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.
- 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 gold.
- American Jesse Owens won for 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.
See the medal winners, ordered by sport:
| Pos | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
Summer Olympics
1896 | 1900 | 1904 | 1906 | 1908 | 1912 | 1920 | 1924 | 1928 | 1932 | 1936 | 1948 | 1952 | 1956 | 1960 | 1964 | 1968 | 1972 | 1976 | 1980 | 1984 | 1988 | 1992 | 1996 | 2000 | 2004| 2008 | 2012
Winter Olympics
1924 | 1928 | 1932 | 1936 | 1948 | 1952 | 1956 | 1960 | 1964 | 1968 | 1972 | 1976 | 1980 | 1984 | 1988 | 1992 | 1994 | 1998 | 2002 | 2006 | 2010