Olympic Stadium photo Josef Jindřich Šechtl

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Berlin 1936

The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, were held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin's bid was preferred over Barcelona by the IOC in April, 1931. more...

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Although awarded before the Nazi Party came to power in Germany, the government saw the Olympics as a golden opportunity to promote their Nazi ideology. Film-maker Leni Riefenstahl, a favorite of Hitler, was commissioned by the International Olympic Committee to film the Games. The film, titled Olympia, originated many of the techniques now commonplace to the filming of sports. The Berlin Olympics also saw the introduction to the ceremonies of the Olympic Torch bringing the Olympic Flame by relay from Olympia. Germany's domination of the games was the rule, although there were exceptions to their domination in the likes of persons such as Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals.

Anti-fascists planned to host a \"People's Olympiad\" in Barcelona at the Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc (now Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys) as an alternative games to protest the Berlin Olympics but this was cancelled due to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. In 1992 Barcelona hosted the games in the same Olympic Stadium.

Highlights

An often repeated lie-turned-myth by the media regarding Hitler and Jesse Owens was that Hitler \"snubbed\" Owens and his achievements. Owens has said, \"When I passed Hitler he arose, waved his hand at me, and I waved back at him. I think the writers showed bad taste in criticizing the man of the hour in Germany.\" He went on further and stated that Roosevelt was the one that actually \"snubbed\" him, not Hitler. ; Before the Games, the IOC expelled American Ernest Lee Jahnke, the son of a German immigrant, for encouraging athletes to boycott the games. He was replaced by United States Olympic Committee president Avery Brundage, who supported the Games.; In the cycling match sprint finals, the German Toni Merkens fouled Arie van Vliet of the Netherlands. Instead of disqualification he was fined 100 marks and kept his gold.; Black American Jesse Owens won four gold medals in the sprint and long jump events. His German competitor Lutz Long had offered Owens advice after he almost failed qualifying in the long jump and was posthumously awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal for sportsmanship.; Rie Mastenbroek of the Netherlands won three gold medals and a silver in swimming.; Rower Jack Beresford won his fifth Olympic medal in the sport, and his third gold medal.; The U.S. eight-man rowing team from the University of Washington won the gold medal by coming from behind to defeat the Germans and Italians with Adolf Hitler in attendance.; The Olympic Flame was used for the second time at these games, but they marked the first time it was brought to the Olympic Town by a torch relay, with the starting point in Olympia, Greece.; The games were the first to have live television coverage. The German Post Office, using equipment from Telefunken and Fernseh, broadcast over seventy hours of coverage to special viewing rooms throughout Berlin and Potsdam. The broadcasts were used as a plot element in Contact, a science fiction novel by Carl Sagan, later adapted as a movie.; Basketball and handball made their debut at the Olympics, both as outdoor sports. Handball would not appear again on the program until 1972.; German gymnasts Konrad Frey and Alfred Schwarzmann both won three gold medals.; In the marathon two Korean athletes won medals — Sohn Kee-chung (gold) and Nam Sung-yong (bronze) — running for Japan and under Japanese names. Japan had annexed Korea in 1910.; In the quarter-finals of the football tournament, Peru beat Austria 4-2 in extra-time, but a rematch was ordered, arguing that the field was too small for competition and that the Peruvian fans had stormed the field after the fourth goal. The Peruvian government ordered the olympic team to withdraw in protest, seeing this as an insult, while Austria went on to receive the silver medal.; The Republic of China's Three Principles of the People was chosen the best national anthem of the games.; The host country had a stellar year in the equestrian events, winning individual and team gold in all three disciplines, as well as individual silver in dressage. It didn't hurt that in show jumping, the course included a trap at one gate only German athletes knew about.; Basketball was added to the Olympic program. In the final, the United States beat Canada 19-8. The contest was played outdoors on a dirt court in driving rain. Due to the quagmire, the teams could not dribble and the score was held to a minimum. High scorer in the game was Joe Fortenbury for the U.S. with 7 points. There were no seats for spectators and the nearly 1000 in attendance had to stand in the rain.; German communist Werner Seelenbinder had planned to win the wrestling event and make a vulgar gesture at Hitler, but instead came in fourth.; Despite being from non-fascist countries, the Canadian and the French Olympic Team saluted Hitler (in a gesture of friendship) during opening ceremonies. The Canadian team later revealed that it was in fact performing the traditional Olympic salute, as a means to \"take it back\" from Hitler.; Estonia's Kristjan Palusalu wins two gold medals in Men's Wrestling, marking the last time Estonia competes as an independent nation in the Olympics until 1992.; Italy's football team continued their dominance of the sport, winning the gold medal in these Olympics between their two consecutive World Cup victories (1934 and 1938). Much like with the successes of German athletes, this triumph was claimed by supporters of Benito Mussolini's regime as a vindication of the superiority of the fascist system.;