Montreal 1976 Summer Olympics Poster

CANADA. 
Art, Wall Hanging (licensed for 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics). 

The Games of the XXI Olympiad were, in a way, a harbinger of things to come: culturally for the festival, financially for the host city, and (sadly) politically in its use as a protest tool within the larger geopolitical frame. But as always, there were stunning displays of peak athleticism, the wonder of humans doing things near to perfection; or in the case of Romanian gymnast, Nadia Comaneci, doing so perfectly. At the age of 14, Nadia scored the first ever “10” in Olympic gymnastic history on her way scoring 7 total for the games. (And to give an idea of how special this was, not even the scoreboards proved up to the task, containing space for only three digits, Nadia’s perfect scores represented by a “1.00”!) As mentioned, the games were used as a form of dissent with a host of African nations boycotting over New Zealand’s earlier participation in a rugby match in South Africa, at the time still an appalling apartheid state. In step, Taiwan chose to boycott in a separate protest over the inclusion of the People’s Republic of China. Adding to this, was a markedly visible security presence due to the traumatic memory of the previous summer games in Munich 1972, when 9 members of the Israeli team were taken hostage and murdered by Palestinian militants. And though the next two summer games would also fall victim to ideological discord (the U.S. and other western nations boycotting the Moscow games in 1980, the Soviet Union and communist countries boycotting the Los Angeles games in 1984), the 1976 games proved fruitful for both the U.S. and Soviet-aligned nations. The U.S. celebrated the early career greatness of diver Greg Louganis and boxers Sugar Ray Leonard, Leon and Michael Spinks (on what is regarded the greatest boxing team America has ever sent to the games), adding to this, Bruce Jenner’s world record score in the decathlon. Meanwhile, Cuban runner Alberto Juantorena became the first ever to win both 400 and 800m races in a single Olympics, while the East German women took home all but two of the gold medals in swimming … For the host city, the games cast a long shadow, its legacy more mixed. Though Montreal’s opening ceremony was the first to highlight local themes and character, in this case Quebec and Canada, thereby setting in place a tradition that continues to this day, the intense overrun of costs, what today would equal close to a billion dollars (another legacy of host cities that continues to this day), would cloud the memory of the 1976 Summer Olympics’ triumphant athletic competition in the eyes of many Canadians. [Note: This poster dates to the mid-1990s and was printed as part of a historical series for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta.] 

Condition: Used Very Good. 
Sports Related. 
Dimensions: 12" wide x 16" high