The World In Stamps

A journey in a stamps collection

Montreal 1976 Olympic Games

In 1976, Iraq like many other countries issued a set of four stamps to celebrate the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games. The session held in Montreal, Canada was 21st session of the modern Olympic Games.

Montreal 1976 Olympic Games

Olympic Games Montreal- YT-PA-56
Olympic Games Montreal- Iraq 1976 – YT-PA-56

More than six thousand athletes from 92 countries participated in the games. The Soviet Union and East Germany were among the countries with the highest medals. They obtained  respectively 20% and 15% of the medals. The United States of America ranked third with 94 medals, including 34 gold. 

Olympic Games Montreal- YT-PA-57
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The Boycott of Games

Twenty nine countries, mostly from Africa  boycotted the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games, to protest the participation of New zealand.

Earlier in the same year, New Zealand rugby team had toured South Africa in defiance of the calls for a sporting embargo of the apartheid country, but  the International Olympic Committee (IOC) rejected the call of the Organisation of African Unity to ban New Zealand.

South Africa had been excluded from the Olympic games since 1966, because of its government’s apartheid policy and the discrimination against black athletes. 

Iraq did not take part of the 1976 Olympic games, as it was one of two non-African countries to take part in the boycott.

Olympic Games Montreal- YT-PA-58
Olympic Games Montreal- Iraq 1976 – YT-PA-58

The star of the games

The star of the games was the Fourteen-year-old gymnast Nadia Comaneci of Romania. She shot to fame when, for her performance on the uneven bars, she was awarded the first-ever perfect score of 10.0. She went on to earn seven maximum marks in total.

Olympic Games Montreal- YT-PA-59
Olympic Games Montreal- Iraq 1976 – YT-PA-59

Iraq issued a set of four airmail stamps on the occasion of the Montreal Olympic Games. Their face values are respectively 25 fils, 35 fils, 50 fils and 75 fils.

Catalogue Reference: Yvert & Tellier- PA-57 to PA-59.

 

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