Western at the 1976 Olympic Summer Games

The first Summer Olympics held in Canada opened in Montreal on July 17, 1976. Canada sent 416 athletes, its biggest Olympic team to that point, and 15 of them were Western students and alumni. Western News marks the 50th anniversary with their stories.

Bob Barney, professor emeritus and founding director of Western’s International Centre for Olympic Studies, traces the university’s Olympic link to John Howard Crocker. Crocker managed the first Canadian Olympic team in 1908 and joined Western as director of physical education in 1930. Barney says the 1976 Games brought an explosion in women’s sport.

Rower Monika Seymour, BA’77, went from novice to national champion in two years and raced for Canada in the new women’s rowing events. She did not reach the podium. Wrestler Brian Renken, BA’78, was the only Canadian wrestler to compete in both freestyle and greco-roman at the Games.

Renken says the friendships he made at Western have lasted a lifetime. In May, members of Canada’s 1976 wrestling team reunited in Montreal to mark the anniversary.