1984 Olympics

The 1984 Winter Olympics, formally known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games, was a multi-sport winter festival held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, in what is now Bosnia and Herzegovina, from 8–19 February 1984. Sapporo, Japan; and the Gothenburg member cities, including Sweden. It was the first Winter Olympic Games held in a democratic state and in a Slavic-speaking area. Following the Moscow, Soviet Union, 1980 Summer Olympics, it was also the second overall Olympics to be held in a Socialist and Slavic-speaking region, as well as the second consecutive Olympics. At the moment, Sarajevo, present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina capital, was part of the unified Yugoslavia. The torch relay started at the Winter Olympics in Olympia in 1984, and then travelled to Dubrovnik by aeroplane. Yugoslavia had a minimum span of 5,289 kilometres for torch relay. Two main highways — one in the west and one in the east. The final torchbearer was figure skater Sanda Dubravčić who won the torch from skier athlete Ivo Čarman from a total of 1600. One of the first two torches still resides in a private collection in Žalec, Slovenia, Slovenia. Additionally, after the first early games in Athens, it was the first Games played on the Balkans. The Sarajevo games have also been the only Olympics witnessed so far by a competitor of the Non-Aligned Movement. On 18 May 1978 at an 80th session of the International Olympic Committee in Athens, Greece, the host city for the XIV Winter Olympics was announced. Sarajevo had been picked by a three-way margin over Sapporo, Japan. Gothenburg became Sweden's first city to drop an Olympic Winter Olympic bid while other Swedish cities like Falun and Östersund would subsequently withdraw their successive bids for Montreal, Albertville, Lillehammer, Nagano and Salt Lake. In Greece there are also 20 more torches borne by individual competitors who were torchbearers from Ancient Olympia to the local military airport, and from Athens Domestic Airport to Panathinaikon Stadium where the Olympic Torch was handed over to the Sarajevo Olympic Games Committee. At the opening ceremonies the Olympic flag was hoisted upside down by accident. Juan Antonio Samaranch presided over First Match. Women's Nordic Skiing featured in the 20 kilometre event. Skier Jure Franko has won the first Olympic Winter medal for Yugoslavia; a silver in the giant slalom. For independent women Marja-Liisa Hämäläinen has won all three cross-country events. Gaétan Boucher and Karin Enke won two gold medals apiece in speed skating while East German women won all but three of the event's 12 medals. Austria, which has traditionally been a strong winter sports national, just earned a bronze medal. Biathletes Eirik Kvalfoss and Peter Angerer have won a perfect medal collection. The twin brothers Phil and Steve Mahre finished first and second respectively in slalom. Torvill and the Dean of Great Britain have won perfect ratings around the board for artistic performance in the ice dancing festival's free dance category, an accomplishment that has never been replicated before. The gold medals for figure skating were divided between four nations: while the Great Britain ice dancing contest was won by Torvill and Dean, the Soviet Union's Elena Valova and Oleg Vasiliev won the pair skating title, the men's Scott Hamilton won gold for the United States and Katarina Witt captured the first of two straight gold medals for East Germany in the women's single title. For the first season adaptive skiing became a spotlight event. Bill Johnson has been the first American to win a downhill race in Olympic history. Senegal's Lamine Guèye becomes the first Black African skier to participate at Winter Olympics. In the figure skating centre, the closing ceremonies took place indoor. The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver marks the first time the Winter Games closing ceremony marks held indoors. For the 1984 Winter Olympics, Yugoslav newspaper readers were asked to select the mascot from a six preference set. Vučko, the tiny wolf created by Slovenian artist and illustrator Jože Trobec, was the winner. A chipmunk, a fox, a mountain goat, a porcupine and a rabbit were among the other contestants. The Vučko is a longstanding symbol of Sarajevo.