Morocco won a gold medal in women’s 400-meter
hurdles, becoming the first woman champion from
an Islamic country. Ulrike Meyfarth of West Germany
became the oldest person ever to win a track-and-
field gold medal in the Olympics, in women’s high
jump. In 1972, she had also become the youngest.
Impact The 1984 Winter and Summer Olympics
demonstrated that the Games could be staged with-
out economic turmoil. Fueled by lucrative television
contracts, the 1984 Games were financially success-
ful, demonstrating that with contributions from the
private sector and utilization of existing athletic ven-
ues, the hosting of the Games could be economically
feasible. As a result, several nations provided bids to
hold subsequent Olympic Games. The significant at-
tendance at the soccer games at the Los Angeles
Games demonstrated that soccer tournaments held
in the United States would be well received and con-
tributed to the United States’ hosting the 1994 FIFA
World Cup of soccer.
Further Reading
Albertson, Lisa H., ed.Athens to Atlanta: One Hundred
Years of Glor y.Salt Lake City, Utah: Commemora-
tive Publications, 1995. This text is licensed by the
U.S. Olympic Committee to provide an overview
of the Summer Olympics from 1896 to 1996.
Espy, Richard.The Politics of the Olympic Games.Berke-
ley: University of California Press, 1979. Provides
a historical account of the political, economic,
and social forces that have influenced the con-
duct of the Olympic Games.
Frommer, Harvery, Myrna Frommer, and Mary Gad-
die.Games of the Twenty-Third Olympiad: Los Angeles
1984 Commemorative Book.Salt Lake City, Utah:
International Sport Publications, 1984. Com-
memorative text of the 1984 Summer Olympics
that is officially sanctioned by the International
Olympic Committee.
Hugman, Barry J., and Peter Arnold.The Olympic
Games: Complete Track and Field Results, 1896-1988.
New York: Facts On File, 1988. Provides an over-
view of athletes and the medal winners in track
and field.
Ueberroth, Peter.Made in America.New York: Wil-
liam Morrow, 1985. Written by the President of
the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee.
Wenn, Stephen R. “Conflicting Agendas: Monique
Berlioux, Ahmed Karabegovic, and U.S. Televi-
sion Rights Negotiations for the 1984 Sarajevo
Olympic Winter Games.”Fourth International Sym-
posium for Olympic Research, October, 1998, 115-- Provides an analysis of major American tele-
vision stations vying for the television rights to the
Sarajevo Winter Games.
Wilson, Harold E., Jr. “The Golden Opportunity: Ro-
mania’s Political Manipulation of the 1984 Los
Angeles Olympic Games.”Olympika: The Interna-
tional Journal of Olympic Studies3 (1994): 83-97.
Provides an in-depth analysis of Romania’s defi-
ance of the Soviet boycott of the Games.
Alar Lipping
See also Cold War; Goodwill Games of 1986; Lewis,
Carl; Louganis, Greg; Olympic boycotts; Olympic
Games of 1980; Olympic Games of 1988; Retton,
Mary Lou; Soviet Union and North America; Sports;
Ueberroth, Peter.Olympic Games of 1988
The Event The 1988 staging of winter and
summer international athletic competitions,
held every four years
Date Winter Games, February 13-28, 1988;
Summer Games, September 17-October 2, 1988
Place Winter Games, Calgary, Alberta, Canada;
Summer Games, Seoul, South KoreaThe 1988 Calgar y Games witnessed dominating perfor-
mances by the Soviet Union and East Germany but disap-
pointing results for the United States. The truly competitive
Seoul Games were noted for impressive athleticism in multi-
ple events as well as controversies over steroid use.Unlike the 1980 and 1984 Summer Olympics, there
was no widespread boycott in 1988. Athletes from
both sides of the Cold War competed at both Calgary
(Winter Games) and Seoul (Summer Games). Scan-
dal following the prestigious men’s 100-meter sprint
in track and field brought front and center the
rampant rumors of the illegal use of performance-
enhancing drugs.Winter Games The Calgary Games were the first to
be scheduled over sixteen days, ensuring that viewers
worldwide would receive three weekends of Olympic
activities. Those watching at home saw 1,423 athletes
from fifty-seven nations compete. Demonstrating
once again (though for the last time) that it was theThe Eighties in America Olympic Games of 1988 731