Olympic Wednesday arrives at the modern cautionary tale of Olympic mismanagement: the Summer Olympiad of Montréal, which bankrupted the city and took 30-plus years to pay off. Still, over 6.000 participants from 92 nations came to eastern Canada to compete in 198 events held across 26 disciplines. The Olympics themselves were getting grander and larger, even after the nightmarish events of Munich.

Despite some political drama that spawned some boycotts, the Games went off smoothly: the Soviet Union topped the medal table (125), again, followed one more time by the United States (94) and East Germany (90). The host nation was one of 13 countries to win double-digit medals, and Montréal produced some big names in light, such as decathlon victor Bruce Jenner, who would become quite famous in American after.

Most Outstanding Male Athlete: Nikolay Andrianov, Soviet Union

The only athlete to win more than 5 medals in this olympiad, Soviet gymnast Nikolay Andrianov (4 golds, 2 silvers, 1 bronze) dominated his sport in Montréal. He won the men’s individual all-around title, in addition to winning the floor exercise, the horse vault, and the rings competitions. He took second place in the parallel bars and third place on the pommel horse, as well, adding a silver in the men’s team all around.

Most Outstanding Female Athlete: Nadia Comăneci, Romania

We encounter an issue here, as the East German women swimmers were suspected at the time of cheating, and this was confirmed decades later. Thus, Kornelia Ender is not eligible for our award here. Instead, Romanian gymnast and media darling Nadia Comăneci takes this award as the only honest female athlete to win at least 5 medals in Montréal. She won individual golds in the all around, uneven bars, and beam.

Adding to that haul, she helped her team to the silver in the all around and won an additional bronze in the floor. There’s also the little tidbit of her becoming the first gymnast in Olympic history to earn a perfect 10 score—which she ended up doing 7 times overall in these Games. Even if Ender had won her 4 golds and 1 silver fairly, we probably still would have given this nod to Comăneci due to a huge cultural impact in sport.

Most Outstanding Male Team: United States Swimming

In a stunning display of dominance, the American men won 12 of 13 gold medals in swimming, and overall, they captured 27 medals out of a possible 35 available. It’s hard to comprehend that kind of effort, but it happened. Leading the way was John Naber with 5 medals (4 golds, 1 silver), followed closely by Jim Montgomery (3 golds, 1 bronze). We may never see anything like this again in any sport going forward.

Most Outstanding Female Team: United States Diving

We can’t choose the East Germany women, for reasons noted above. That leaves us with slim pickings, as we’re hesitant to pick any East German team here. Guilt by association; it is what it is. So … we choose the American divers, who won 3 of a possible 6 medals, including a gold in the springboard event for Jennifer Chandler and bronzes in both the springboard (Cynthia Potter) and platform events (Debbie Wilson).