The 1976 Summer Olympics became one of the most representative in terms of the number of participants and the number of awards played. In addition, they went down in the history of the Olympic Games as the most expensive ones.
Montreal won the right to host the Summer Olympic Games in 1970, bypassing Los Angeles and Moscow, whose applications were considered preferable. There is a well-founded opinion that the Olympic Committee chose Montreal in order not to conflict with any of the superpowers.
The preparation of the games lasted six years and became one of the most expensive in the history of the Olympic movement - $ 5 billion was spent on the games, which at the current exchange rate is equivalent to $ 20 billion. Montreal got into debt, which it paid off until 2006. Canada's record was broken only in 2008 - about $ 41 billion was spent on the Olympic Games in China.
The Olympics were opened by Queen Elizabeth II. The ceremony of lighting the Olympic flame was interesting: if usually it was simply delivered to the country where the Olympics were held, then this time the fire lit in Athens was converted into an electric current by a special device, then into a radio signal, which was received in Montreal and again converted into fire.
7121 athletes from 121 countries took part in the Summer Olympics in Montreal. Already during the Olympics, representatives of 29 African countries left it in protest against the match of the South African rugby team held in New Zealand.
The absolute leader in the number of awards was the Soviet Union, its athletes won 49 gold medals, 41 silver medals and 35 bronze medals. The honorable second place was taken by athletes from the GDR, on their account 40 gold, 25 silver and 25 bronze awards. The third place went to the Olympians from the United States - 34 gold, 35 silver and 25 bronze medals. The performance of the hosts of the Olympics turned out to be unsuccessful, the Canadians did not manage to win a single gold medal, having received only 5 silver and 6 bronze medals.
At the 1976 games, women's basketball teams competed for the first time, the gold was won by athletes from the USSR. The men who won bronze medals also performed well. Traditionally strong gymnasts did not lag behind them - six athletes won gold at once. Soviet fencers became the first in foil competitions, and men in sabers. Representatives of other sports also showed themselves. Forty gold medals speak for themselves; it was one of the most successful Olympics for the Soviet Union.
The Summer Olympics in Montreal went down in history and as one of the most protected - the safety of the Olympians was provided by more than 20 thousand police officers. The reason for this was the sad events of the previous Munich Olympics, during which Palestinian terrorists killed eleven Israeli athletes and a German police officer.
Despite some drawbacks, which are quite common for events of this scale, the Summer Olympics in Montreal went down in the history of Olympic sports forever, bringing many new records and delivering many happy moments to fans.
