1992 Summer Olympics.html



Games of the XXV Olympiad
Host city	Barcelona, Spain
Nations participating	169
Athletes participating	9,356 (6,652 men, 2,704 women)
Events	286 in 32 sports
Opening ceremony	July 25
Closing ceremony	August 9
Officially opened by	King Juan Carlos I of Spain
Athlete's Oath	Luis Doreste Blanco
Judge's Oath	Eugeni Asensio
Olympic Torch	Antonio Rebollo (paralympic archer)
Stadium	Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys

The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain in 1992.

Host city selection

Barcelona, the birthplace of then-IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch, was selected over Amsterdam, Belgrade, Birmingham, Brisbane and Paris in Lausanne, Switzerland, on October 17, 1986, during the 91st IOC Session. It had bid for the 1936 Summer Olympics, losing out to Berlin. The chart's information below comes from the International Olympic Committee Vote History web page.

1992 Summer Olympics bidding results
City	NOC Name	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3
Barcelona	Spain	29	37	47
Paris	France	19	20	23
Belgrade	Yugoslavia	13	11	5
Brisbane	Australia	11	9	10
Birmingham	United Kingdom	8	8	-
Amsterdam	Netherlands	5	-	-

Highlights

• In basketball, the admittance of professional players led to the formation of the "Dream Team" of the United States, featuring Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and other NBA stars.
• South Africa was allowed to compete in the Olympics for the first time since the 1960 Games, after a long suspension for its apartheid policy. White South African runner Elana Meyer and black Ethiopian runner Derartu Tulu fought a close race in the 10,000 m (won by Tulu) and then ran a victory lap hand in hand.^[1]
• Following its reunification in 1990, Germany sent a single, unified Olympic team for the first time since the 1964 Games.
• As the Soviet Union had been dissolved in 1991, the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania sent their own teams for the first time since 1936. The other Soviet republics competed under the name "Unified Team."
• The break-up of SFR Yugoslavia led to the Olympic debuts of Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Due to United Nations sanctions, SR Yugoslav athletes were not allowed to participate with their own team. However, individual athletes could compete under the Olympic flag as Independent Olympic Participants.
• In men's artistic gymnastics, Vitaly Scherbo from Belarus, representing the Unified Team, won six gold medals, including four on a single day. Five of the six golds were in individual events, tying Eric Heiden's record for individual gold medals at a single Olympics (Michael Phelps would tie this record in 2008).
• In women's artistic gymnastics, Tatiana Gutsu took gold in the All-Around competition edging the United States' Shannon Miller.
• In the diving competitions, held in the view of the Sagrada Família, Fu Mingxia won the high dive event at the age of 13.
• Russian swimmers dominated the freestyle events, with Alexander Popov and Yevgeny Sadovyi each winning two events (Sadovyi won a third with in the relays).
• Evelyn Ashford won her fourth Olympic gold medal in the 4x100 metre relay, making her one of only four female athletes to have achieved this in history.
• The young Krisztina Egerszegi of Hungary won three individual swimming gold medals.
• After being demonstrated six times, baseball became an Olympic sport, with Cuba winning the gold medal, Chinese Taipei winning silver, and Japan, the bronze.
• Roller hockey became a demonstration sport in the 1992 Games. Argentina won the gold medal.
• Badminton and women's judo became part of the Olympic programme, while slalom canoeing returned to the Games after a 20-year absence.
• Basque pelota, roller hockey,and taekwondo were the demonstration sports.
• Chris Boardman won the 4000M individual pursuit track cycling event for Great Britain.
• Linford Christie finally won gold in the 100m, at 32 years old the oldest champion of the Olympic 100m.
• Several of the U.S. men's volleyball gold medal team from the 1988 Olympics returned to vie for another medal. In the first round, they lost a controversial match to Japan, sparking them to shave their heads in protest (including Steve Timmons, sacrificing his trademark red flattop for the protest).
• Mike Stulce of the USA won the men's shot put, beating heavy favored Werner Günthör of Switzerland.
• On the 20th anniversary of the Munich massacre and the 500th anniversary of the Alhambra Decree, Yael Arad became the first Israeli to win an Olympic medal, winning a silver medal in judo. The next day, Oren Smadja became Israel's first male medalist, winning a bronze in the same sport.
• Derek Redmond of Great Britain tore a hamstring during a 400m semi-final heat. As he struggled to finish the race, his father entered the track without credentials and helped him complete the race, to a standing ovation from the crowd.
• Sergey Bubka had won gold in the men's pole vault in Seoul 1988, setting an Olympic record. He was favored to easily take the gold again, but he left Barcelona empty-handed, failing to make any height in the pole vault. He failed in all his attempts. A little over a month later, in Tokyo, Bubka would vault 20 feet 1 and 1/2 inches - his 32nd world record.

Venues

• Olympic Ring:
  • Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc - opening/closing ceremonies, athletics
  • Palau Sant Jordi - artistic gymnastics, volleyball finals and handball finals
  • Piscines Picornell – swimming, synchronized swimming and water polo final
  • Piscina Municipal de Montjuïc – diving and water polo
  • INEFC – wrestling
• Sants-Montjuïc area:
  • Palau dels Esports de Barcelona – rhythmic gymnastics and volleyball
  • Palau de la Metalúrgia – fencing
  • Pavelló de l'Espanya Industrial – weightlifting
• Vall d'Hebron olympic area:
  • Velòdrom d’Horta – track cycling
  • Camp Olímpic de Tir amb Arc – archery
  • Pavelló de la Vall d’Hebron – volleyball and basque pelota (demonstration)
  • Centre Municipal de Tennis Vall d’Hebron – tennis
• Diagonal olympic area:
  • Camp Nou – football
  • Palau Blaugrana – judo, taekwondo (demonstration) and roller hockey final (demonstration)
  • Estadi de Sarrià – football
  • Real Club de Polo – equestrian events
• Poblenou olympic area (Sea Park):
  • Port Olímpic – sailing
  • Complex Esportiu Municipal Mar Bella – badminton
  • Poliesportiu Estació del Nord – table tennis
• Other venues:
  • Pavelló Olímpic de Badalona (Badalona) - basketball
  • Pavelló dels Països Catalans (Badalona) - boxing
  • Palau d’Esports de Granollers (Granollers) - handball
  • Lake of Banyoles (Banyoles) - rowing
  • Camp de Tir Olímpic de Mollet (Mollet del Vallès) - shooting
  • Sant Sadurní d'Anoia - road cycling
  • Camp Municipal Feixa Llarga (L'Hospitalet de Llobregat) - baseball
  • Camp Municipal de Beisbol de Viladecans (Viladecans) - baseball
  • Canal Olímpic de Catalunya (Castelldefels) - canoeing/kayak (flatwater)
  • Parc Olímpic del Segre (La Seu d'Urgell) - canoeing/kayak (slalom)
  • Club Hípic El Montanyà (Seva) - equestrian events
  • Circuit de Catalunya (Montmeló) - road cycling (team time trial)
  • Estadi Olímpic (Terrassa) - field hockey
  • Estadi de la Nova Creu Alta (Sabadell) - football
  • La Romareda (Zaragoza) - football
  • Estadio Mestalla (Valencia) - football

Medals awarded

See the medal winners, ordered by sport:

Demonstration sports

• Basque pelote
• Roller hockey
• Taekwondo
• Valencian pilota

Participating nations

Participants

169 nations sent athletes to compete in these Games. With the Collapse of the Soviet Union, twelve states formed a Unified Team, while the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania had their own teams. Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina competed as independent nations after separation from Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia was banned due to UN sanctions, but individual Yugoslav athletes were allowed to take part as Independent Olympic Participants.

Medal count

Main article: 1992 Summer Olympics medal count

These are the top medal-collecting nations for the 1992 Games. (Host country is highlighted):

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Unified Team	45	38	29	112
2	United States	37	34	37	108
3	Germany	33	21	28	82
4	China	16	22	16	54
5	Cuba	14	6	11	31
6	Spain	13	7	2	22
7	South Korea	12	5	12	29
8	Hungary	11	12	7	30
9	France	8	5	16	29
10	Australia	7	9	11	27

Songs and themes

There were two main musical themes of the 1992 Games. One was "Barcelona", composed five years earlier by Freddie Mercury and sung as a duet with Montserrat Caballé. The duo were to have performed the song during the opening ceremony, but due to Mercury's untimely death the year before, the song was played over a travelogue of the city at the start of the opening ceremony. The other was "Amigos Para Siempre" (Friends for Life), written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Don Black, and sung by Sarah Brightman and José Carreras during the closing ceremonies. One Moment In Time song by Whiteney Houston last the closing ceremony.

Mascot

Main article: Cobi

The official mascot was Cobi, a Catalan Sheepdog in Cubist style designed by Javier Mariscal.

References

See also

• Olympic Games
• International Olympic Committee
• IOC country codes
• 1992 Summer Paralympics
• Triplecast

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

1992 Summer Olympics

• IOC Site on 1992 Summer Olympics
• Barcelona Olympic Foundation
• Official Report of the Games of the XXV Olympiad Barcelona 1992
• Olympic Review 1992 - Official results
• Barcelona Olympic Stadium
• Barcelona 1992 Olympic pins (broken link)