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The City of Angels hosted the Olympic Games for the second time in history. A total of 6829 athletes from 140 different countries competed in the XXIII Olympiad.

Los Angeles 1984 | Olympic Games

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The American sprinter Carl Lewis claims the Gold medal.

Athletics

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Highlights

Los Angeles 1984 - Lewis wins the 100m final

Morocco’s Nawal El Moutawakel’s performance in the women’s 400m hurdles at Los Angeles 1984 was a watershed moment in many ways.

Nawal EL MOUTAWAKEL

Moment in Time: A big step for womankind

A relatively recent discipline, synchronized swimming became an Olympic sport for the first time in Los Angeles in 1984, with solo and duet events.Team USA athlete Tracie Ruiz-Conforto was the biggest name in the sports debut, having won the Olympic gold medal in both the solo and duet competition. In the duet competition Canada and Japan completed the podium in second and third, respectively. Meanwhile in the solo competition, it was Carolyn Waldo from Canada and Miwako Motoyoshi who won the silver and bronze medals.

Artistic Swimming

Synchronized Swimming's first Olympics

Ecaterina Szabo started the Games with a morale-sapping blow to her confidence but bounced back in incredible fashion. Four golds and a silver marked her out as one of the all-time Olympic greats.

Ecaterina SZABO

Szabo bounces back from Retton defeat

There have been few, if any, periods of domination in a particular sport quite like that of Ed Moses.Moses was the most elegant of 400m hurdlers, who required just 13 graceful steps between the obstacles as opposed to the 14 of most of his contemporaries and for a period he was literally unbeatable.

Moses legend grows with Los Angeles gold

The Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games marked the debut of a new discipline within the Gymnastics competition. For the first time a Rhythmic Gymnastics competition would be part of the Olympic Games.Canadian athlete Lori Fung won the first rhythmic gymnastics Olympic gold medal, with Doina Saticulescu from Romania taking silver and Regina Weber from West Germany, bronze.

Rhythmic Gymnastics

Rhythmic Gymnastics joins the Olympic programme

Michael Gross, also know as 'the albatross' wins gold in the men's 200m freestyle swimming at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games.

Michael GROSS

Giant Gross sparkles in Olympic pool

Few athletes in the history of the Olympic Games bounced back from such a troubled childhood to reach the heights of athletic achievement quite like the American diver Greg Louganis.

Gregory LOUGANIS

Greg Louganis enters diving record books

Ning Li was born in 1963 in the city of Liuzhou in southern China. He won his first national gymnastics competitions at the age of 10. In 1982, he won his first World Cup events. Two years later, at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles, his moment had arrived: Ning Li won six medals, three of them gold. On 8 August 2008, the organisers of the Beijing Olympic Games gave him the great honour of selecting him as the last Olympic torchbearer -- the person with the enormous responsibility of lighting the Olympic cauldron. Everyone will always remember the image of Ning Li "flying" around the perimeter of the Bird's Nest stadium.

Artistic Gymnastics

The "Little Prince of Gymnastics" is Born - Ning Li

Sir Steve Redgrave is a synonym of Olympic rowing, having won five Olympic gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games, in addition to a bronze medal at Seoul 1988.The Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games were Steve Redgrave's debut in the Olympics, at age 22. He was the stroke of Great Britain's Coxed four team with Martin Cross, Andy Holmes, Richard Budgett and coxswain Adrian Ellison. Andy Holmes would later be Redgrave's partner at Seoul 1988, in the Coxed and Coxless Pairs.After Los Angeles 1984, Redgrave would win gold at Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 reaching his fifth and final Olympic gold medal at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

Steven REDGRAVE

Steve Redgrave's first rowing Olympic gold - Los Angeles 1984

Re-live the incredible highlights from the opening ceremony of the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games.

Opening Ceremony | Los Angeles 1984 Highlights

After participating at the 1972 Olympic Games and winning the Olympic silver medal in the 10,000m race in Munich 1976, Carlos Lopes returned to the Olympic Games in 1984 at the age of 37. This time he ran in the marathon, even though he had only entered three marathons previously and had only completed one. 
 
Only 15 days before the Olympic marathon, Lopes was on a training run when a car hit him. He rolled over the hood and his elbow crashed through the windshield. Fortunately, his injuries were minor. In Los Angeles, Lopes turned on the pressure after 34.5km, running the next five kilometres in only 14 minutes 33 seconds. He went on to win the Olympic race by 35 seconds. The following year, Lopes became the first runner to complete a marathon in less than 2 hours and 8 minutes.

Carlos LOPES

Crashing through to victory - Carlos Lopes - Marathon

Italian fencer Mauro Numa had his Olympic debut in Los Angeles 1984. And an impressive debut it was. After winning a close semi-final dispute against fellow Italian Stefano Cerioni by 11 to 9, the final contest would prove to be even tougher.
 
Numa’s gold medal match was against Matthias Behr from West Germany, Olympic gold medalist during the Montreal 1976. Mauro Numa was behind by four points with less than one minute left, but was still able to catch up, taking the match to the tie-break won by Numa (12-11).
 
A few days later, Mauro Numa came back to win another Olympic gold medal in the team foil event for Italy.

Mauro NUMA

Mauro Numa fights his way to gold - Fencing - Los Angeles 1984

Merlene Ottey was the 1st Caribbean woman to win an Olympic medal. She's the only track and field athlete to participate in 7 different Olympics, where she represented Jamaica in the first 6 and Slovenia in Athens 2004. She went on to capture a total of 9 medals (3 bronze in the 200m, 2 in the 100m, 1 in the 4x100m relay, and silver in the 100m, the 200m and the 4x100m relay). Merlene Ottey (JAM, SLO) - Athletics - Moscow 1980, Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004

Merlene OTTEY-PAGE

Merlene Ottey's Amazing Olympic Achievements

Injuries to leading long jumpers Mike Powell and Iván Pedroso allow an in form Carl Lewis to thrill his home country with a gold medal winning jump in Atlanta. His leap of 8.50m is 21 cm better than Jamaica’s James Beckford and he becomes the third Olympian to win the same individual event on four occasions.

Carl LEWIS

Athletics Men Long Jump Final Atlanta 1996 – Lewis

At the Olympic Games in Los Angeles 1984, American young Mary Lou Retton, executed breathtaking performances to claim the all-around gold by just 0.05 points, becoming the first American woman to win this event. Retton went on to win four more medals at these Games, 2 silver (vault and all-around team) and 2 bronze medals (uneven bars and floor). Artistic Gymnastics All Around Women's Final - Los Angeles 1984 Summer Olympics - Mary Lou Retton (USA), Ecaterina Szabo (ROU), Simona Pauca (ROU)

Mary-Lou RETTON

American Mary Lou Retton Claims All Around Title

The 400m hurdles for women made its Olympic debut at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. In the final, El Moutawakel led from start to finish and improved her personal best by 0.76 seconds. El Moutawakel’s achievement made her the first woman from an Islamic nation to win an Olympic medal and the first Moroccan athlete of either sex to win a gold medal. In 1998, El Moutawakel was chosen to be a member of the IOC.

Los Angeles 1984 Athletics women 400m hurdles

Joan Benoit becomes an Olympic champion at the 1984 Games, when the women's marathon is first introduced as an Olympic sport. After recovering from a knee surgery, Benoit manages to cross the finish line first in 2:24.52, almost four minutes ahead of Grete Waitz. Rosa Mota of Portugal claims the bronze medal in 2:26.57. Athletics Marathon Women's Final - Los Angeles 1984 Summer Olympics - Joan Benoit (USA), Grete Waitz (NOR), Rosa Mota (POR)

Joan BENOIT

Joan Benoit wins the first Women's Marathon Gold

Li won six medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, then recaptured the public’s imagination by making a spectacular entry into the stadium to light the cauldron at the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Games. Watch his spectacular performence in Los Angeles!

Ning LI

Los Angeles 1984 Artistic Gymnastics men parallel bars

Michael Gross, known as the “Albatros”, was one of the great athletes of the Los Angeles Games. In the 200 m freestlye final, Gross swam world record time and won one of his four medals: two gold and two silver.

Los Angeles 1984 swimming men 200m freestyle

Edwin Moses was a truly remarkable hurdler who completely dominated his event for a decade. After having won gold in Montreal, he returned for the 1984 Los Angeles Games and won a second gold medal.

Los Angeles 1984 Athletics men 400m hurdles

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Los Angeles 1984 Official Film | 16 Days of Glory

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Los Angeles 1984 | Olympic Games - USA

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Los Angeles 1984 Official Film | 16 Days of Glory

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