1984 Winter Olympics

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Multi-sport event in Sarajevo, YugoslaviaTemplate:SHORTDESC:Multi-sport event in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia

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**Summer**← Moscow 1980Los Angeles 1984 →

Template:1984 Winter Olympics

The **1984 Winter Olympics**, officially known as the **XIV Olympic Winter Games** (Serbo-Croatian and Slovene: *XIV. Zimske olimpijske igre*; Cyrillic: XIV Зимске олимпијске игре; Template:Lang-mk) and commonly known as **Sarajevo '84** (Cyrillic: Сарајево '84; Template:Lang-mk), was a winter multi-sport event held between 8 and 19 February 1984 in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. It was the first Winter Olympic Games held in a Slavic language-speaking country, as well as the only Winter Olympics held in a communist country before the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. It was the second consecutive Olympic Games held in a communist country, after the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union.

The Games were held in Sarajevo and at neighbour resorts in the Dinaric Alps located less than 25 kilometers from the city. At the first days of the Games, the sports program was disrupted by extreme weather conditions and the alpine ski events started four days later than planned.

The Games brought together 1272 athletes from 49 countries, which represents a significant increase compared to 1980. Athletes participated in six sports and ten disciplines in a total of thirty-nine official events, one more than the Games four years earlier. Seven National Olympic Committees sent athletes for the first time: Egypt, British Virgin Islands, Monaco, Puerto Rico and Senegal participated for the first time in the Olympic Winter Games. Finland's Marja-Liisa Hämäläinen, who won all three individual races in cross-country skiing, won the most medals of the Games. The host country Yugoslavia won the first medal in its history at the Winter Games after skier Jure Franko came second in the giant slalom. Also East Germany, which won all gold and silver medals in women's speed skating and bobsleigh, finished first for the first time on the medal table with twenty-four medals, nine of which were gold.

The 1984 Winter Olympics, considered a success, made it possible to develop winter sports in Yugoslavia, but the war in Yugoslavia, which broke out in 1992, heavily damaged the city and the Olympic facilities. Some sites have been renovated after the war but others remain abandoned, the former bobsleigh/luge track being one of the more well known abandoned sites.

## Host city selection

### Selection of the host city

Main article: Bids for the 1984 Winter Olympics
 File:Sarajevo Tram Pofalici 1982-09-22.jpg
A study entitled "The possibilities and problems of tourism development continental in Yugoslavia” and published in 1968 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) first indicated that Yugoslavia and in particular the region of Sarajevo have favorable conditions for the development of winter sports. As early as 1970, the authorities in Sarajevo planned to host the Winter Olympics to promote this development and become a sustainable winter sports center. They first considered a candidature for the Games of 1976 or 1980 but, after having modernized the city within the framework of the project “Protection of the environment and of man”, applied for those of 1984. The bid committee was created on 23 November 1977.

Two other candidates for the Games were Göteborg in Sweden and Sapporo in Japan. The Gothenburg project was considered expensive and if it were the winner, the logistics expenses would be gigantic, because the competition places would be decentralized. Sapporo had previously hosted the Games in 1972, only twelve years before the proposed 1984 Games and Japan presented Nagoya to bid to the 1988 Summer Olympics. The city therefore had experience and most of the infrastructure present and was in use since than, but new options were seen as more attractive. Sarajevo presented a compact project, with all the planned venues within 25 kilometers of the city, and has experience of several international competitions such as Alpine Skiing World Cup events, and the European Figure Skating Championishipis.

1984 Winter Olympics bidding results
 Gothenburg |  Sweden | 10 | —

The host city for the XIV Olympic Winter Games was announced on 18 May 1978, during the 80th session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Athens, Greece. Sarajevo was selected by a margin of three votes over Sapporo, Japan. Gothenburg became the first Swedish city to lose a Winter Olympics bid; other Swedish cities, such as Falun and Östersund, would later lose consecutive bids to the Calgary (1988), Albertville (1992), Lillehammer (1994), Nagano (1998), and Salt Lake City (2002), respectively. Sarajevo, the capital of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, was the third-largest city of Yugoslavia at the time.

### Politics

The 1984 Winter Games took place during the Cold War, four years after the boycott of the Moscow Games by 64 National Olympic Committees including the United States and a few months before the boycott of the Los Angeles 1984 Games by the Soviet Union and another 17 National Olympics Committees. International tensions did not affect the Winter Games.

## Torch relay

 File:Olympic torch Sarajevo 1984.jpg
The torch relay for the 1984 Sarajevo Olympic games started in Olympia and then proceeded by airplane to Dubrovnik. The total distance of the torch relay through Yugoslavia was 5,289 kilometres (3,286 mi) (plus 2,879 kilometres (1,789 mi) of local routes). There were two main routes – one in the west (Split – Ljubljana – Zagreb – Sarajevo with 2,602 kilometres (1,617 mi) of length) and the other in the east (Skopje – Novi Sad – Belgrade – Sarajevo with 2,687 kilometres (1,670 mi) of length). The final torchbearer, from a total of 1600, was figure skater Sanda Dubravčić, who received the torch from skier runner Ivo Čarman. Today one of the two original torches is in Slovenia in a private collection in Žalec, Slovenia. Also 20 more torches are in Greece owned by individual athletes, who were the torchbearers from Ancient Olympia to the nearby military airport and from Athens Domestic Airport to the Panathinaikon Stadium where the Ceremony of handing over the Olympic Flame to the Sarajevo Olympic Games Committee occurred.[*citation needed*]

 File:1984 Winter Olympics opening ceremony at Koševo Stadium, Sarajevo.jpg
## Highlights

* The Olympic flag was raised upside down during the opening ceremony by mistake.
* First Games under the presidency of Juan Antonio Samaranch.
* The 20 kilometre race was added to women's Nordic skiing.
* Skier Jure Franko won Yugoslavia's first Winter Olympic medal; a silver in the giant slalom.
* Marja-Liisa Hämäläinen won all three individual cross-country races for women.
* Gaétan Boucher and Karin Enke each won two gold medals in speed skating, while East German women won all but three out of the twelve medals in the sport.
* Austria, usually a formidable winter sports nation, won only one bronze medal.
* Biathlete Eirik Kvalfoss earned a complete set of medals.
* Twin brothers Phil and Steve Mahre took first and second place in the slalom.
* Torvill and Dean of Great Britain earned across-the-board perfect scores for artistic impression in the free dance ice dancing competition, a feat that was never matched.
* The gold medals for Figure Skating were split among four nations. While Torvill and Dean won the Ice Dancing Competition for the UK, Elena Valova and Oleg Vasiliev of the Soviet Union won the Pairs Competition, Scott Hamilton scored Men's gold for the United States, and Katarina Witt won the first of two consecutive gold medals for East Germany in Ladies Figure Skating.
* Disabled skiing was a demonstration sport for the first time.
* Bill Johnson became the first American to win an Olympic downhill event.
* Lamine Guèye of Senegal was the first Black African skier to compete in the Winter Olympics.
* The closing ceremony was held indoors in the figure skating venue. The next time the closing ceremony for the Winter Games was held indoors was the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

## Official mascot

Main article: Vučko (mascot)
Readers of Yugoslav newspapers were asked to choose the mascot for the 1984 Winter Olympics from a list of six finalists. The winner was Vučko, the little wolf, designed by Slovenian designer and illustrator Jože Trobec. The other finalists were a chipmunk, a lamb, a mountain goat, a porcupine, and a snowball. The Vučko is a long-time symbol of Sarajevo.[*citation needed*]

## Venues

 File:Bijelasnica2.jpg
 File:Igman.jpg
 File:Sarajevo Olympic Symbol.jpg
Main article: Venues of the 1984 Winter Olympics
### City venues

* Koševo Stadium – opening ceremonies
* Zetra Ice Hall – figure skating, ice hockey (final), closing ceremonies
* Zetra Ice Rink – speed skating
* Skenderija II Hall – ice hockey

### Mountain venues

* Bjelašnica – alpine skiing (men)
* Jahorina – alpine skiing (women)
* Igman, Veliko Polje – cross-country skiing, Nordic combined (cross-country skiing), biathlon
* Igman Olympic Jumps – Nordic combined (ski jumping), ski jumping
* Sarajevo Olympic Bobsleigh and Luge Track at Mt. Trebević – bobsleigh, luge

### Other facilities

* Olympic Village, Mojmilo
* Press Village, Dobrinja
* Hotels: Igman (Igman), Famos (Bjelašnica), Smuk (Bjelašnica), Bistrica (Jahorina)

## Competitive events

There were 39 events contested in 6 sports (10 disciplines).

Template:Col-1-of-2* File:Alpine skiing pictogram.svg Alpine skiing (6) (details)
* File:Biathlon pictogram.svg Biathlon (3) (details)
* File:Bobsleigh pictogram.svg Bobsleigh (2) (details)
* File:Cross country skiing pictogram.svg Cross-country skiing (8) (details)
* File:Figure skating pictogram.svg Figure skating (4) (details)

Template:Col-2-of-2* File:Ice hockey pictogram.svg Ice hockey (1) (details)
* File:Luge pictogram.svg Luge (3) (details)
* File:Nordic combined pictogram.svg Nordic combined (1) (details)
* File:Ski jumping pictogram.svg Ski jumping (2) (details)
* File:Speed skating pictogram.svg Speed skating (9) (details)

## Calendar

*All dates are in Central European Time (UTC+1)*

## Medal count

Main article: 1984 Winter Olympics medal table

## Participants

A then record of 49 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) entered athletes at the 1984 Winter Olympic Games.

Egypt, Monaco, Puerto Rico, Senegal, and the British Virgin Islands participated in their 1st Winter Olympic Games.

The People's Republic of China ended its boycott of the Olympic Games over the controversy regarding the IOC's recognition of the Republic of China. The Republic of China (Taiwan) then competed as Chinese Taipei for the first time.

Many smaller countries competed in these games, due to the funding program created by the IOC. The IOC decided that it would cover all expenses for one male and one female athlete, per country. This allowed countries with smaller athletic budgets to participate in the Games.

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## Gallery

1984 CPA 5472.jpg1984 Soviet postage stamp1984 CPA 5474.jpg1984 Soviet postage stampStamps of Germany (DDR) 1983, MiNr 2839.jpg1984 East German postage stampStamps of Germany (DDR) 1983, MiNr Block 074.jpg1984 East German postage stampSkakonice na Igmanu.jpgIgman ski-jumping hills during summerYugoslavia postage stamps FDC (Sarajevo 1984 Winter Olympics).jpgYugoslavia postage stamps FDC (Sarajevo 1984 Winter Olympics)Asim Ferhatovic Hase.jpgAsim Ferhatovic Stadion (*Koševo Stadium then*)

## Notes

1. ↑ Template:Harvsp
2. ↑ Template:Harvsp
3. ↑ Template:Harvsp
4. ↑ "Past Olympic host city election results". GamesBids. Archived from the original on 24 January 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2011.
5. ↑ Template:Harvsp
6. ↑ Template:Harvsp
7. ↑ Sarajevo Olympics 1984 opening ceremony on YouTube
8. ↑ The 6.0 judging system has since been replaced with the ISU Judging System, therefore no other figure skater will earn perfect 6.0 scores in the future.
9. ↑ Those Loony Olympic Mascots, Time Olympics, 21 May 2010

## External links

* "Sarajevo 1984". *Olympics.com*. International Olympic Committee.
* Template:IOC medals
* Official Report from the Organizing Committee on the AAFLA website
* *Olympic Review* 1984 – Official results
* Official website
* The program of the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics

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