The 1980 Winter Games, held in Lake Placid, New York, were filled with impressive performances. The great Swedish skier, Ingemar Stenmark, won both the giant slalom and the slalom. Hanni Wenzel did the same in the women’s races and her nation, Liechtenstein, became the smallest country to produce an Olympic champion. Ulrich Wehling won the Nordic combined for the third time and pairs skater Irina Rodnina did the same in her event. In the biathlon relay, Aleksandr Tikhonov earned his fourth straight gold medal. Nikolay Zimyatov earned three gold medals in cross-country skiing. In an unprecedented achievement, Eric Heiden of the United States won all five speed skating races, from 500m all the way up to 10,000m. Nonetheless, for the home crowd, the highlight was the unexpected victory of the US ice hockey team.
Dates : February 12 to 24 Participating N.O.C.: 37 Number of Sports : 8 Number of Events : 38 Number of Athletes : 1283 Men : 1012 Women : 271 Volontiers : 6 703 Opening : Walter Mandale, USA Vice-President Oath : Eric Heiden Oath for officials : Terry McDermott Final Torch Bearers : Dr. Charles Morgan Kerr Candidates cities : Vancouver-Garibaldi (CAN)
The 1976 Montreal Games were marred by an African boycott to protest the fact that the national rugby team of New Zealand had toured South Africa and New Zealand was scheduled to compete in the Olympics. Women’s events were included for the first time in basketball, rowing and team handball. Fourteen-year-old gymnast Nadia Comaneci of Romania caused a sensation when, for her performance on the uneven bars, she was awarded the first-ever perfect score of 10.0. She eventually earned seven 10.0s.
On the men’s side, Japan’s Shun Fujimoto broke his leg while completing his floor exercises routine. The Japanese team was engaged in a close contest with the Soviet Union, so Fujimoto kept his injury secret. But when he dismounted from the rings, he dislocated his knee and was forced to withdraw. The Japanese women’s volleyball team won all their matches in straight sets, and in only one of fifteen games did an opponent score in double figures. Individual stars included Klaus Dibiasi of Italy, who won his third straight gold medal in platform diving; Viktor Saneyev of Soviet Georgia, who won his third triple jump gold; and Irena Szewinska of Poland, winner of the 400m run, who brought her career total to seven medals - in five different events. Alberto Juantorena of Cuba put together the first 40m-800m double victory. Miklos Németh of Hungary won the javelin throw to become the first son of an athletics gold medalist to win a gold of his own. His father, Imre, had won the hammer throw in 1948. Clarence Hill of Bermuda earned a bronze medal in boxing’s super-heavyweight division to give Bermuda the honor of being the least populous nation (53,500) ever to win a medal in the Summer Olympics.
In 1969, Amsterdam, in the almost general surprise, the I.O.C. chose Montreal rather than Moscow, for the organization of the Games of the XXIth Olympiad. The personal action of the mayor of the French-speaking big city was there certainly for something. Dates: July 17 to August 1st Participating N.O.C.: 92 Number of Sports: 21 Number of Events: 198 Number of Athletes: 6028 Men's : 4781 Women's : 1247 Opening: Her majesty, the Queen Elisabeth II Oath : Pierre Saint-Jean Oath for official : Maurice Forget Number of torch bearer: 1 214 Final Torch Bearer: Sandra Henderson and Stephan Prefontaine Candidates cities: Los Angeles (USA) and Moscow (Soviet Union)
The 1976 Winter Olympics were awarded to the U.S. city of Denver, but the people of the state of Colorado voted to prohibit public funds from being used to support the Games. Innsbruck stepped in and hosted the Games only 12 years after its last Olympics. Rosi Mittermaier won two of the three Alpine skiing events and almost became the first woman to sweep all three events. But in the final race, Kathy Kreiner beat her by 12 hundredths of a second. The ice hockey team from the USSR won its fourth straight gold medal. A new figure skating event, ice dancing, was added to the programme and, like the pairs, it was dominated by Russian couples. The most memorable image of the Games was Franz Klammer flying wildly down the downhill course, barely keeping control, on his way to a gold medal. Dates : February 4 to 15 Participating N.O.C.: 37 Number of Sports : 6 Number of Events : 37 Number of Athletes : 1354 Men : 1123 Women : 231 Opening : Dr Rudolf Kirchshläger, Président de la République Oath : Werner Delle-Karth Oath for officials : Willy Köstinger Final Torch Bearers : Christl Haas et Josef Feistmantl Candidates cities : Denver (USA), Sion (SUI), Tampere/Are (FIN) et Vancouver (CAN)
The 1972 Munich Games were the largest yet, setting records in all categories, with 195 events and 7,173 athletes from 121 nations. They were supposed to celebrate peace and, for the first ten days, all did indeed go well. But in the early morning of 5 September, eight Palestinian terrorists broke into the Olympic Village, killed two members of the Israeli team and took nine more hostage. In an ensuing battle, all nine Israeli hostages were killed, as were five of the terrorists and one policeman. The Olympics were suspended and a memorial service was held in the main stadium. In defiance of the terrorists, the International Olympic Committee ordered the competitions to resume after a pause of 34 hours. All other details about the Munich Games paled in significance, but it did have its highlights. Archery was reintroduced to the Olympic programme after a 52-year absence and handball after a 36-year absence. Whitewater (or slalom) canoeing was included for the first time. The 1972 Games were also the first to have a named mascot: Waldi the dachshund. U.S. swimmer Mark Spitz won an incredible seven gold medals to go with the two he had earned in 1968. Lasse Viren of Finland fell midway through the 10,000m final, but rose and set a world record to win the first of his four career gold medals. Freestyle wrestler Ivan Yarygin of Russia pinned all seven of his opponents en route to his first Olympic championship in the heavyweight division. West German, Liselott Linsenhoff, competing in the dressage event, became the first female equestrian to win a gold medal in an individual event. The media star of the Munich Games was the tiny Soviet gymnast, Olga Korbut, whose dramatic cycle of success in the team competition, failure in the individual competition and renewed success in the apparatus finals captured the attention of fans worldwide.
Dates: August 26 to September 10 Participating N.O.C.: 121 Number of Sports: 21 Number of Events: 195 Number of Athletes: 7123 Men's : 6065 Women's : 1058 Opening: Gustav Heineman, Republic President Oath : Heidi Schueller Oath for official : Heinz Pollay Number of torch bearer: 6 000 Final Torch Bearer: Günter Zahn Candidates cities: Detroit (USA), Madrid (ESP) and Montreal (CAN)
The 1972 Sapporo Games in Japan were the first to be held outside Europe or the United States. The subject of amateurism stirred controversy when skier Karl Schranz was banned for receiving payment from ski product manufacturers, but full-time ice hockey players from Communist nations were allowed to compete. Galina Kulakova of the USSR won all three cross-country skiing events for women. Ard Schenk of the Netherlands took three golds in speed skating. In Alpine skiing, little-known Marie-Thérès Nadig of Switzerland won both the downhill and the giant slalom. Norway’s Magnar Solberg won the 20km race to become the first repeat winner in an individual biathlon event. Before the Sapporo Games, Japan had never won a gold medal in the Winter Olympics, but in the normal hill ski jumping event, three Japanese jumpers, led by Yukio Kasaya, swept the medals.
Dates : February 3 to 13 Participating N.O.C.: 35 Number of Sports : 8 Number of Events : 35 Number of Athletes : 1006 Men : 800 Women : 206 Opening : His Majesty Emperor Hiro-Hito Oath : Keiichi Suzuki Oath for officials : Fumio Asaki Final Torch Bearers : Hideki Takada Candidates cities : Banff (CAN), Lahti/Are (SWE) and Salt Lake City (USA)
The choice of Mexico City to host the 1968 Olympics was a controversial one because of the city's high altitude, 2,300m, which meant that the air contained 30% less oxygen than at sea level. Sure enough, the rarefied air proved disastrous to many athletes competing in endurance events. On the other hand, the high altitude led to world records in all of the men’s races that were 400m or shorter, including both relays, and in the 400m hurdles, in the long jump and triple jump as well. Bob Beamon’s spectacular long jump of 8.90m would last as a world record for 22 years.
The Mexico City Olympics, the first Summer Games to include sex testing for women, were blessed with many outstanding heroines. Mexican hurdler Enriqueta Basilio became the first woman to light the cauldron at the Opening Ceremony. Eulalia Rolinska of Poland, Gladys de Seminario of Peru and Nuria Ortiz of Mexico were the first women to compete in shooting. Wyomia Tyus of the United States became the first repeat winner of the 100m dash. The most popular female athlete of the 1968 Games was Vera Caslavska, the Czech gymnast. After the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia two months before the Olympics, Caslavska went into hiding for three weeks. She emerged to win four gold medals and two silvers. On the male side, Al Oerter of the United States won the discus throw for the fourth time. The 1968 Games also saw the first drug disqualification, as a Swedish entrant in the modern pentathlon, Hans-Gunnar Liljenwall, tested positive…for excessive alcohol.
Dates: October 12 to 27 Participating N.O.C.: 113 Number of Sports: 18 Number of Events: 172 Number of Athletes: 5531 Men's : 4750 Women's : 781 Opening: Gustavo diaz, Republic President Oath : Pablo Garrido Number of torch bearer: 2 778 Final Torch Bearer: Norma Enriqueta Basilio de Sotelo Candidates cities: Detroit (USA), Lyon (FRA) and Buenos Aires (ARG)
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