1936年奥运会会址选在柏林，是个历史错误，是国际奥林匹克运动发展中的一场悲剧。柏林也曾被定为1916年奥运会的举办地，因为它成了战争的策源地，使那届奥运会变为空白。战后，德国军国主义受到了惩罚，直到1928年方获得参加奥运会的权利。

KEY FACTS

Opening date: 01 August 1936

Closing date:16 August 1936

The Host City: Berlin (Germany)

Sports: 19

BERLIN  1936 Games of the XI Olympiad

The 1936 Olympics, held in Berlin, are best remembered for Adolf Hitler's failed attempt to use them to prove his theories of Aryan racial superiority. As it turned out, the most popular hero of the Games, was the African-American sprinter and long jumper Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals.

During the long jump competition, Owens'German rival, Luz Long, publicly befriended him in front of the Nazis. 1936 saw the introduction of the torch relay, in which a lighted torch is carried from Olympia to the site of the current Games. The 1936 Olympics were also the first to be broadcast on a form of television.

Twenty-five large screens were set up throughout Berlin, allowing the local people to see the Games for free. Basketball, canoeing and team handball made their first appearances, while polo was included in the Olympic programme for the last time. Thirteen-year-old Marjorie Gestring of the United States won the gold medal in springboard diving.

Do You Know? 火炬传递从这次奥运会开始

These Games saw the introduction of the torch relay based on an idea by Dr Carl Diem - lighted torch was carried from Olympia to the site of the Games through 7 countries- Greece, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Austria and Germany: a total journey of more than 3,000 km.

奥运会举行了隆重的火炬点燃仪式，火炬接力在7个国家间进行：希腊、比利时、南斯拉夫、匈牙利、捷克、奥地利和德国，全长3000千米。

注释：Superiority: n. 优越
Befriend: v. 帮助
Gest: n. 故事诗