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MONTREAL WINS BID FOR 1976 OLYMPICS

SIMON SMITH

On this day in 1970, the International Olympic Committee made Montreal the first Canadian city to be awarded the Summer Games. Bids by Los Angeles and Moscow had also been on the table at the committee’s 1970 session in Amsterdam. The Quebec metropolis was just the second French-speaking city, after Paris, in 1900 and 1924, to be selected as host. In his pitch, an enthusiastic then-mayor Jean Drapeau circumvented the need for a financial guarantee with a message of good faith on the city of Montreal’s behalf, while Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau sent a letter to the committee stating the government of Canada “warmly supports” Montreal’s bid. Satisfied by Canada’s travel and regulatory conditions and motivated to avoid the conflict sure to arise from selecting cities in the United States or the Soviet Union, which were Cold War foes at the time, the committee opted to give the honour to Montreal. Construction of the facilities went grossly over budget in large part because of the Olympic Stadium – dubbed “The Big Owe” – which exceeded its expected cost by about a billion dollars. The 1976 event is the only time Canada has played host to the Summer Games.

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2021-05-12T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-05-12T07:00:00.0000000Z

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