1984 Summer Olympics
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Official Olympic souvenir program
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, were held in 1984 in Los Angeles, California, United States. Los Angeles was selected on May 18 1978 on the 80th IOC session at Athens, Greece without voting, because it was the only city to bid to host the 1984 Summer Olympics. Many blamed this on the financial losses that hit Montreal two years earlier, when it massively overspent on the 1976 Summer Olympics.
In the wake of the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, 14 Eastern Bloc countries and allies including the Soviet Union, Cuba and East Germany (but not Romania), boycotted these Olympics. The USSR announced its intention not to participate on May 8, 1984. The boycott influenced a large number of events that were normally dominated by the absent countries. Boycotting countries organized another major event in July-August 1984, called the Friendship Games.
The host state of California was the home state of US President Ronald Reagan, who opened the games. ([Video of Opening ceremony])
Contents
Highlights
- The Tom Bradley International Terminal at the Los Angeles International Airport was built for the Olympics.
- George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" was played at the opening ceremony
- The organizers of the Los Angeles Olympics, Chief Executive Officer Peter Ueberroth and Chief Operating Officer Harry Usher, were able to produce a profit of over $200 million. The 1984 Games were the second to make a profit, after only the 1932 Summer Olympics (also in Los Angeles).
- Though a Warsaw Pact country, Romania (then ruled by Nicolae Ceauşescu), did not boycott the Games and won a national record of 53 medals.
- This Olympics marked the first time an American president opened an Olympic games held in the United States. The 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City were the first Winter Games to be opened by an American president.
- Carl Lewis equals the performance of Jesse Owens of 1936 and wins four gold medals.
- Nawal El Moutawakel of Morocco becomes the first female Olympic champion of an Islamic nation, and the first of her country in the 400 m hurdles.
- A marathon for women is held for the first time at the Olympics, won by Joan Benoit. The event is also noted because of Swiss runner Gabi Andersen-Schiess, who - suffering from heat exhaustion - stumbles through the last lap, providing dramatic images.
- Synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics debut in Los Angeles as Olympic events, as does wind surfing.
- Following the IOC agreement to designate the Republic of China (Taiwan) "Chinese Taipei", the People's Republic of China appears in the Olympics as "China" and wins 15 gold medals. In weightlifting, athletes from the Chinese Taipei and China teams win medals at the same event.
- Tennis returns for the first time since the 1924 Summer Olympics, this time as a demonstration sport. Baseball is held as an exhibition for the sixth time.
- Steve Redgrave wins his first title in rowing of the record five he would go on to win in five Olympic competitions.
- Daley Thompson apparently misses a new world record in winning his second consecutive gold medal in the decathlon; the next year his score is retroactively raised to 8847, giving him the record.
- Victor Davis sets a new world record in winning the gold medal in the 200-metre breaststroke in swimming.
- Mary Lou Retton becomes the first gymnast outside Eastern Europe to win the gymnastics all-around competition.
- France wins the Olympic soccer tournament, defeating Brazil 2-0 in the final. Olympic soccer was unexpectedly played before massive crowds throughout America, with several sell-outs at the 100,000+ seat Rose Bowl. This tournament is widely credited with planting the seed for the United States to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup and the rise of American soccer.
- John Williams composes the theme for the Olympiad, Olympic Fanfare and Theme. It goes on to win a Grammy Award for Williams and becomes one of the commonly known musical themes for the Olympic Games, along with Leo Arnaud's Bugler's Dream which is still used.
- The opening ceremony featured the arrival of Bill Suitor by means of the Bell Aerosystems rocket pack (also known as a Jet Pack).
- Professional wrestler Samoa Joe appeared at the opening ceremony as a dancer.
Medals awarded
See the medal winners, ordered by sport:
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Medal count
(host nation in bold.)
| 1984 Summer Olympics medal count |
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | 83 | 61 | 30 | 174 | |
| 2 |  Romania
| 20 | 16 | 17 | 53 |
| 3 | (FRG) | 17 | 19 | 23 | 59 |
| 4 |
China | 15 | 8 | 9 | 32 |
| 5 | 14 | 6 | 12 | 32 | |
| 6 | 10 | 18 | 16 | 44 | |
| 7 | 10 | 8 | 14 | 32 | |
| 8 |
New Zealand | 8 | 1 | 2 | 11 |
| 9 |
Yugoslavia | 7 | 4 | 7 | 18 |
| 10 |
South Korea | 6 | 6 | 7 | 19 |
Nations
Articles about Los Angeles Summer Olympics by nation:
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Boycotting countries
14 Countries took part in the Soviet led boycott of the 1984 Olympic Games[link]:
Iran and Libya also boycotted the games, citing political reasons, but were not a part of the Soviet led boycott.Los Angeles - Host City
Following the news of the massive financial losses of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, few cities wished to host the Olympics. This was seen as a major threat to the future of the Olympic Games. However, with the financially successful Los Angeles Games, cities began to line up to be hosts again. The Los Angeles and Montreal Games are seen as examples of what to do and not to do when organizing the Olympics, and serve as object lessons to prospectant host cities. Since then, additional object lessons have been drawn from Atlanta in 1996 (the need to avoid commercialization) and Athens in 2004 (the need to organize and build to schedule).See also
Olympics with significant boycotts
- 1976 Summer Olympics – Montreal, Quebec, Canada — African boycott
- 1980 Summer Olympics – Moscow, Russia, USSR — US-led boycott
- 1984 Summer Olympics – Los Angeles, California, USA — Soviet-led boycott
External links
| Olympic Games | Summer Olympic Games>Summer Games 1896, 1900, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1912, (1916), 1920, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, (1940), (1944), 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024 | |
| Winter Olympic Games>Winter Games 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, (1940), (1944), 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 | ||
| Athens 2004 — Torino 2006 — Beijing 2008 — Vancouver 2010 — London 2012 |
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