What was the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics?

The 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXI Olympiad) was held in Montreal, Quebec from July 17 to August 1, 1976. About 6,084 athletes from 92 nations competed in 198 events across 21 sports. Canada was the first host country to win no gold medals at its own Summer Olympics, taking 5 silver and 6 bronze medals (11 total). The Games are remembered for the construction of the Olympic Stadium (now Stade Olympique de Montréal), the famous performance of Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci (the first perfect 10 in Olympic history), and the about 1.5 billion dollars of Olympic debt that Quebec did not fully pay off until November 2006.

Montreal had been awarded the 1976 Games by the International Olympic Committee on May 12, 1970, defeating bids from Moscow (which would later host the 1980 Games) and Los Angeles. Mayor Jean Drapeau (1954 to 1957 and 1960 to 1986) had been the principal advocate for the Games, riding on the success of the 1967 World Exposition. Drapeau famously promised that 'the Olympics can no more lose money than a man can have a baby'. The promise became infamously inaccurate. Construction delays, cost overruns, labour disputes, and design changes produced massive cost escalation.

The Olympic Stadium became the central architectural symbol of the Games. Designed by French architect Roger Taillibert with a planned retractable Kevlar roof and the world's tallest inclined tower (the 175-metre Olympic Tower), the Stadium's construction was beset by delays. The retractable roof was not completed by the Games (a temporary open-air arrangement was used instead) and was finally installed in 1987 (and frequently failed in subsequent years). The Olympic Tower was not completed until 1987. Total Stadium construction cost reached about 1.4 billion dollars (originally budgeted at about 250 million dollars).

Athletic highlights included Nadia Comăneci's seven perfect 10s on the uneven parallel bars, balance beam, and other events (the first perfect 10s in Olympic gymnastics history; the scoreboards had not been designed to display 10.0 and showed 1.00 as the highest possible score). Lasse Virén of Finland won both the 5,000 and 10,000 metres distance events for the second consecutive Olympics. Bruce Jenner (now Caitlyn Jenner) won the men's decathlon. The Games were marked by the African boycott (about 28 African nations boycotted to protest New Zealand's All Blacks rugby tour of apartheid South Africa) and Taiwan's withdrawal (after Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau declined to allow Taiwan to compete as the Republic of China). Canada's gold-medal-less performance was deeply disappointing. The 1976 Games produced lasting Montreal infrastructure (Métro extensions, Olympic Park, the Olympic Village now social housing) and important Olympic movement effects (the 1980 Moscow and 1984 Los Angeles boycotts). Quebec finally paid off the 1.5 billion dollar debt in November 2006.