Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (1984 Olympics)
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| (1984)* – Part of the opening ceremonies for the 1984 Summer Olympics at the LA Memorial Coliseum. Photo courtesy of LA Coliseum.com. |
Historical Notes When Los Angles hosted the 1984 Summer Olympics, the Coliseum became the first stadium to host Summer Olympic Games twice—once again serving as the primary track and field venue and site of the opening and closing ceremonies. It is estimated that over 5.7 million people attended the 1984 games, with more than 80,000 filling the Coliseum for both the opening and closing ceremonies. |
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| (1984)^ - Alonzo Babers of the U.S., foreground, participates in the 400 meter track and field event at the 1984 Summer Olympics. He finished first in the first heat of that event. Babers would go on to win two gold medals at the 1984 Summer Olympics, in the 400 m and the 4 × 400 m relay. Photo by Ken Hackman via Wikipedia |
Historical Notes The US Olympic team won 16 Gold Medals in Track and Field in 1984—the exact same number as in the 1932 Olympics held in the same venue! |
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| (1984)* – After the Opening Ceremonies, spectators leave the Coliseum beneath the Olympic flame and Robert Graham's bronze statues. |
Historical Notes By the 1980s, organizing committee leaders had a different goal in mind: profit. For the first time, presentation of the games wasn’t funded by local taxpayers. Instead, the powerful committee, led by businessman Peter Ueberroth, operated as a nonprofit with full financial liability if the games went over budget. That meant keeping costs down during the games and using plenty of existing venues for competition. The games took place across a wide swath of Southern California, with athletes competing in dozens of neighborhoods and on most of the area’s major college campuses. For better or for worse, the strategy worked, and the 1984 Olympics were some of the most economically successful in history.* |
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| (1984)* - In an opinion regarding the Olympics sculpture, the photo caption reads: The fact that Robert Graham's bronze nudes are anatomically explicit is not the sculpture's downfall. It is the Arch of Triumph's overdone, baroque quality--with its bronze, decorated columns and gold leaf--that has created a betrayal of the artist's unique and elegant style. Photo date: June 4, 1984. |
Historical Notes On September 13th, 2017, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum made history when it was announced that the City of Los Angeles would host the Summer Olympics in 2028, with the Coliseum hosting the opening and closing ceremonies, and the majority of both men’s and women’s athletics—making it the only stadium in the world to ever host three Summer Olympic games. |
Click HERE to see The Construction of the LA Memorial Coliseum (1922) |
Click HERE to see more on the LA Memorial Coliseum (1932 Olympics) |
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