OTD: Greg Joy wins silver at Montréal Olympics high jump competition

On today’s date in 1976, Canadian high-jumper Greg Joy took home a silver medal on the final day of that year’s Summer Olympics in Montréal.

In rainy weather, Joy defeated U.S.-born favourite Dwight Stones, who placed third, with a leap of 2.23 metres. Poland’s Jacek Wszoła won gold with a jump of 2.25 metres.

Two years later, Joy broke the world record for high jump with a leap of 2.31 metres.

1976 ATHLETE MEDALS

The Royal Canadian Mint produced the athlete medals for the 1976 Summer Olympics.

Featuring a design by Florentine artist Giuseppe Cassioli used since the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, the medals’ obverse depicts the traditional goddess of victory holding a palm in her left hand and a winner’s crown in her right hand. The design was chosen after a competition organized by the International Olympic Committee in 1921.

For the Montréal Games, the figure of victory is accompanied by the specific inscription, “XXIe Olympiade Montréal 1976.”

The reverse was intentionally designed as bare. It comprises a stylized laurel crown – a symbol of victory since the “Games of Antiquity” – and the emblem of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montréal. Each of the gold, silver and bronze medals measured 60 millimetres in diameter and six millimetres in thickness.

Leave a Reply

Canadian Coin News

Canada

Canadian Coin News is Canada's premier source of information about coins, notes and medals.

Although we cover the entire world of numismatics, the majority of our readers are Canadian, and we concentrate on the unique circumstances surrounding collecting in our native land.

Send Us Your Event

Running an event? Send it to us and we will display it on Canadian Coin News!

Submit Event →

Subscribe To 26 Issues For Just $59.99/year

Subscribe today to receive Canada's premier coin publication. Canadian Coin News is available in both paper and digital forms.

Subscribe Now

We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage.