The 1936 Summer Olympic Games of the XI Olympiad, the Berlin Games, were seen by the German government as a golden opportunity to promote their fascist ideology. The ruling Nazi Party commissioned film-maker Leni Riefenstahl to film the games; the film was titled [[Olympia]]. The result was a masterpiece of propaganda, despite Hitler's theories of Aryan racial superiority being repeatedly shown up by non-Aryan athletes. In particular, the black sprinter and long jumper Jesse Owens won 4 gold medals. The tale of Hitler snubbing Owens at the ensuing medal ceremony is, however, apocryphal.
Like many other Games, these had their share of scandal. Before the Games, the I.O.C. expelled American Ernest Lee Jahnke, the son of a German immigrant, for encouraging athletes to boycott. He was replaced by U.S.O.C. 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 the gold.
The games were the first to have live television coverage, Telefunken and Fernseh broadcast over seventy hours of coverage to specially erected booths throughout the city.
- Opening ceremonies held: August 1
- Closing ceremonies held: August 16
- Number of nations participating: 49
- Number of athletes participating: 4066
- Number of sports: 19
- Athlete who took the Athlete's Oath: (name)
- Judge who took the Judge's Oath: (name)
- Person who lit the Olympic Torch: (name)
- Top medal winning nation: Germany (89)
- (other things people would like to know for all games?)