Sanders - The Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games

THE LOS ANGELES

1984 OLYMPIC GAMES

Los Angeles was transformed into the look of the 1984 Olympic Games by temporary structures erected to mark the venues and to serve broadcast, lighting, and security functions but mostly to decorate the city for a party. The tallest of all was this 135-foot-high Olympic Tower at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. (Courtesy LA84 Foundation.)

FRONT COVER: Mary Lou Retton became the first female gymnast from outside Eastern Europe to win the Olympic gold medal in the gymnastics individual all-around competition. Called Americas Sweetheart by the media, her five medals were the most by any athlete at the Games. (Courtesy LA84 Foundation.)

COVER BACKGROUND: Calvin Smith passed the baton to Carl Lewis for the anchor leg of an American world-record performance in the 4x100-meter relay. (Courtesy LA84 Foundation.)

BACK COVER: The Opening Ceremony was set to begin at the Coliseum. (Courtesy LA84 Foundation.)

THE LOS ANGELES

1984 OLYMPIC GAMES

Barry A. Sanders

Copyright 2013 by Barry A. Sanders
ISBN 978-1-4671-3037-0
Ebook ISBN 9781439642412

Published by Arcadia Publishing
Charleston, South Carolina

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013932731

For all general information, please contact Arcadia Publishing:
Telephone 843-853-2070
Fax 843-853-0044
E-mail
For customer service and orders:
Toll-Free 1-888-313-2665

Visit us on the Internet at www.arcadiapublishing.com

This book is dedicated to Marian and Louis Sanders.

CONTENTS

Telling the story of the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games 30 years later would not be possible without access to written and photographic records that bring the events back to life with accuracy and immediacy and the help of friends whose memories are sharp and who are generous with their time and patience. I have been most fortunate to have been given access to the exhaustive photographic archives of the LA84 Foundation Sports Library, the official repository of the 1984 Games records, and to the thoughts and memories of those who maintain the records. I thank LA84 Foundation president Anita de Frantz, vice president of communications Wayne Wilson, and manager Shirley Ito for their personal help, advice, and recollections, as well as the images they provided to me.

Richard Perelman, who was editor-in-chief in 1985 of both the Official Report of Games of the XXIIIrd Olympiad and Olympic Retrospective, was of special help in leading me to good images and in helping assure the accuracy of this account. The publications he edited are the solid base for any discussion of the events of the 1984 Games.

I appreciate the fine work of Jared Nelson, my editor at Arcadia, who suggested I write this book and shepherded it into print.

My wife, Nancy, was my best advisor and enthusiastic partner in this endeavor as in all things that I do.

Most comprehensively I acknowledge and thank the thousands of employees and volunteers of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee and the thousands of athletes who competed at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games. They created the lasting memories about which we now write and read. I regret that in this concise book it is impossible to identify or depict all of the significant participants, and I apologize to those who are not mentioned by name.

Unless otherwise noted, all images appear courtesy of the LA84 Foundation. Images noted as courtesy of NOPP/LA Times are taken from the National Olympic Photo Pool, administered by the Los Angeles Times. They all are copyrighted by the Los Angeles Times, 1984, and are provided courtesy of the LA84 Foundation pursuant to agreement between them.

The 1984 Games will be remembered by those with clear heads as the 16 days that preserved this rich treasure that brings together more than 200 nations every four years.... It saved the Games, gave the USOC a solid financial future, and created a blueprint for the future.

Michael Moran
US Olympic Committee
Chief Spokesperson and Communications Executive
19792003

When the right to host the Games of the XXIIIrd Olympiad, the 1984 Olympic Games, was awarded to Los Angeles in 1978, the Olympic movement was in grave trouble. Montreal had lost over $1 billion in staging the 1976 Games, and the coffers of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the US Olympic Committee (USOC) were almost bare. No other city wanted the 1984 Games. Los Angeles recognized that it had the human and physical resources to make the Olympic Games a success where others might fail. It proposed to do the Games differently, with private funding and management and with little new construction. It set out to demonstrate a Spartan approach that would shift the spotlight from grandiose arrangements to the athletes and their achievements. The IOC, lacking any alternatives, reluctantly acceded and began a partnership with Los Angeles of increasing cordiality that yielded important athletic and financial success and, more importantly, a new worldwide perception of the Olympic Games as the ultimate validation of a city. The Olympic movement in the United States and globally was put on a new secure budget footing and a new upward trajectory.

For the people of Los Angeles, the Games were a watershed in the image that they and others have had of their unique city. Los Angeles had been the perfect Olympic city for a long time. It hosted the Games of the Xth Olympiad in 1932, which invented the idea of the Olympic Village and had a financial surplus, despite being organized in the Depression. Its year-round temperate climate and geographic variety from the mountains to the sea made it a mecca for athletes and sports activity of all kinds. Consequently, the region has always been home to a greater concentration of Olympians than any other area of the world. Its broad sports enthusiasm meant that Los Angeles already had top-quality facilities for almost the entire range of Olympic events. But the essence of Los Angeless qualification for the Games was more than its environment and infrastructure: it was the creativity, optimism, and individual initiative that defined the spirit of its millions of people who were and are still its chief assets. They were a mixed population from the far reaches of the world who would respond to the challenge of a great creative project. They built the worlds dream machine in its entertainment industry and in its aerospace industry. Los Angeles, with its emphasis on individual freedom, imagination, and personal initiative, was and remains the most American of American cities.

The Games almost did not happen. Games promoters in Los Angeles knew that on an operating basis, before accounting for construction costs, prior Olympic Games had been profitable, and they were confident that a combination of increased television revenue and the use of Los Angeless wealth of existing facilities would avoid the deficits that had plagued earlier Games. But the public was skeptical, worried that it would be asked to pick up the tab. It adopted an initiative called No Olympic Tax just as the leaders were engaged in persuading the IOC to award the Games to Los Angeles. Such a measure had caused Denver to lose the 1976 Winter Games after they had been awarded to that city.