Where the 1984 Summer Olympics took place

first time the Los Angeles Olympics were held in 1932. After that, the American National Olympic Committee nominated a U.S. city for every subsequent IOC vote. However, for half a century, attempts to bring the summer games back to the country were not successful. Los Angeles was once again placed on the voting list when selecting a city to host the 1976 Olympics, but favored Canadian Montreal in the IOC. On the next ballot, Los Angeles lost the election to Moscow, and 1978 in Athens, Americans finally got lucky. At the 80th IOC session, Tehran withdrew its bid, and before the decisive vote, the city in the United States remained the only candidate to host the XXIII Summer Olympics.

Los Angeles is the second most populous U.S. city, located in California near the border with Mexico. In the world, this city is most often associated with the entertainment industry, since it housed the famous “dream factory” – Hollywood. Los Angeles built on the shore of the Pacific Gulf of Santa Monica in 1781 and originally belonged to Mexico, but in 1848 passed to the United States after the end of the American-Mexican War. The city’s rapid growth began in the late 19th century when oil reserves were discovered in the area. By the time the Olympics were held, it was already a metropolis with more than three million people.

Los Angeles was very rational about spending on XXIII Olympics. Only two new sports facilities were built – a velodrome and a swimming pool. The opening and closing ceremonies of the games were held at the same stadium that hosted the Olympians in 1932. Between 28 July and 12 August 1984, athletes from 140 countries contested 221 sets of awards in 23 sports. In the absence of representatives of the Soviet Union and 13 other socialist countries, the US Olympians dominance at these Games was absolute. They got 174 medals – about the same amount won together four countries from the subsequent lines of the medal standings.