Montreal 1976 Collection

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
Volunteers n/a
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: Pierre Saint-Jean (weightlifting)

Official Oath by: Maurice Forget (athletics)