold for the USA; Ryon had never before competed at the international level.
• Bruce Jenner won the gold medal for decathlon, setting a world record of 8,634 points.
• Alex Oakley, the Canadian race walker, became the oldest track and field athlete to compete at the Olympic Games. He was aged 50, and taking part in his fifth Olympics.
• The New Zealand men's national field hockey team beat Australia to win gold, becoming the first non-Asian/European team to win the gold medal in hockey. It is also the first Olympic games in which hockey was played on artificial turf.
• The Polish men's volleyball team came back from being down 2 sets against the USSR to win the gold medal.
• Twenty-year-old Morehouse College student Edwin Moses sets a new world record in the 400m hurdles, less than a year after taking up the event. He is also America's only male individual track gold medalist.
• Thomas Bach of West Germany won a gold medal in the team foil event in fencing. He would later become IOC President.
• Heavyweight boxer Clarence Hill won a bronze medal for Bermuda. His accomplishment makes Bermuda the smallest nation in terms of population to win an Olympic medal at the Summer Olympics.
• East Germany surpassed all expectations for a middle-sized nation by finishing with the second most gold medals in total. The East German women's swimming team won all but two gold medals. Swimmer Kornelia Ender won four gold medals and a silver medal. However, the GDR's achievements were later fundamentally undermined by the expose of a serious and systematic scheme of doping by the East German sporting authorities. It was later revealed that after injecting athletes with performance-boosting drugs at the Montreal Olympics, East German officials dumped the leftover serum and syringes in the Saint Lawrence River.

Venues

Montreal Olympic Park

• Olympic Stadium – opening/closing ceremonies, athletics, football (final), equestrian (jumping team final)
• Olympic Pool – diving, modern pentathlon (swimming), swimming, water polo (final)
• Olympic Velodrome – cycling (track), judo
• Montreal Botanical Garden – athletics (20 km walk), modern pentathlon (running)
• Maurice Richard Arena – boxing, wrestling (freestyle finals)
• Centre Pierre Charbonneau – wrestling
• Olympic Village – athletes' residence

Venues in Greater Montreal

• Olympic Basin, Île Notre-Dame – canoeing, rowing
• Claude Robillard Centre – handball, water polo
• Centre Étienne Desmarteau – basketball
• St. Michel Arena – weightlifting
• Paul Sauvé Centre – volleyball
• Montreal Forum – basketball (finals), boxing (finals), gymnastics, handball (finals), volleyball (finals)
• Mount Royal Park – cycling (individual road race)
• Quebec Autoroute 40 – cycling (road team time trial)
• streets of Montreal – athletics (marathon)
• Winter Stadium, Université de Montréal – fencing, modern pentathlon (fencing)
• Molson Stadium, McGill University – field hockey

Venues outside Montreal

• Olympic Shooting Range, L'Acadie – modern pentathlon (shooting), shooting
• Olympic Archery Field, Joliette – archery
• Olympic Equestrian Centre, Bromont – equestrian (all but jumping team), modern pentathlon (riding)
• Pavilion de l'éducation physique et des sports de l'Université Laval, Quebec City, Quebec – handball preliminaries
• Sherbrooke Stadium, Sherbrooke, Quebec – football preliminaries
• Sherbrooke Sports Palace, Sherbrooke, Quebec – handball preliminaries
• Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, Kingston, Ontario – sailing
• Varsity Stadium, Toronto, Ontario – football preliminaries
• Lansdowne Park, Ottawa, Ontario – football preliminaries

Sports

There was a desire by the IOC's program commission to reduce the number of competitors and a number of recommendations were put to the IOC's executive board on February 23, 1973, which were all accepted. Rowing was the only sport where the number of competitors was increased, and women were admitted for the first time in Olympic history. The 1976 Summer Olympic programme featured 196 events with 198 medal ceremonies in the following 21 sports:

Participating National Olympic Committees

Four nations made their first Summer Olympic appearance in Montreal: Andorra (which had its overall Olympic debut a few months before in Innsbruck Winter Olympics), Antigua and Barbuda (as Antigua), Cayman Islands, and Papua New Guinea.

Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of athletes from each nation that competed at the Games.

Non-participating National Olympic Committees

Twenty-nine countries boycotted the Games due to the refusal of the IOC to ban New Zealand, after the New Zealand national rugby union team had toured South Africa earlier in 1976. The boycott was led by Congolese official Jean Claude Ganga. Some of the boycotting nations (including Morocco, Cameroon and Egypt) had already participated, however, and withdrew after the first few days. Senegal and Ivory Coast were the only African countries that competed throughout the duration of the Games. Elsewhere, both Iraq and Guyana also opted to join the Congolese-led boycott. South Africa had been banned from the Olympics since 1964 due to its apartheid policies. Other countries, such as El Salvador and Zaire, did not participate in Montreal for purely economic reasons.

Republic of China boycott

They are all protesting at New Zealand's sporting links with South Africa.

The International Olympic Committee's refusal to ban New Zealand, whose rugby team is currently touring South Africa, has resulted in the boycott.

South Africa has been banned from the Olympics since 1964 for its refusal to condemn apartheid.

'Illogical'

A spokesperson for the New Zealand Olympic Committee said the All Blacks tour of South Africa had been arranged by the New Zealand Rugby Union which was an autonomous body and nothing to do with the Olympics.

He said it was illogical to single out New Zealand as it was one of 26 countries to have played sport in South Africa during the past year.

More than 300 competitors will now not take part in the Games which will mean many events will have to be cancelled or re-scheduled.

Athletics events will be particularly affected by the absence of Filbert Bayi from Tanzania, who holds the world record in the 1500m and John Akii-Bua of Uganda, world record-holder in the 400 metres hurdles.

The latest country to announce its withdrawal was Kenya. In a statement issued just hours before the opening ceremony, the country's foreign minister James Osogo said: "The government and the people of Kenya hold the view that principles are more precious than medals."

He said the decision by the IOC not to ban New Zealand would give "comfort and respectability to the South African racist regime and encourage it to continue to defy world opinion."

The IOC will now have to decide what sanctions should be imposed on the boycotting countries, who risk being expelled from the Olympic movement.

Approximately 20 of the 26 countries who have withdrawn from the competition had already travelled to Montreal but will now return home.

The list of those boycotting the Olympics is: Libya, Iraq, Kenya, Zambia, Nigeria, Gambia, Sudan, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, Algeria, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Central African Republic, Gabon, Chad, Togo, Niger, Congo, Mauritius, Upper Volta and Malawi.

Egypt did not take part in today's opening ceremony but has not yet formally announced its withdrawal. Taiwan withdrew on the grounds that the Canadian government refused to allow her to compete under the name of the Republic of China.

There are already fears the Commonwealth Games due to be held in Edmonton, Canada in two years time will be affected by the African boycott.

By STEVE CADYJULY 18, 1976

MONTREAL, July 17—Twenty‐two African nations, Taiwan, Iraq and Sri Lanka were absent from the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games today in a growing racial dispute that could extend through this competition and beyond.

Most of the absent countries, if not all, are expected to remain out of the Games unless an understanding can be reached on the question of future international competition with South Africa. Negotiations described by a highly placed source as “extremely delicate” were taking place tonight in an effort to solve the dispute.

If a settlement is not reached, the boycott could expand is the Games proceed. The issue is the prisence in the Games of New Zealand, whose Government has permitted sports relations with South Africa despite that country's racialsegregation policy of apartheid and recent race riots.

It appeared that at least some African nations were out of the Games for good, regardless of the outcome of the talks with New Zealand. This group included Kenya, Tanzania. Nigeria and Zambia.

The African boycott today consisted of 19 predominantly black nations, as well as four. Arab countries. Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon, was missing from the parade at Olympic Stadium for a different reason, as was Nationalist China, which withdrew yesterday rather than march under the unwanted designation of Taiwan.

Asked tonight if his country's African protest would he continued, a spokesman for the Egyptian delegation said: “Maybe not. We hope not. But we have to wait and see.”

According to sources close to the developments, some of the nations that marched in today's opening parade also will be pulling out when requests to do so are approved by their Governments.

“This protest is not limited to the opening ceremony or even the Olympic Games,” a source said. ‘It will continue.”

More support from Arab, Asian and Caribbean countries also was believed to be developing.

Top Olympic officials from New Zealand conferred today with several of the African leaders in an apparent effort to reach some kind of reconciliation. But the talks were too late to prevent at least some of the countries from refusing to march in the opening parade.

“It's unfortunate this decision had to be made at the 11th hour,” said Isaac Lugonzo, chairman of Kenya's National Sports Council. “But we cannot sacrifice principle for the sake of getting gold.”

Kenya, with a delegation of 132, had several gold‐medal prospects among its 32 track and field athletes. Lugonzo, who flew here from Kenya last night, said flatly, “We will not align ourselves with a country that has sports ties with South Africa.”

Lugonzo made his statement outside the residential area of Olympic Village. But much of the day's political drama took place in the Queen Hotel, where the International Olympic Committee held a morning session before going by bus at 1 P.M. to the main stadium for the opening ceremony.

A handful of Taiwanese delegates checked out of the hotel at noon today, almost unnoticed amid the stir caused by the new withdrawals. A lone television man aimed his camera and muttered to a friend, “The last picture show.”

The African issue continued to engulf the Games despite an eight‐column headline across the front page of today's Montreal Gazette that read: “Opening: Tears, Awe, No Politics.”

At a noon press briefing, Monique Berlioux of the I.O.C. brushed off the African question with the comment that only one country, to her knowledge, had formally left Olympic Village. The reference was to Nigeria, which withdrew from the Games yesterday and flew its team home last night.

“Otherwise,” said Madame Berlioux, “the talk we have heard so far is all rumor.”

Earlier, however, in the lobby of the hotel, JeanClaude Ganga of the Congo, Republic had held out a sheet of paper with the names of nearly a dozen countries on it and counted in French, “un, deux, trois.” He said the decisions to pull out had been made by the. National Olympic Committees of the various nations, but that “clearance from home” was being delayed, in some cases by difficult communications.

Ganga is vice president of the Supreme Council of Sport for Africa. The group's president, Abraham Ordia, a deepvoiced man with an Oxford accent, left Montreal last night with the Nigerian delegation. Ordia and Ganga have been coordinating the African position.

Today, Ganga conferred frequently in the corners of the hotel lobby with representatives from various nations, giving information and occasionally receiving it as the boycott scenario developed. He also talked for half an hour with Lance Cross, New Zealand's director on the I.O.C. board, and Lord Porritt, a former New Zea under now living in England. Before leaving New Zealand, Porritt was for many years that country's I.O.C. member.

Dennis Brutus, president of the South African NonRacial Olympic Committee, also participated in today's conversation. It took place on a mezzanine area where delegates received their accreditation. Ganga, dressed in brown slacks and a brown sport shirt open at the neck, appeared to be arguing angrily at times during the infornial meeting, but all the men shook hands when it was over.

Neither side would comment on what was said or whether a reconciliation was still possible later during the Games.

Cross said he was “deeply” upset” by the African withdrawals and concerned for their athletes, but that it would be a “gross injustice” to force New Zealand out of the games.,

“It made me sick to think this was happening,” he said “but the new Zealand athletes are the Innocent parties to this dispute. They've committed no violation of rules, regulations or Olympic ideals.”

Asked why the meeting with Ganga had ended on such an apparently amiable note, the New Zealand official replied, “I bear Ganga no grudge as a person, and I hope he regards me the same way.”

Cross said it was his understanding a withdrawal from the Games “for political reasons” could result in a team's expulsion from the Olympic movement under a new I.O.C. edict. But Lugonzo, the Kenyan leader, saw it differently.

“I think they are going to find it difficult to do that,” Lugonzo said. “They cannot keep all of Africa out”

Long‐range implications extended to the British Commonwealth Games and eventually to, the 1980 Moscow Olympics. According to the African sources, boycotts of New Zealand teams will be continued as long as that country maintains sports ties with South Africa.

New Zealand's friends say the country is not racist and that the current tour of South Africa by a New Zealand rug by team reflects a fanatical sports interest.

Behind the scenes today, however, African leaders were charging that New Zealand's new Government came in on a platform of open sports competition against everybody and anybody, whereas the previous Government was strongly opposed to any sports links with South Africa.

“We're leaving as soon as we can make the plane reservations,” said Musa Keni Kasonka, a leader, of the 38member Zambia delegation that includes 26 athletes. “We have been assessing this for quite a while. To us, we're in the front line of the whale apartheid thing. Any nation that condones that, we just can't take part with them.”

Lugonzo acknowledged that New Zealand had not broken any Olympic rules, and that the boycotting countries were “partly to blame” for the lastminute erosion of the Montreal Olympics.

“Probably,” he said, “we should have made a positive position much earlier.”

Medal count

These are the top ten nations that won medals at the 1976 Games. Canada placed 27th with only 11 medals in total — none of them being gold. Canada remains the only host nation of a Summer Olympics that did not win at least one gold medal in its own games. It also did not win any gold medals at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. However, Canada went on to win the most gold medals at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Soviet Union	49	41	35	125
2	East Germany	40	25	25	90
3	United States	34	35	25	94
4	West Germany	10	12	17	39
5	Japan	9	6	10	25
6	Poland	7	6	13	26
7	Bulgaria	6	9	7	22
8	Cuba	6	4	3	13
9	Romania	4	9	14	27
10	Hungary	4	5	13	22
11	Canada*	0	5	6	11
Totals (11 nations)		169	157	168	494

Calendar

Legacy

The legacy of the Montreal Olympics is complex. Many citizens regard the Olympiad as a financial disaster for the city as it faced debts for 30 years after the Games had finished. The retractable roof of the Olympic Stadium never properly worked and on several occasions has torn, prompting the stadium to be closed for extended periods of time for repairs. The failure of the Montreal Expos baseball club is largely blamed on the failure of the Olympic Stadium to transition into an effective and popular venue for the club – given the massive capacity of the stadium, it often looked unimpressive even with regular crowds in excess of 20,000 spectators.

The year 1976 was also when the separatist Parti Québécois was first elected in Quebec, leading to new legislation to strengthen the legal status of the province's French-speaking majority; this also had the effect of driving migration of English speakers out of the province, especially to Ontario.

Montreal's economy was also changing much like other industrial cities in the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River region of North America. In sum, numerous political, socio-cultural and economic changes affected the city at around the same time as the Olympics that would result in stalled growth and give the appearance of decline. That said, many of these factors existed prior to the Olympics and continued to have an effect on Montreal's growth and relative importance many years afterwards. There is no evidence which definitively proves that the Montreal Olympics played a specific role in that decline.

Before the 21st century, the relative benefits of the Olympics were defined differently. There were also different methods by which they were financed and presented to the public.

The Quebec provincial government took over construction when it became evident in 1975 that work had fallen far behind schedule. Work was still ongoing just weeks before the opening date, and the tower was not built. Mayor Jean Drapeau had confidently predicted in 1970 that "the Olympics can no more have a deficit than a man can have a baby", but the debt racked up to a billion dollars that the Quebec government mandated the city pay in full. This would prompt cartoonist Aislin to draw a pregnant Drapeau on the telephone saying, "Allo, Morgentaler?" in reference to a Montreal abortion provider.

The Olympic Stadium was designed by French architect Roger Taillibert. It is often nicknamed "The Big O" as a reference to both its name and to the doughnut-shape of the permanent component of the stadium's roof, though "The Big Owe" has been used to reference the astronomical cost of the stadium and the 1976 Olympics as a whole. It has never had an effective retractable roof, and the tower (called the Montreal Tower) was completed only after the Olympic Games were over. In December 2006 the stadium's costs were finally paid in full. The total expenditure (including repairs, renovations, construction, interest, and inflation) amounted to C$1.61 billion. Today the stadium lacks a permanent tenant, as the Montreal Alouettes and Montreal Expos have moved, though it does host some individual games of the Alouettes as well as the Montreal Impact.

One of the streets surrounding the Olympic Stadium was renamed to honor Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the Olympics.

The boycott by African nations over the inclusion of New Zealand, whose rugby team had played in South Africa that year, was a contributing factor in the massive protests and civil disobedience that occurred during the 1981 Springbok Tour of New Zealand. Official sporting contacts between South Africa and New Zealand did not occur again until after the fall of apartheid.

Australia's failure to win a gold medal led the country to create the Australian Institute of Sport.

In 2016, the 40th Anniversary Celebrations were held. In conjunction with the celebrations, the 2016 Quebec Games were held.

Use of performance-enhancing drugs in the Olympic Games

1976 Montreal

Name	Country	Sport	Anti-doping rule violation	Medals
Blagoi Blagoev	Bulgaria	Weightlifting	Anabolic steroid	(82.5 kg)
Mark Cameron	United States	Weightlifting	Anabolic steroid
Paul Cerutti	Monaco	Shooting	Amphetamine
Dragomir Cioroslan	Romania	Weightlifting	Fencamfamine
Philippe Grippaldi	United States	Weightlifting	Anabolic steroid
Zbigniew Kaczmarek	Poland	Weightlifting	Anabolic steroid	(67.5 kg)
Valentin Khristov	Bulgaria	Weightlifting	Anabolic steroid	(110 kg)
Lorne Liebel	Canada	Sailing	Phenylpropanolamine
Arne Norrback	Sweden	Weightlifting	Anabolic steroid
Peter Pavlasek	Czechoslovakia	Weightlifting	Anabolic steroid
Danuta Rosani	Poland	Athletics	Anabolic steroid