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 saw 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

Before the Games, the IOC expelled American Ernest Lee Jahnke, the son of a German immigrant, for encouraging athletes to boycott. 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.
American Jesse Owens won four gold medals in the sprint and long jump events.
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.
For the first time the Olympic Flame 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, Telefunken and Fernseh broadcast over seventy hours of coverage to specially erected booths throughout the city.
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 -- Sohn Kee-chung and Nam Sung-yong -- won medals, while running for Japan and under Japanese names. Japan had annexed Korea since 1910.
In the quarter-finals of the football tournament, Peru beat Austria by 4 to 2 in over-time, but a replay was ordered as Peruvian fans stormed the pitch during the match. The Peruvian team left for home in disagreement, while Austria went on to lose the final and receive a silver medal.
Three Principles of the People was chosen the best national anthem of the games.