The Olympic Games have always become a landmark event in the world of sports. The 1976 Summer Olympics were no exception. In terms of the number of participants and the number of awarded awards, they became one of the most representative. The security measures taken after the memorable terrorist attack at the previous Olympics in Munich were also impressive.
The 1976 Summer Olympics were held in Montreal, Canada. It was opened as the head of the country, Queen Elizabeth II, the whole royal family was present at the opening ceremony. A record number of athletes took part in the competition - 7121 athletes from 121 countries. Not without political demarches - 29 African countries left the Olympics, protesting against the recently held match of the South African national rugby team in New Zealand.
The ceremony of lighting the Olympic flame was very interesting: the torch brought to Athens was handed over to a Canadian athlete, who lit a fire in a bowl at the stadium. After that, a special electronic device turned the flame particles into electricity, then into radio waves. The signal was received in Montreal, where it was converted to fire again.
In terms of the cost of hosting the games, the Montreal Olympics became the most expensive in history, they spent $ 5 billion on it. In terms of the current exchange rate, this is about 20 billion. The city paid off the debts for the Olympics until 2006. Mindful of the terrorist attack at the Munich Olympics in 1972, which cost the lives of eleven members of the Israeli team and one German police officer, very serious security measures were taken. More than 20 thousand people were involved in its provision.
The 1976 Olympics became a triumph for the Soviet Union team, which won 49 gold, 41 silver and 35 bronze medals. The second place also went to the country of the socialist camp, athletes from the GDR won 40 gold, 25 silver and 25 bronze awards. The third place went to the Olympians from the United States with 34 gold, 35 silver and 25 bronze medals. In total, representatives of twenty countries won medals. Unexpectedly, the performance of the Canadian team turned out to be weak, the hosts of the games did not win a single gold medal.
The results of this Olympiad are evaluated in different ways. On the one hand, the athletes once again demonstrated skill and fortitude, setting many new world records. On the other hand, they felt very uncomfortable under the strict guard of security personnel. TV viewers were very annoyed by the intrusive advertising, with the help of which the organizers tried to cover the huge costs. Despite all these misfortunes, the Montreal Summer Olympics ended and forever entered the history of the Olympic movement.
