1984 Summer Olympics

The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event. They took place from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. This was the second time Los Angeles hosted the Olympics; the first was in (/wiki/1932_Summer_Olympics).

The U.S. president at the time, Ronald Reagan, opened the Games. These were the first Summer Olympics under the IOC presidency of Juan Antonio Samaranch.

The 1984 Games were boycotted by fourteen Eastern Bloc countries. This happened because many countries were upset about the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Romania was the only country from that group that still attended. Albania, Iran, Libya and Upper Volta also did not attend, but for different reasons.

Even with some countries not joining, 140 National Olympic Committees participated. This was a record number at the time. The United States won the most medals, followed by Romania and West Germany.

The 1984 Summer Olympics are known for being very successful money-wise. They made a profit of over US$250 million. This was because they used existing buildings and got money from companies instead of building new places.

Los Angeles will host the Summer Olympics for the third time in (/wiki/2028_Summer_Olympics). This will make it the third city in the world—after London and Paris—to host the Games three times.

Host selection

Main article: Los Angeles bid for the 1984 Summer Olympics

After some hard times for the Olympics in the 1970s, only two cities wanted to host the 1984 Summer Games: Tehran and Los Angeles. Los Angeles was chosen as the host city during a meeting in Athens on May 18, 1978. Los Angeles had tried to host the Olympics before but had not succeeded until then.

Development and preparations

The Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee started in 1978 to manage the games using money from businesses and TV. Peter Ueberroth became its leader in 1979.

All athletes stayed in the same place at the Olympic Village for the first time. They stayed in student housing at UCLA, which had space for 4,000 athletes. Other schools also helped with housing.

The committee needed to get ready 26 places to hold the games. Twenty of these places already existed. They built three new places: the Olympic Velodrome, Prado Park for shooting, and the Olympic Swim Stadium. They also used temporary places around Southern California.

Budget

The Games cost $546 million at the time. The committee needed to make six times more money than past games from sponsors, TV, and ticket sales. Sponsors like Coca-Cola and Fuji Film paid a lot to help. All the money went into special accounts to pay for the costs.

Security

Many people worked on security for the Games. This included the Los Angeles Police Department, federal agents, and temporary workers. Security was important because of problems at other Olympics. The government and the committee paid millions for security. There were no big problems during the Games.

Transportation

Buses in Los Angeles moved athletes, coaches, officials, and media. Special bus routes and express lanes helped with traffic. City leaders asked people to take buses instead of driving. More than a million people did this, and there were no big traffic or air quality problems.

Venues

Main article: Venues of the 1984 Summer Olympics

Venues in the city of Los Angeles

• Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum – opening/closing ceremonies, athletics
• Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena – boxing
• Dodger Stadium – baseball
• Pauley Pavilion, University of California, Los Angeles – gymnastics
• Eagle's Nest Arena, California State University, Los Angeles – judo
• Olympic Swim Stadium, University of Southern California – swimming, diving, synchronized swimming
• Olympic Village (athlete housing), University of Southern California
• Los Angeles Tennis Center, University of California, Los Angeles – tennis
• Athletes Village, University of California, Los Angeles
• Albert Gersten Pavilion, Loyola Marymount University, Westchester, California – weightlifting
• Streets of Los Angeles – athletics (marathon)

Venues in Southern California

• El Dorado Park, Long Beach, California – archery
• The Forum, Inglewood, California – basketball and team handball finals
• Lake Casitas, Ventura County, California – canoeing, rowing
• Olympic Velodrome, California State University, Dominguez Hills, Carson, California – cycling (track)
• Mission Viejo, Orange County, California – cycling (individual road race)
• Santa Anita Park, Arcadia, California – equestrian
• Fairbanks Ranch Country Club, Rancho Santa Fe, California – equestrian sports (eventing endurance)
• Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach, California – fencing
• Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California – football (final)
• Titan Gymnasium, California State University, Fullerton, Fullerton, California – handball
• Weingart Stadium, East Los Angeles College, Monterey Park, California – field hockey
• Coto de Caza, Orange County, California – modern pentathlon (fencing, riding, running, shooting)
• Olympic Shooting Range, Prado Recreational Area, Chino, California – shooting
• Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, California – volleyball
• Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool, Pepperdine University, Malibu, California – water polo
• Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, California – wrestling
• Long Beach Shoreline Marina, Long Beach, California – sailing
• Artesia Freeway – cycling (road team time trial)
• Heritage Park Aquatic Center, Irvine, California – modern pentathlon (swimming)
• Santa Monica College, Santa Monica, California – athletics (marathon start)
• Santa Monica, California – athletics (marathon)

Other venues

• Harvard Stadium, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts – football preliminaries
• Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland – football preliminaries
• Stanford Stadium, Stanford University, Stanford, California – football preliminaries

Olympic Arts Festival

The 1984 Summer Olympics had a 10-week Olympic Arts Festival before the Games. It had over 400 performances by theater, dance, and music groups from around the world. There were also art exhibitions and films. Local artist Rodolfo Escalera made paintings of the Games, and Ernie Barnes was named the "Sports Artist of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games."

Olympic Music

John Williams made the theme for the Games, called "Los Angeles Olympic Theme" or "Olympic Fanfare and Theme." This music became very famous and won a Grammy award. Other composers also made music for the Games. An album with music from the Games had tracks by artists like Foreigner, Toto, and Herbie Hancock. The main theme song was "Reach Out."

Torch relay

The Olympic Torch Relay started in New York City and ended in Los Angeles. It went through 33 states. Over 3,600 runners carried the torch for more than 9,320 miles. The relay raised $10.31 million for charity. Gina Hemphill, granddaughter of Jesse Owens, carried the torch into the Coliseum and passed it to Rafer Johnson, who lit the Olympic cauldron.

Tickets

Tickets went on sale to the public in June 1983. Prices ranged from $3 to $95, with opening and closing ceremonies costing $50 to $200. A record 5.7 million tickets were sold, which was 83% of capacity. The remaining tickets went to Olympic family members, sponsors, or corporations.

Marketing

The emblem for the 1984 Summer Olympics was designed by a local company. It showed stars and stripes to celebrate the American spirit. The stars stood for first, second, and third place, and the stripes showed speed and pride.

Two designers used bright colors and simple shapes to make the Olympics look fun and exciting. This helped make the games look the same everywhere they were held.

The mascot was an eagle named Sam, representing the United States. Many companies helped support the games by giving money and supplies. This was the first time so many businesses worked together for the Olympics. Television rights were sold to ABC, who paid to show the games to people all over the United States.

Participating National Olympic Committees

Athletes from 140 countries took part in the 1984 Summer Olympics. Eighteen countries joined the Olympic family for the first time: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, British Virgin Islands, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, The Gambia, Grenada, Mauritania, Mauritius, North Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Rwanda, Western Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and the United Arab Emirates. Zaire had competed before in the 1968 Summer Olympics as Congo-Kinshasa. The People's Republic of China returned to the Summer Olympics for the first time since (/wiki/1952_Summer_Olympics), and the team from the Republic of China competed under the name Chinese Taipei.

The Soviet Union and many of its allies chose not to attend the Games. This was because many Western countries had boycotted the earlier Moscow Olympics. Still, some communist countries, like Yugoslavia, the People's Republic of China, and Romania, took part. Romania received a warm welcome from the United States during the opening ceremony.

Number of athletes by National Olympic Committees

Boycotting countries

Fifteen countries chose not to attend the 1984 Summer Olympics, following the lead of the Soviet Union:

• Afghanistan
• Angola
• Bulgaria
• Cuba
• Czechoslovakia
• East Germany
• Ethiopia
• Hungary
• Laos
• Mongolia
• North Korea
• Poland
• Soviet Union
• South Yemen
• Vietnam

Albania, Iran, Libya, and Upper Volta (which later became Burkina Faso) also did not attend the Games. They said it was for political reasons, though they were not with the Soviet-led group. Albania, Iran and Upper Volta missed both the 1980 and 1984 Summer Games.

Soviet doping plan

A paper found in 2016 by the New York Times showed that the Soviet Union had plans for special training methods to help athletes perform better in the 1984 Summer Olympics. This was before they decided not to take part in the Games. The paper talked about existing methods and ideas for more improvements.

Calendar

All times are in Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7); the other two cities, Boston and Annapolis use Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)

The Games

Ceremonies

For the first time, the opening ceremony mixed formal parts with cultural performances.

The event began with Bill Suitor arriving using a rocket pack. Etta James sang "When the Saints Go Marching In" at the Opening Ceremony. Lionel Richie performed a long version of his song "All Night Long" at the closing ceremonies.

Sports

The 1984 Summer Olympics included 221 events across 21 sports:

• Aquatics
  • Diving
  • Swimming
  • Synchronized swimming
  • Water polo
• Archery
• Athletics
• Basketball
• Boxing
• Canoeing
• Cycling
• Equestrian
• Fencing
• Field hockey
• Football
• Gymnastics
• Handball
• Judo
• Modern pentathlon
• Rowing
• Sailing
• Shooting
• Volleyball
• Weightlifting
• Wrestling

Demonstration sports

• Baseball
• Tennis

6,829 athletes participated in the Games.

Athletic Achievements

• Carl Lewis of the United States won four gold medals.
• Edwin Moses of the United States won gold in the 400m hurdles again.
• Joaquim Cruz of Brazil set an Olympic record in the 800 meter run.
• Nawal El Moutawakel of Morocco became the first female Olympic champion from a Muslim nation in the 400 m hurdles.
• Carlos Lopes of Portugal won the Marathon.
• A marathon for women was held for the first time, won by Joan Benoit of the U.S.
• Daley Thompson of Great Britain won gold in the decathlon.
• Sebastian Coe of Great Britain won gold in the 1500m.
• Maricica Puică of Romania won the 3000 meters.
• Xu Haifeng of China won the first gold medal of the Olympics, in the 50 m Pistol event.
• Neroli Fairhall of New Zealand was the first paraplegic Olympian.
• Synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics were introduced as Olympic events.
• Li Ning of China won six medals in gymnastics.
• Steve Redgrave of Great Britain won his first Olympic gold in rowing.
• Victor Davis of Canada set a new world record in the 200-meter breaststroke.
• Mary Lou Retton of the United States won the gymnastics all-around competition.
• The American men's gymnastics team won gold.
• France won the Olympic football tournament.
• Connie Carpenter-Phinney of the United States became the first woman to win an Olympic cycling event.

Medal count

The United States won the most medals.

Broadcasting rights

Main article: Olympics on television § 1984 Summer Olympics

The 1984 Summer Olympics were shown on TV in the United States by the American Broadcast Corporation. This was the first time the Olympic organization allowed TV cameras inside the venues. Many other countries also showed the games on TV and radio.

Over 156 countries had the rights to broadcast the Olympics, including:

• Eurovision: Covered 31 countries in Europe
• Intervision: Covered 11 countries in Eastern Europe
• OTI (Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana): Represented Spanish-speaking countries
• Yugoslav Radio Television: The public broadcaster of Yugoslavia
• TV Asahi: Had the rights for Japan
• Channel Seven: Covered Australia
• TVNZ: Showed the games live in New Zealand
• CBC: Broadcast in Canada

Legacy

The 1984 Los Angeles Olympics changed how the Games are organized. It showed how to keep costs down by using places that already existed and by using new technology. The way the Games looked on TV was also planned, and this idea is still used today.

The Games brought many benefits to the community and helped the economy. A special celebration was held 25 years later to remember the 1984 Games.

Financial Success

After money problems with the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, only two cities wanted to host the 1984 Games: Los Angeles and New York. Los Angeles was chosen, and it became a big success. Instead of building many new places, the organizers used places that were already there, like the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which had also been used in the 1932 Olympics. Only a few new places were built, and companies like 7-Eleven and McDonald's helped pay for them.

The Games made money from TV rights and sponsors. This success helped other cities feel more confident about hosting the Olympics again. The Games made a profit, and part of this money was used to help young people in sports in Southern California.

In popular culture

The 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles appeared in several shows and stories. The fast food chain McDonald's had a fun promotion. Customers could win free food if the U.S. won medals in some Olympic events. This idea was later used in a funny way in the show The Simpsons.

In the TV show NCIS, a character remembers watching someone fly over his head with a jet pack during the Olympic ceremony when he was a child. Some TV shows and books, like Seinfeld and Jilly Cooper's novel Riders, also included stories about the 1984 Olympics.

In the series American Horror Story: 1984, characters watch the Olympic events on TV together.