fondly remembering the great performances by U.S.
athletes four years earlier in Los Angeles. Forgotten
by many was the absence from those Games of Soviet
and Eastern European athletes.
Performances and Controversies The men’s 100-
meter sprint in track and field is probably the most
anticipated event of any Summer Games. Sprinters
race to determine who is the world’s (unofficial)
fastest human being. That title appeared to belong
to Canadian Ben Johnson, who set a world record at
Seoul when he finished in 9.79 seconds. However,
Johnson was later disqualified, stripped of his medal
and his record after testing positive for stanozolol,
an anabolic steroid. Not long after the Olympics, he
lost whatever was left of his reputation by acknowl-
edging that he had taken performance-enhancing
drugs for several years. The Jamaican-born athlete
went from hero to villain in his adopted Canada.
American Carl Lewis, who finished second to
Johnson, was given the gold medal. Lewis also won
the long jump, giving him six career Olympic gold
medals. He won two additional events during the
1992 Summer Olympics and was considered by many
to be the greatest U.S. track-and-field athlete.
Lewis was upstaged by the controversy surround-
ing Johnson. He also was upstaged by another Amer-
ican sprinter, Florence Griffith-Joyner, who won three
gold medals and one silver medal at Seoul, and
whose flamboyant outfits and nail polish made her a
media celebrity. Later that year, she won the James E.
Sullivan Award, which recognizes the top amateur
athlete in the United States.
Another athlete surrounded by controversy was
U.S. diver Greg Louganis. At Seoul, the returning
champion competed in the springboard and plat-
form events, securing his place among history’s best
divers. However, Louganis struck his head against
the springboard during one of his dives, requiring
stitches. Despite the accident, he went on to win the
gold in both events. Years later, it was learned that
Louganis had HIV at the time of the accident. Some
critics wondered whether he should have revealed
his medical condition, although it should be noted
that no one who entered the pool after him was put
in danger of contracting the virus.
Hungarian swimmer Krisztina Egerszegi burst onto
the international scene in Seoul, where she won a
gold and silver medal in the two backstroke events.
What made these accomplishments noteworthy was
that Egerszegi was only fourteen years old. Seventeen-
year-old American Janet Evans won three gold medals
and cemented her reputation as one of the greatest
all-time distance swimmers. Despite these impressive
performances, it was East Germany’s Kristin Otto who
dominated the pool, taking home six gold medals—a
record for any woman in any sport.
Finally, tennis made its return to the Olympic
stage in 1988 after a sixty-four-year hiatus. Germany’s
Steffi Graf, the world’s best player in her sport, won
the gold medal.Media Coverage The American television network
the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) once
again experienced bad luck with its broadcasting
plans. (The network had lost millions of dollars be-
cause of the 1980 Olympic boycott.) NBC invested
$300 million to gain the broadcast rights to the Sum-
mer Games, but a fourteen-hour time difference be-
tween Seoul and the eastern United States com-
bined with the uneven performance by American
athletes to bring the network lower-than-expected
ratings.
Meanwhile, American newspapers reported that
the South Korean government was angry that NBC
provided substantial coverage of a boxing judge be-
ing attacked by several South Korean coaches, train-
ers, and others after one of their boxers lost a match
but did not sufficiently discuss the questionable
judging associated with the bout. Media reports also
indicated that the South Koreans were disappointed
at NBC’s decision to ignore almost completely the
theft of an $860 mask from a Seoul hotel by three
American athletes. NBC was also chastised for airing
a critical story about North Korea, which was not tak-
ing part in the Games.Impact The 1988 Winter and Summer Olympics
were the last in which athletes from the United
States and the Soviet Union competed against each
other, as the Soviet Union dissolved just prior to the
1992 Olympic year. At the same time, 1988 marked a
pivotal turning point in the long-running but never
sufficiently resolved discussion of how to classify
an amateur athlete. From this point forward, the
Games essentially would be open to all athletes, in-
cluding openly professional ones.Further Reading
Buchanan, Ian, and Bill Mallon.Historical Dictionar y
of the Olympic Movement. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow734 Olympic Games of 1988 The Eighties in America