Media "Sport-Express Internet" Founder of JSC "Sport-Express" Editor-in-Chief Maksimov M.A. Fourteenth Olympic Winter Games Sarajevo 1984 Olympic Games

Another example of the uselessness and abandonment of Olympic facilities is Sarajevo, where the 1984 Winter Olympics were held. But unlike Athens, there is a completely different story and reasons. Less than ten years after the end of the games, war broke out in Yugoslavia, and this territory was ceded to Bosnia. During the fighting, many Olympic venues were completely destroyed or abandoned and fell into deep decay. What is with them now, you can see in this post.

The symbol of the Olympics was chosen in an open competition, in which the Slovenian illustrator Josef Trobets won, and the wolf cub Vuchko became the symbol.

Another symbol of the Olympics is the angular snowflake that still adorns Sarajevo's urban landscape. The wolf cub and the snowflake are still in high demand among tourists, in souvenir shops and antique shops you can even now buy paraphernalia with these symbols. For example, I bought a magnet with Vuchko. In Athens, I have not seen this, although the Olympics were held there not so long ago in relation to Sarajevo.

The objects of the Olympic Games are scattered in different parts of the city and beyond, so to see everything, you need to travel very well and spend a lot of time. Given that we were in our car, it took almost the whole day. For those tourists who are going to Sarajevo without a car, please note that no public transport runs to these sites. There is an option to buy the services of a guide, which will cost a pretty penny, a taxi or ride a ride. The most easily accessible object - the stadium, where the opening and closing ceremonies of the games took place, is located in the very center of Sarajevo. Nearby is a pole with the symbols of the Olympic Games, which is now used to advertise McDonald's, whose logo is placed on the side.

The park and the area near the stadium were turned into a cemetery during the war.

Another wartime photo, against the backdrop of the Kosevo stadium, where all the ceremonies took place.

Now this area looks like this.

The stadium was restored in 1998 after all. But, unfortunately, not all Olympic venues have found a new life.

The next point of interest is the bobsleigh and toboggan run at Mount Trebevic. At the entrance to them, you can see elements of the gutter, which, apparently, served as a demonstration.

Interestingly, in Yugoslavia there has never been a bobsleigh sport, so the track was built from scratch, and team members were recruited from representatives of other sports.

The track, built in just a year, has become the pride of Yugoslavia. Encircling Mount Trebevich, repeated its natural landscape.

A record-breaking $10 million was spent on the construction, which was carried out according to all international standards. In the future, it was planned to create a sports school on its basis and continue to train Yugoslav athletes for the next competitions. By the way, World Cup competitions and national championships were still held on this bobsleigh track.

But 1991 came. And during the war, the military used a steep modern track with comfortable sides to organize artillery firing points.

Now it has become a favorite place for adventurers, as well as creativity and street art connoisseurs. I am not a fan of such art, but in some places it is very beautiful.

Acceleration place

To be honest, before I got acquainted with this track, I was never fond of bobsledding and did not even think that the gutter was designed in such a way as to be able to change the configuration of the track.

This is what the systems that provide this opportunity look like

We were able to walk the entire route.

It is advised not to leave the concrete gutter, mines can still be found in the forest.

During our walks, we met one person with a metal detector, who, apparently, was looking for them. Treasure in these places can only be found like this.

By the way, from the very top of Mount Trebevič, a stunning view of the entire city opens up.

The most distant object is ski jumps in the town of Malo Pole on Mount Igman.

On the way to the ski jumps, you can see the Igman Hotel, built for the Olympic Games. The building is huge and with unusual architecture. During the war, it was used by Muslim Bosniaks as a prison for Serbian soldiers. As a result, in 1993, the building, used for less than 8 years, was burned down. After the end of the war, the government tried many times to sell the hotel. In 2004, the price was 2.5 million euros. Buyers were never found, which is not surprising.

A little more from the hotel and you are already near the ski jumps.

The most interesting thing can be seen if you climb to the very top.

Down the crumbling and overgrown steps

Symbol of the Olympics

From the top there is an amazing view

I don't know about you, but I always get creepy when viewed from above the springboard. Of what metal should the eggs of the athletes who jump from here be made?

Igor decided to experience this feeling

And get ready to jump :)

The building where the judge and the media were located

Now only the landing area is used, there are sports attractions for children, but the place is not very popular

There are no viewers for a long time and already, most likely, there never will be.

Cafe is open

Game logos everywhere

The pedestal where the winners were awarded.

And, finally, the Olympic Village, which has been preserved on the outskirts of Sarajevo.

Refugees and those left homeless after the war received apartments here.

Was played out 39 sets of awards six sports.

The history of the development of winter sports in Yugoslavia goes back to the times of the Ottoman Empire. Indeed, in this region, where the town of Sarajevo is located, surrounded by mountains, more than 100 days a year the region is covered with deep snow. And winter sports in this country received a new life thanks to their enthusiasts, who in the period 1937 - 1968 created an excellent base: cross-country skiing tracks, speed skating tracks, ski jumps and much more. Of course, the National Olympic Committee of Yugoslavia and the country's sports federations subsequently took an active part in the development of the region's sports infrastructure.

1. Official poster of the 1984 Olympics.
2. The talisman of the 1984 Olympic Games wolf cub Vuchko.

To ensure the successful implementation of the program of the XIV Winter Olympic Games in 1984 in Sarajevo (Yugoslavia), which were held from February 8 to February 16, all the necessary sports facilities were prepared:
- Skating- Ice arena "Zetra";
- Figure skating
- Hockey- Ice arena "Zetra" and Ice arena "Skenderija";
Champions and medalists of the 1984 Olympics

Men's single skating
Gold - Scott Hamilton (Scott Scovell Hamilton, b. 1958), USA.
Silver- Brian Orser (Brian Ernest Orser, b. 1961), Canada.
Bronze- Jozef Sabovchik (Jozef Sabovčík, born 1963), Czechoslovakia.

Women's Singles
Gold- Katarina Witt (born 1965), East Germany.
Silver- Rosalynn Summers (Rosalynn Diane Sumners, b. 1964), USA.
Bronze- Kira Ivanova (1963 - 2001), USSR.

sports couples
Gold- Elena Valova (b. 1963) - Oleg Vasiliev (b. 1959), USSR.
Silver- Kitty Carruthers (Caitlin A. "Kitty" Carruthers, b. 1961) - Peter W. Carruthers (b. 1959), USA.
Bronze- Larisa Selezneva (b. 1963) - Oleg Makarov (b. 1962), USSR.

dancing couples
Gold- Jane Torvill (Jayne Torvill, b. 1957) - Christopher Dean (Christopher Colin Dean, b. 1958), UK.
Silver- Natalya Bestemyanova (b. 1960) - Andrey Bukin (b. 1957), USSR.
Bronze- Marina Klimova (b. 1966) - Sergei Ponomarenko (b. 1960), USSR.
- Cross-country skiing and Biathlon- ski stadium in the area "Igman - Veliko polje";
- Alpine skiing (men)- ski slopes in the "Bjelasnica" area;
- Alpine skiing (women)- ski slopes in the area "Jahorina";
- Ski jumping- reconstructed ski jumps in the area "Igman - Malo polje";
- Bobsleigh and Luge- on the bobsleigh track in the Trebevic area;
- Nordic combined- a ski stadium and a ski jump in the "Igman - Veliko polje" area.

In the suburbs of Sarajevo in 1982, the Olympic Village was built, which consisted of two complexes - the main "Mojmilo" and support Dobrinja for 2750 apartments.

The main facilities for the preparation and holding of the XIV Winter Olympic Games in 1984 were the Olympic Complex "Zetra" and the cultural and sports center "Skenderija".

One of the remarkable moments at the opening ceremony of the 1984 Winter Olympics was that this event took place in the year of the 60th anniversary of the 1st Winter Olympic Games, which took place in 1924 in Chamonix (France).

In figure skating, all four gold medals went to representatives of different countries: Katharine Witt (GDR), Scott Hamilton (USA) - in single skating, Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean (United Kingdom) - in ice dancing, Elena Gross and Oleg Vasiliev (the USSR) - in pair skating. Athletes of the USSR traditionally won in pair skating, but the unique talent of an outstanding English dance couple moved the representatives of the USSR to second and third places.

Jane Torvill and Christopher Colin Dean- the famous British couple, Olympic champions in 1984, four-time world champions (1981 - 1984).
Jane Torvill began skating, playing hockey after school, at the age of eight. Then I started figure skating. At the age of 14, she won the British Junior Pairs Championship with Michael Hutchinson. After the breakup of this couple, Jane competed in single skating for three years, and then, in 1975, she paired up with Christopher Dean and the new couple took up ice dancing.
Jane worked as a clerk for an insurance company and Christopher was a police officer. It wasn't until they finished fifth at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid that they were able to leave their jobs and devote themselves to figure skating full-time. They developed an unusually creative original style, significantly changing the prevailing stereotypes in sports dances:

The opening ceremony of the 1984 Olympics.

In the 1982/83 season, the couple and the coach staged a program in an eccentric style for the musical "Barnum", for the first time in history, introducing new circus movements into the program, depicting balancing on a tightrope, juggling, as well as new sequences of steps, lifts, flips, spins, etc. , combining amazing style with almost absolute technical purity and captivating emotionality, for the first time in the history of the European and World Championships, the judges gave all marks of 6.0 for artistry.
- in the 1983/84 season, in a completely different program in style to the music of M. Ravel "Bolero", the couple was distinguished by exceptional smoothness, purity and beauty of lines, the judges gave not only all marks of 6.0 for artistry, but also 3 marks of 6.0 for technique. However, this program caused disputes between experts and judges, primarily because the first 40 seconds of the program the pair performed movements in one place (and the partner did not get up from the ice), but the ISU rules at that time did not regulate this, so the scores were not reduced (then ISU has introduced appropriate limits up to 10 seconds). In general, at the Olympics - 84 Torvill - Dean received 19 ratings of 6.0 out of 63 possible.

1. The podium of honor of the 1984 Olympics in ice dancing.
2-3. 1984 Olympic champions in ice dancing Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean.

Skating competitions were distinguished by sharp rivalry. Medals of various denominations went to representatives of six countries. However, the athletes of the GDR clearly dominated ( 11 medals) with the main contribution of the women's team ( victory in all four distances - the full East German podium in the 3000 m).

USSR skaters won 2 gold medals ( S. Fokichev at a distance of 500 m and I. Malkov at a distance of 10000 m). The absence of representatives of the Netherlands among the winners was unusual. The winners in skating were athletes from four countries - the GDR ( 4 gold medals), USSR (2), Canada (2), Sweden (1).
After these two seasons, the couple gained worldwide fame. Torvill and Dean then turned professional, winning three consecutive world championships among professionals, participated in various shows. In 1989, Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean were inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame.
In 1993, the ISU issued a waiver to the rules to allow some skaters to return to the amateur sport, allowing Torvill and Dean to compete in the 1994 Olympics, where they won bronze medals. After the Olympics, Torvill and Dean returned to the pros again, winning two more world championships.
The pair Torvill - Dean is deservedly considered the best dance duet in history. Perfect gliding and absolute synchronicity, impeccable purity of the compulsory dance lines and, of course, fantasy in the free dance - this is the memory left behind by the English dance duet Torvill - Dean.

Gold in pair skating was confidently won by a brilliant pair from the USSR - Elena Valova and Oleg Vasiliev. They are Olympic champions in 1984, silver medalists of the 1988 Olympics, three-time world champions (1983, 1985, 1988), three-time European champions (1984 - 1986), multiple champions of the USSR, Honored Masters of Sports (1983).

Valova and Vasiliev became the first sports couple to perform a triple parallel jump.
Oleg Vasiliev - coach of the 2006 Olympic champions in pair skating Tatyana Totmianina and Maxima Marinina. Now the most successful duo training with Vasiliev are Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov.

1. Silver medalists of the 1984 Olympics in ice dancing Natalya Bestemyanova and Andrey Bukin.
2. Silver medalists of the 1984 Olympics with their coach Tatyana Tarasova.
3. Bronze medalists of the 1984 Olympics Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko.

In the men's singles skating, the winner was an American Scott Hamilton- Olympic champion in 1984, four-time world champion (1981 - 1984).

Despite the fact that in his arsenal there were only three triple jumps ( lutz, salchow and sheepskin coat), unlike a number of skaters who owned six triples ( including triple axel), he managed to become an Olympic champion. There has always been fierce competition among men's singles and champions in this event change often. But it was Scott Hamilton who was able to stay at the top for four years. Together with him fought on equal terms for the highest awards B. Orser from Canada, N. Schramm from Germany, I. Sabovchik from Czechoslovakia and our skaters Alexander Fadeev and Vladimir Kotin.
Scott Hamilton was not your typical champion. He was seriously ill in childhood - Shwachman's syndrome ( Schwachman-Diamond Syndrome), but overcame the disease, although he remained forever very tiny. After the 1984 Games, he turned pro and performed on the Stars on Ice ice show, as well as commentating on figure skating competitions on television. Despite the fact that in 1997 he was diagnosed with cancer, and in 2004 with a brain tumor, he also defeated these terrible diseases. A real fighter is a fighter in everything. It is impossible not to admire this brilliant skater and courageous person!

1. The podium of the 1984 Olympics in pair skating.
2. 1984 Olympic champions in pair skating Elena Valova and Oleg Vasiliev.
3. Bronze medalists of the 1984 Olympics in pair skating Larisa Selezneva and Oleg Makarov.

In biathlon, a clear advantage was shown by the representatives of Norway and Germany, who received three medals, one of each value. Norwegian E. Qualfoss won the 10 km race, P. Angerer from Germany - in the 20 km race, and the USSR team was the first in the relay.

In the luge competition, the largest number of medals - 4 (1, 1, 2) were also won by representatives of the GDR. The USSR national team - 3 medals ( 2 silver and 1 bronze), one medal each ( gold) in athletes from Italy and Germany.

In the decisive match of the hockey tournament, the USSR national team in a bitter struggle won a victory (2: 0) over the athletes of Czechoslovakia.

A star shone at the 1984 Olympics Katharina Witt- an outstanding figure skater from the GDR, two-time Olympic champion (1984, 1988), four-time world champion (1984, 1985, 1987, 1988), six-time European champion (1983 - 1988), eight-time champion of the GDR.

Witt trained with a famous trainer from the GDR Jutta Müller in the famous sports club SK Karl-Marx-Stadt. Often she performed unsuccessfully in the compulsory figures, but she was distinguished by exceptionally harmonious short and free programs. One of the first in the history of the world championships she performed a triple flip jump (1981). In 1984-88, she owned only two triple jumps, sheepskin coat and salchow, with the exception of the 1987 World Championships, where she also submitted to the triple loop. In total, Katarina Witt has won 20 international and national awards, which is a record in women's singles.
After leaving amateur sports, she acted in films and hosted sports television shows. In 1990, she was awarded an Emmy for her participation in the film Carmen on Ice. In 1995, Witt received the John Thorpe Achievement Award in professional sports. In 1999, she was chosen in the United States as the "Favorite Athlete", and in Germany as the "Skater of the Century". K. Witt pays a lot of attention to the charitable foundation founded by her in 2006, which provides assistance to disabled children.

Talking about the 1984 Games, one cannot fail to mention the wonderful Soviet athlete - Kira Ivanova. She is the first Soviet figure skater to win a medal at the Olympic Games in women's singles. In addition, Ivanova is the silver medalist of the World Championships, four-time silver medalist of the European Championships, the champion of the USSR in 1978. After the end of her sports career, she acted in films, worked at the Ice Miniatures Theatre. Igor Bobrin and coach at the sports club "Dynamo".
Unfortunately, the fate of Kira Ivanova is tragic - in 2001 she was found murdered, with multiple stab wounds, in her apartment.

Bronze medalist of the 1984 Olympics in women's singles Kira Ivanova. We remember you!

In general, the 1984 Olympics were successful for Soviet figure skaters. Silver medalists among dance couples were Natalya Bestemyanova - Andrey Bukin, bronze - Marina Klimova - Sergey Ponomarenko. Bronze medals in sports couples competition Larisa Selezneva - Oleg Makarov.

1. 1984 Olympic champion in men's singles Scott Hamilton.
2. 1984 Olympic champion in women's singles Katarina Witt.

Sarajevo (Yugoslavia)

The 1984 Games were the first since the Spanish Marquis Juan Antonio Samaranch came to power in the IOC. Therefore, the competition was largely experimental. The Winter Olympics for the first and last time was won by a socialist country. True, the vote in which Sarajevo bypassed Gothenburg and Sapporo took place two years before the election of Samaranch. The arrival of the White Games in the Balkans was used as an excuse to expand the geography of snow and ice sports. The IOC has promised to sponsor a trip to Sarajevo for one athlete and one athlete from any country. As a result, such hot powers as Mexico, Egypt and Senegal made their debut at the winter sports forum. The appearance on the slopes of an African skier was one of the shocks of the Olympics.

Venue: Sarajevo, Yugoslavia
February 7 - 19, 1984
Number of participating countries - 49
Number of athletes participating - 1272 (274 women, 998 men)
Medal sets - 39
Team Winner - GDR

The three main characters of the Games according to "SE"

Katarina Witt (GDR),
figure skating
Marya-Liisa Hämäläinen (Finland),
ski race
Zintis Ekmanis (USSR),
bobsled

BEFORE THE STORM

Seeing off Tretyak

The main event of the 1984 Games for Soviet sports was the victory of the USSR team in the hockey tournament and the third Olympic gold in the career of the famous goalkeeper Vladislav Tretyak, who ended his international career after Saraev. In the full-time duel, our hockey players failed to take revenge on the Americans for the “Miracle 1980” - the US team fell into another subgroup and did not reach the final stage. Viktor Tikhonov's team won all eight matches with a total score of 58:6. None of the opponents was able to hit the gates of the Soviet team more than once per match. Canadians have long sought the right to use players drafted in the NHL. But in the end, the founders of hockey were still left without Olympic medals.

Soviet skier Nikolai Zimyatov in an unequal battle with the Swede Gunde Swan managed to snatch the fourth Olympic gold in his career. The real hero of the Sarajevo ski track was the Finnish skier Marya-Liisa Hämäläinen, who overtook the Soviet favorite of the competition Raisa Smetanina and won all three individual distances. Subsequently, the iron Finn, the daughter of the 1960 Olympic champion in the ski marathon Kalevi Hämäläinen, will become the first woman in history to take part in six Olympics. At the same time, Marja-Liisa managed to avoid doping revelations that affected many of her rivals and teammates, as well as her husband, skier Harri Kirvisniemi.

For the first time in the history of the USSR, it lost its championship in dance duet competitions in figure skating - Natalya Bestemyanova and Andrey Bukin lost first place to the impeccable Britons Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean, who received 12 maximum ratings of 6.0 out of 18 possible for the performance of their "Bolero". Serious competition for the champion dancers in terms of the number of fans was 19-year-old Katarina Witt, who quickly turned into a sex symbol of all winter sports. The Western media will soon call Witt "the most beautiful face of socialism", and the Stasi (secret police of the GDR), having received the task of preventing the star's escape to the West, will collect an eight-volume dossier of 1354 pages on the figure skater. However, shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Katarina will still sign a contract with an ice show in the United States.

STEEP SLOPES

The battle of slender men - Finn Matti Nykanen and East German Jens Weisflog - marked a new trend in ski jumping. From this point on, the weight of all elite jumpers will begin to drop rapidly, which in the future will force the International Ski Federation to fight the "flying skeletons". A new word in the Olympic movement was the performance on the ski slopes of Sarajevo by the Senegalese Lamin Geye, the first representative of Black Africa at the Winter Games. The African living in Paris did not achieve much success in sports, but then he took part in two more Olympics, and in the 2000s he became famous for loud speeches for expanding quotas for "small countries" during the selection for the Games.

On the mountain slopes of the 1984 Games, in general, many colorful characters gathered. Thus, Jure Franko, a student from Ljubljana, won silver for the hosts of the Olympics, Yugoslavia, the country's first award in the history of the Winter Games. In subsequent years, skiers from the former Yugoslav republics of Slovenia and Croatia will add another 15 Olympic medals to it. In the slalom at the 1984 Olympics, the two first places were taken by American twin brothers Phil and Steve Mare. And both performed against the backdrop of numerous injuries. Perhaps, an athlete from our team, Alexander Zhirov, who won third place in the overall World Cup standings in 1981, could compete with them. But a year before Sarajevo, the most talented Soviet skier died in a car accident at the age of 24.