I know…

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I know…

I know… the Olympic Games will be held in Montréal from July 17 to Aug. 1, 1976.

The program for the Montréal Games includes 21 sports: Archery, athletics, basketball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, equestrian sports, fencing, football (soccer), gymnastics, judo, handball, hockey, modern pentathlon (riding, fencing, shooting, swimming, cross- country race), rowing, shooting, swimming (including diving and water polo), volleyball, weightlifting, wrestling and yachting.

I know… the 1976 Olympic Games in Montréal are being staged by the Organizing Committee, known as COJO (Comité organisateur des Jeux olympiques).

The International Olympic Committee, with headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, entrusts the organization of the Games to the national Olympic committee of the country in which the Games are to be staged; in Canada it is the Canadian Olympic Association. This official body has delegated its powers to COJO, the Organizing Committee which must now correspond directly with the International Olympic Committee.

COJO’s mandate ends with the Games. His Excellency Roger Rousseau is the president of COJO, which is administered by a board of directors and an executive committee.

I know… how the organization of the Olympic Games works in general.

The Olympic Movement is controlled by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). This is a permanent body created by Baron Pierre de Coubertin at the time of the revival of the Olympic Games. The IOC consists of 74 members from 60 different countries.

I know… about the financing of the 1976 Olympic Games. COJO’s main revenue will come from the Olympic lotteries and the sale of Olympic stamps and coins, spectator tickets, radio and television rights and licensing and concession rights.

I know… the T. Eaton Company is the sole Canadian agent for sale of Olympic Games tickets in Canada. There will be 80 outlets: 37 in Québec, 23 in Ontario, 10 in the Maritimes and 10 in the Western provinces. More than 65 percent of the total 4,500,000 tickets will be sold in Canada. COJO- designated agencies and some companies will handle ticket sales in most foreign countries.

Any further information regarding ticket sales may be obtained from the national Olympic committees or from COJO.

I know… the official symbol consists of five rings topped by the Olympic podium.

The podium, at the top of the design, is evocative of the glory of the victors and, to a greater extent, of the spirit of chivalry underlying their contests; the podium is also a graphic presentation of the letter “M”, for Montréal; at the centre of the design is the Olympic stadium oval, heart of the Games.

The five entwined rings represent world brotherhood and are designed to stress the fact that the Olympic ideal is, and must remain, the very essence of this undertaking.

The symbol was designed by Canadian designer, Georges Huel.

I know… the Olympic flag is composed of five different colored rings on a white background.

The five rings correspond to the five sections of the world; the six colors – the white background and blue, yellow, black, green and red for the circles- represent all nations, without exception. In fact, flags of all countries in the world have at least one of these six colors.

I know… legend attributes the foundation of the Olympic Games to Hercules, son of Zeus. They were so important, that time in ancient Greece was measured by the four-year interval between the Games, called an Olympiad.

I know… the first Olympic Games can be traced back as far as 776 BC; for close to 1,200 years they were staged at intervals of four years. They were abolished in the year 394 AD by decree of Emperor Theodosius.