1936 Summer Olympics

The Games of the XI Olympiad were held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin's bid was preferred over Barcelona. Although awarded before the Nazi Party came to power in Germany, the government sasw the Olympics as a golden opportunity to promote their fascist ideology. Film-maker Leni Riefenstahl was commissioned to film the Games. The film, titled Olympia, 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.

Games of the XI Olympiad
Nations participating	49
Athletes participating	4,066 (3,738 men, 328 women)
Events	129 in 19 sports
Opening ceremonies	August 1, 1936
Closing ceremonies	August 16, 1936
Officially opened by	Adolf Hitler
Athlete's Oath	Rudolph Ismayr
Judge's Oath:	not applicable
Olympic Torch	Fritz Schilgen

Highlights

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.