Flashback to the 1984 Winter Olympics

[Kurt's Girl]

I just recently bought the "Stars on Ice" book, and there's a whole section about the show that the group of skaters who were in Sarejevo (Kristi and Scott among them) dedicated to the country. They shared a bunch of memories of how wonderful it was, how great the people were...and it was very sad to hear them talk about what has become of the place since.

 

[thisthingcalledlove]

The Zetra

The people of Sarajevo have decided to rebuild the Zetra Arena.

Zetra today

Sarajevo bid for the 2010 games but were cut. There have been rumors of another bid for 2014, however.

 

[Kurt's Girl]

Wow. It would be pretty special to see that arena rebuilt, and the Games return there. Here's hoping for the best!

 

[Eeyora]

I have the TV Guide Olympic Preview issue from 1984 my mom kept it because it was the year I was born and it lists Rosalyn Sumner and Elaine Zayak as the favorites I don't even think it mentions Katarina. It also states that neither Sumners or Zayak were fond of one another ouch.

 

[JonnyCoop]

TV Guide actually ran an entire article back in 84 about the Sumners-Zayak rivalry; actually, I still have it -- let me go find it....

It's dated January 14, 1984; it ran the week of the 84 Nationals. Basically, the overall article is about their different styles and the sacrifices, preperations, etc, they made to try for the Olys. The only "rivalry incident" of note is that they were supposed to share a dressing room at an ice show, only Zayak decided to share with someone else instead. It also features a great quote by Zayak -- "It's a lot or pressure for a girl my age. I'm not even the legal age for drinking yet."

 

[thisthingcalledlove]

TV Guide actually ran an entire article back in 84 about the Sumners-Zayak rivalry; actually, I still have it -- let me go find it....

It's dated January 14, 1984; it ran the week of the 84 Nationals. Basically, the overall article is about their different styles and the sacrifices, preperations, etc, they made to try for the Olys. The only "rivalry incident" of note is that they were supposed to share a dressing room at an ice show, only Zayak decided to share with someone else instead. It also features a great quote by Zayak -- "It's a lot or pressure for a girl my age. I'm not even the legal age for drinking yet."

I remember during the mid-nineties, when both Zayak and SUmners were at a show, and they called themselves the Tonya and Nancy of the 80's. Now, I know they were probably just keeping up appearances, but they appeared to get along, and even talked about one incident where they were both nervous, and held each other's hand (kinda like the TV Guide article before the 1998 Olympics, where it mentioned that Tara and Michelle weren't the best of friends, but one day they got lost during COI, and because both were scared [I forget the city] they ran back to the tour bus holding hands).

I guess in the end, neither Roz nor Elaine had any reason to really dislike one another about; they both had a world title, and neither had the OGM.

Then again, I remember Katarina Witt being interviewed (long after her and Roz had become friends) and Roz was there, and the interviewer asked Kat why her and Roz weren't really close during the '84 Olympics, and Kat said, "It's her eyes. She has those intense eyes."

 

[SkateFan4Life]

First off, to this day, I still have my 21-year-old vow that if I EVER see Cia Bordogna, the Italian judge who gave Blumberg & Seibert that 5.5 that knocked them down into 4th, I will throw old fruit and possibly even furniture at her. There have been many controversies since, especially with dance judging, but that one to this day still sticks in my craw. That was a silver-medal performance, hands down.

Was thrilled to see Kitty & Peter win that silver with such a terrific performance in both the short and long. It helped take away the disappointment I felt when Underhill & Martini did so badly. Then again, had U & M not done so badly, I don't think their winning the Worlds the next month would have been nearly the incredible moment it was.

Am still to this day mystified as to the bronze medal showing in Ladies of Kira Ivanova. Absolutely dull, lackluster free skating, and as Dick Button pointed out at the time, "Her skates weren't even clean!!" ANY of the other ladies in the top 10 or even lower would have been a much better choice. What was so special about her? If there was some sort of "Soviet conspiracy" at work, and I'm not saying there was, but with skating like that you gotta wonder -- why in the world didn't they go with Anna Kondrashova? She in my view was a MUCH better free skater. Ideally, Tiffany Chin should have gotten it, but 12th place figures is a long hill to climb up.

I, too, would have dearly loved to have been in a position to give that Italian judge a piece of my mind for her idiotic judging of the ice dancing competition.
Blumberg and Siebert came into Sarajevo as two-time World bronze medalists, and if their performance at the Olympics wasn't worthy of silver, it certainly was worthy of bronze! I recall an interview B & S gave just prior to the Olympics in which they stated, "We concede the gold medal to Jayne and Chris, (Torvill and Dean), but we do not concede the silver." Their performance fo "Schehazarade" was excellent, IMHO, and Cia's judging was way, way out of line. B & S were stunned, speechless, when they realized they had been shut out of the medals.

I agree with you concerning the free skating of Kira Ivanova. The only word I could use to describe her skating was BORING. Absolutely nothing to make you sit back and pay attention. Tiffany Chin's free skating was so superior, and had she finished higher in the school figures, she would have won bronze instead of finishing fourth.

I was thrilled for Kitty and Peter Carruthers's silver medal win. Their medal was the first medal won by any American athlete at those Olympics, and the US Team needed a boost, as it wasn't exactly covering itself in glory, as far as the medal count was concerned, at that point. As the Soviet national anthem played, Kitty shed tears of joy. A lovely moment!