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Olympic Ceremonies: Montréal 1976
Opening Ceremony | Closing Ceremony
The Opening Ceremony for the Games of the XXI Olympiad in Montréal, on July 17, 1976, began the first Olympic Games on Canadian soil.
In the Olympic Stadium, 73,000 spectators signalled the start of the ceremonies with a joyous uproar at the arrival of Queen Elizabeth II accompanied by Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, and Prince Andrew.
The impressive parade of 94 participating delegations took place to the sound of music entitled, March of the Athletes. Following tradition, the Greek delegation came first, and, representing the host country, the Canadian delegation of more than 500 people were the last to enter. The names of the participating countries, in French and English, appeared in illuminated letters on a display board as they entered the stadium.
The delegations took their place on the central lawn, facing the tribune of honour. There were a total of 10,000 athletes and escorts.
An impressive parade of 94 delegations...
In accordance with tradition, the speeches were delivered in French and English by the President of the OCOG, Roger Rousseau, and by the President of the IOC, Lord Killanin, after which, the Queen declared the official opening of the Games of the XXI Olympiad.
The Olympic anthem, written by Spirou Samara, signalled the entrance of the Olympic flag into the stadium. It was carried by eight athletes and four escorts, symbolizing the ten provinces and two territories of Canada. The flag was hoisted while a choir of Canadians of Greek origin sang the Olympic anthem.
Three cannons in the Olympic Park fired an official salute.
To draw attention to the 80th anniversary of the modern Olympic Games, 80 young girls released pigeons. The young girls also represented the group of virgins that, according to ancient tradition, accompanied the athletes as far as the gate of the stadium.
Next, was the entrance of the Olympic torch. Breaking away from the tradition of having a single torchbearer and to symbolize Canada’s bilingual character, two young runners—Sandra Henderson of Toronto and Stéphane Préfontaine of Montréal—carried the torch. In fact, this was a first in the history of the modern Olympic Games; the tradition of watching a former champion enter the stadium alone has since been abandoned.
The cauldron placed in the centre of the stadium was lit.
Students from schools in Montréal and its suburbs—acting as representatives of Canadian youth—performed a ballet with gymnasts from various countries.
A judge and an athlete—weightlifter Pierre Saint-Jean—took the Olympic oath. Followed by the Canadian national anthem and the roaring applause of the crowd, the Opening Ceremony came to an end, and the competitions of the XXI Olympiad began.
