1976 Summer Olympics the exclusive Ritz-Carlton hotel in a vain attempt to end the "delays". Ultimately Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa made some sort of secret deal to buy off Desjardins, which finally allowed work to proceed. Taillibert wrote in "Notre Cher Stade Olympique" "If the Olympic Games took place, it was thanks to Dede Desjardins. What irony!" The opening ceremony of the 1976 Summer Olympic Games was held on Saturday, July 17, 1976, at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec in front of an audience of some 73,000 in the stadium, and an estimated half billion watching on television. The ceremony marked the
Summer Paralympic Games 400 athletes from 23 countries competed at the 1960 Games though only athletes in wheelchairs competed. At the 1976 Summer Games athletes with different disabilities were included for the first time at a summer Paralympics. With the inclusion of more disability classifications, the 1976 Summer Games expanded to 1,600 athletes from 40 countries. The 1988 Summer Paralympics were the first to be hosted in the same venues (and thus use the same facilities) as the Olympics of that year. Since then, all Paralympic Games are now held in the same city that hosted the Olympics, with a two-week gap between