1984 Summer Olympics

The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international <a href="/facts/Multi-sport_event/23bjcQpo">multi-sport event</a> held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in <a href="/facts/Los_Angeles/pyXpYEX9">Los Angeles</a>, California, United States. It marked the second time that Los Angeles had hosted the Games, the first being in <a href="/facts/1932_Summer_Olympics/or5JxTqh">1932</a>. This was the first of two consecutive Olympic Games to be held in North America, with <a href="/facts/Calgary/DrFtRbEH">Calgary</a>, Alberta, Canada, hosting the <a href="/facts/1988_Winter_Olympics/2SrKEFtX">1988 Winter Olympics</a>. California was the home state of the incumbent <a href="/facts/President_of_the_United_States/oMsfmLb1">U.S. president</a> <a href="/facts/Ronald_Reagan/z6AaKAad">Ronald Reagan</a>, who officially opened the Games. These were the first Summer Olympic Games under the <a href="/facts/President_of_the_International_Olympic_Committee/SeXTJjj4">IOC presidency</a> of <a href="/facts/Juan_Antonio_Samaranch/9K6wPWNA">Juan Antonio Samaranch</a>.
The <a href="/facts/1984_Summer_Olympics_boycott/zzXlfsq8">1984 Games were boycotted</a> by fourteen <a href="/facts/Eastern_Bloc/12f32hA7">Eastern Bloc</a> countries, including the Soviet Union and East Germany, in response to the <a href="/facts/1980_Summer_Olympics_boycott/4HnTP4VI">American-led boycott</a> of the <a href="/facts/1980_Summer_Olympics/PPkdLUkI">1980 Summer Olympics</a> in <a href="/facts/Moscow/AcFYpQUR">Moscow</a>, Soviet Union, in protest of the <a href="/facts/Soviet_invasion_of_Afghanistan/nBl7TvtD">Soviet invasion of Afghanistan</a>; <a href="/facts/Socialist_Republic_of_Romania/sIqLNfBy">Romania</a> was the only Soviet-aligned state that opted to attend the Games. Albania, Iran and <a href="/facts/Great_Socialist_People%2527s_Libyan_Arab_Jamahiriya/vKj7t2Rt">Libya</a> also chose to boycott the Games, but for unrelated reasons.
Despite the field being depleted in certain sports due to the boycott, 140 <a href="/facts/National_Olympic_Committee/64rLlVJF">National Olympic Committees</a> took part in the 1984 Games, a record number at the time. The <a href="/facts/United_States_at_the_1984_Summer_Olympics/87KBh4Hv">United States</a> won the most gold and overall medals, followed by <a href="/facts/Romania_at_the_1984_Summer_Olympics/Jmnf177g">Romania</a> and <a href="/facts/West_Germany_at_the_1984_Summer_Olympics/bGV2UKMb">West Germany</a>.
The 1984 Summer Olympics are widely considered to be the most financially successful modern Olympics, serving as an example on how to run an Olympic Games. As a result of low construction costs, due to the use of existing sport infrastructure, coupled with a reliance on private corporate funding, the 1984 Games generated a profit of over <a href="/facts/United_States_dollar/naEEDUhC">US$</a>250 million.
On July 18, 2009, a 25th anniversary celebration of the 1984 Games was held at the <a href="/facts/Los_Angeles_Memorial_Coliseum/c1TzwaQs">Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum</a>. The celebration included a speech by former Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee president <a href="/facts/Peter_Ueberroth/hyQleqkn">Peter Ueberroth</a>, a short re-enactment of the Flying Rocketman sequence, the presentation of more than 35 (mostly So-Cal-based) gold medal winners from 1984 (which was part of Ceremonies producer David Wolper's original 1984 plans) as well as a re-lighting of the Olympic cauldron.
Los Angeles will host the Summer Olympics for the third time in <a href="/facts/2028_Summer_Olympics/E8bEgxpM">2028</a>, becoming the third city in the world—following <a href="/facts/London/KozCCsy9">London</a> and <a href="/facts/Paris/DrNHpwnA">Paris</a>—to do so.

1984 Summer Olympics open-in-new

1984 Summer Olympics