against using municipal funds to support the host-
ing of the 1984 Games. Peter Ueberroth, president
of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee,
was presented with the challenge of organizing the
Games with a budget of $500 million. Contributing
to the budget was a lucrative television contract
bringing in $225 million. The private sector for the
first time in the Olympic movement provided a sig-
nificant contribution of $140 million. The McDon-
ald’s Corporation financed the construction of a
swimming stadium at the University of Southern
California (USC). Other companies, such as Coca-
Cola, United Airlines, Anheuser-Busch, and Seven-
Eleven, provided contributions.
An advantage that Los Angeles had over Montreal
was the opportunity to use existing venues. The Los
Angeles Coliseum was used for opening and closing
ceremonies as well as track-and-field events. Existing
stadiums such as the Rose Bowl and Stanford Sta-
dium as well as stadiums located on the East Coast at
Harvard and Annapolis were utilized for staging soc-
cer events. The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
was used for boxing, and the Forum for basketball.
Dodger Stadium was used for baseball competition.
Aquatic events were conducted at the newly con-
structed swimming stadium at USC as well as existing
venues at Pepperdine University. Equestrian events
were held at the Santa Anita racetrack.
The Summer Games were an economic success.
The Games were attended by six million spectators
and had a record-breaking television audience. The
championship soccer game between France and
Brazil had an attendance of 101,799 spectators, the
largest crowd ever to watch a soccer game in the
United States. The championship baseball game
between the United States and Japan was held at
Dodger Stadium. The game attracted just one thou-
sand fans less than the all-time record for a single
game achieved by the Los Angeles Dodgers in a
World Series game. The Summer Games resulted in
a profit of $225 million.
Political Controversies On December 28, 1979, the
Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. The United States
officially condemned the invasion. As a result, Presi-
dent Jimmy Carter called for all free nations to boy-
cott the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. More than
fifty nations boycotted the Moscow Games, resulting
in the lowest athletic attendance of the Olympic
Games since 1956. In response to the boycott, the So-
viet Union announced on May 8, 1984, that it, along
with fourteen other Eastern Bloc nations, would boy-
cott the Summer Games. Iran and Libya joined the
boycott as well. The absence of these nations was
significant in that they had accounted for 58 percent
of the gold medals that were won during the 1976
Olympic Games. Romania and Yugoslavia did not
join in the boycott, and Romania compiled a national
record of fifty-three medals. The People’s Republic
of China was in attendance for the first time since- After China walked out of the 1976 Winter
Olympics because of Taiwan’s participation under
the name “Republic of China,” the IOC later recog-
nized the People’s Republic as China and Taiwan as
“Chinese Taipei.” In 1984, Moscow hosted the Friend-
ship Games, an alternative to the Los Angeles Olym-
pic Games held between July and August of 1984.
Performances The United States was the over-
whelming medals leader with a total of 174 medals,
including 83 gold medals; Romania had the second-
highest accumulation of gold medals with 20 and a
total of 53; West Germany came in third with 17 gold
medals and a total of 59 medals; Canada came in
sixth with 10 gold medals and a total of 44 medals.
Carl Lewis of the United States became the first
man to win four gold medals in track and field—100
meter, 200 meter, 4-by-100 relay, and long jump—
since Jesse Owens accomplished the feat in 1936.
Valerie Brisco-Hooks of the United States became
the first woman Olympian to win the 200 and 400
meters. Joan Benoit of the United States won the
first gold medal in the women’s marathon. Achieve-
ments of American athletes included winning 9 of 12
gold medals in boxing and 21 of 34 gold medals in
swimming. Mary Lou Retton became the first gym-
nast outside Eastern Europe to win the gymnastics
all-around competition. Peter Vidmar became the
first American to win an individual gold medal in
men’s gymnastics in fifty-two years. In gymnastics,
the men won the team gold medal and the women
won the team silver medal. Greg Louganis of the
United States became the first athlete in fifty-six
years to win both diving events. Michael Jordan and
Cheryl Miller led the men’s and women’s basketball
teams to gold medals.
Canadian swimmers won three gold medals. Mi-
chael Gross of West Germany won two gold medals
with world-record times in the 200-meter freestyle
and 100-meter butterfly. Nawal El Moutawakel of730 Olympic Games of 1984 The Eighties in America