Chapter 11 Chapter 10 Los Angeles Olympic Games

·National Olympics ·Soviet Union: We will not participate · Lobbying Reagan ·Two historical firsts Chapter 5 of the "Olympic Charter" stipulates: "Only a city that has been approved by the National Olympic Committee and has the qualifications to bid for the Olympic Games can apply to host the Olympic Games. The government of the host city and the National Olympic Committee must ensure that the organization of the Olympic Games allows the International Olympic Committee to will be satisfied and meet the conditions required by it.” "The bidding city shall provide financial guarantees that the IOC Executive Committee considers satisfactory. This guarantee may be provided by the city itself, local, regional or national public bodies, the state or other third parties. In determining the hosting of the Olympic Games At least six months before the IOC Session in the city, the IOC shall be informed of the nature, form and exact content of the said assurances."

According to the provisions of this chapter of the "Olympic Charter", the Olympic Games should be hosted by a city, not by a country or individual.But when it comes to specific situations, the form is different.Some are actually undertaken by the state alone, as in the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games.Most Olympic Games are held jointly by the country and the host city.Of course, some cities are independently undertaken. The Los Angeles Olympic Games was originally decided to be hosted by the city, and later turned to individual sponsors, which created a precedent for the commercialization of the Olympic Games.

The emergence of this process was completely understandable under the circumstances at the time.The Los Angeles Olympics is like a baby born in a war. He did not get the proper upbringing and care, but survived by his own tenacious vitality, and life forced him to find a new way of survival. Los Angeles' bid to host the Games in the mid-1970s coincided with one of the few low points of the modern Olympic movement. The unexpected events of the 1972 Munich Olympic Games and the organizational failure of the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games left an indelible shadow in people's minds, making latecomers discouraged and even terrified.

September 1972 is known as "Black September" in Olympic history.On August 26 of this year, the 20th Olympic Games was held in Munich, and the competition went on smoothly.Unexpectedly, in the early morning of September 5, a group of Palestinians organized by the "Black September" raided the Olympic Village where the Hong Kong delegation and the Israeli delegation resided, killing an Israeli athlete and a coach, and kidnapping nine Israeli athletes. as a hostage.Demanded the release of 256 Palestinians held by Israeli authorities.When senior government officials, including West German Chancellor Brandt, failed to negotiate with the "Black September" elements, the West German authorities decided to use their tricks and provided the "Black September" elements with a helicopter and a plane. The plane headed for Cairo, and then the West German special police shot and killed the "Black September" elements while the "Black September" elements and hostages were moving from the helicopter to the passenger plane.

As a result, because the West German police underestimated the number of "Black September" elements and failed to kill the "Black September" elements in one fell swoop, a fierce gun battle broke out. All nine Israeli hostages were killed, and eight "Black September" elements were killed. 4 dead and 4 injured, 1 German policeman and 1 helicopter pilot were killed.A total of 17 people died in this bloodshed.The Olympics were forced to suspend for one day. Four years later, due to planning errors, the Montreal Olympic Games was too large and owed huge debts.When bidding to host the 21st Olympic Games in 1976, Montreal Mayor Jean Drapau stated, "Olympic organizers should not look like a business that spends astronomical amounts of money. We guarantee that in Canada, in Montreal, this In keeping with the Olympic spirit, the Olympic Games will be held in a simple and solemn way." Mayor DelaPaul initially estimated that the Montreal Olympics would only cost $120 million, so that Canadian taxpayers would not be burdened with a penny.But he was very wrong. After the competition, experts calculated that the total cost of the Olympic Games reached 1.27 billion US dollars, more than 10 times the original estimated budget.Severe overruns brought Montreal taxpayers nearly a decade of nightmares, and it wasn't until 1985 that the city paid off the high debt.

The most important thing is that the bad influence caused by these unfortunate events has greatly exceeded the damage caused by the event itself, making the Olympic Games regarded as a matter of imminent enemy by later generations. When times are tough, heroes show their true colors, and the city of Los Angeles, California, USA steps forward.It is the sole bidder for the 23rd Olympic Games.While lamenting the bad luck of the Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee also expressed deep admiration for Uncle Sam's courage and courage.Otherwise, the embarrassment of no one bidding to host the Olympic Games will embarrass the IOC.

In October 1978, Los Angeles officially won the right to host the 23rd Olympic Games. Unexpectedly, when the smiling mouths of the members of the International Olympic Committee were not closed, a piece of unfortunate news came. The citizens of Los Angeles firmly opposed the city government's allocation of funds to organize the Olympic Games.In people's minds at the time, the Olympic Games had become a business that lost money and made money.The Montreal Olympics have made the citizens of the city debtors for many years, and the citizens of Los Angeles are not willing to bear such a burden.

If the Olympic Games lose money, the burden will be passed on to the citizens.That way, taxes would increase, unemployment could rise, and crime would rise accordingly.Angelenos shudder at the consequences of hosting the Olympics. In November 1978, just one month after Los Angeles was awarded the bid, the city council passed an amendment to the city charter that prohibited the use of public funds to organize the Games.Los Angeles had no choice but to extend a helping hand to the US government.Perhaps it was dismissive of the Olympic Games, or it may have realized that hosting the Olympic Games in the United States would be boycotted by the Soviet Union in retaliation.

Make bricks without straw.The city of Los Angeles had no choice but to apply to the International Olympic Committee for permission to host the Olympic Games in a non-governmental manner. This request was too unexpected.The IOC has never thought of hosting the Games privately.What if the person feels overwhelmed and gives up halfway?What if he raises insufficient funds during the preparation process?If the huge Olympic Games are hosted by private individuals, where will the face of the International Olympic Committee be placed?What's more, the "Olympic Charter" has clearly stipulated that only cities can host the Olympic Games.

If there is still a way for the IOC to go at this time, if there is another city bidding for the host, the IOC will have room for maneuver.However, there is no room for maneuver at all. For the first time, this provision of the Olympic Charter has become invalid. So Peter Uberros, a tourism tycoon from Southern California, took over the stall and became the chairman of the Olympic Organizing Committee. The 23rd Olympic Games has a host, but the problem of boycott has emerged as expected. When the International Olympic Committee discusses the host city of the 23rd Olympic Games.The Soviet members of the International Olympic Committee showed displeasure.Although the "Olympic Charter" stipulates that the members of the International Olympic Committee are not the representatives of the country in the International Olympic Committee, but the representatives of the International Olympic Committee in the country, but the political consciousness of the country cannot not affect the members of the International Olympic Committee. ideology.

The Soviet Union and IOC members initially expressed dissatisfaction with the selection of Los Angeles as the host city of the Olympic Games, and then turned to public opposition.When the International Olympic Committee decided to host the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, the Soviet Union members publicly stated that they would boycott the Los Angeles Olympic Games. The Soviet Union's boycott of the Los Angeles Olympics brought Victor Luis back to life again. Victor Luis is a veteran reporter of the Soviet Union's TASS agency, and many important news come from him.He travels around the world on a diplomatic passport, and it is very convenient to come and go.He met the leaders of many countries, so he was regarded as the special envoy of the Soviet government.But at the same time, people questioned his special status as an important member of the KGB. When the Soviet members publicly declared that they would boycott the Los Angeles Olympics, Victor Lewis published an article saying that the personal safety of Soviet athletes in the Los Angeles Olympics could not be guaranteed, and that a group of terrorists were already preparing to attack Soviet athletes during the Olympics.There are also some people who are preparing to instigate Soviet athletes during the Olympic Games. Victor Luiz did not deny that some senior Soviet leaders advocated a boycott of the Los Angeles Olympics in return for the U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics.Moreover, the leaders of the Soviet Olympic Committee also agreed with the leaders of the Soviet Union to boycott the Los Angeles Olympics. For tactical reasons, Victor Luiz claimed that the Soviet leadership had always advocated choosing a particular location, such as Athens or Olympia, as the permanent venue for the Games. Soon, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union headed by Konstantin Chernenko made a decision to boycott the Los Angeles Olympics. A few days before the Soviet government officially announced this decision, Samaranch learned of the news through the insider line installed by the IOC in the Soviet Olympic Committee. Although Samaranch was prepared for this situation, when he faced this reality, he still couldn't help feeling a little hesitant. When dozens of countries led by the United States boycotted the Moscow Olympics in 1980, he was also the vice president of the International Olympic Committee.At that time, his main consideration was whether he could be elected as the president of the International Olympic Committee, and he didn't have to worry too much about the Olympic Games itself.Now that he is the president of the International Olympic Committee, it would be a pity if the first Olympic Games after he took office still cannot get rid of the bad luck of being boycotted. In the office of Vidiborg, after careful consideration, Samaranch decided to start the work as soon as possible, preferably before the Soviet government announced that it would not participate in the Los Angeles Olympics, so as to prevent the Soviet Union from changing its face. Where should I start first?Talking directly to the Soviet leaders would obviously not lead to anything.The Soviets will not change their decision just because it is in the way of his face.Besides, you can't go to the meeting empty-handed, you have to bring something to the Soviets.What can I bring?Yes, it is best to make some promises or some concessions from the Americans, that's all. Without delay, Samaranch asked his secretary to immediately book a first-class ticket to Washington the next day.Fortunately, the lady at the airline's ticket office was used to Samaranch's impromptu decision, and immediately prepared the ticket. After arriving in Washington, Samaranch immediately asked to see Reagan.The White House office agreed to make the arrangements.Soon, the White House office notified Samaranch that his meeting with Reagan was scheduled for Tuesday, May 8. During the waiting time, Samaranch carefully considered what he would discuss with Reagan, including making some concessions to the Soviet Union's demands, especially granting a visa to the chairman of the Soviet Olympic Committee Yermichkin.The US Central Intelligence Agency had accused Yermichkin of being a senior official of the KGB, so the US refused to grant him an entry visa.There are other specific issues as well.Samaranch believed that as long as the United States could meet these demands of the Soviet Union, there would be no reason for the Soviet Union to refuse to participate in the Olympic Games. Tuesday, May 8.Samaranch came to the White House as promised, but hit a snag.A secretary in the White House office informed Samaranch that President Reagan could not meet with him that day because of "bad weather." Samaranch returned to the hotel inexplicably. After entering the room, Samaranch turned on the TV and opened a bottle of mineral water to drink slowly.Suddenly, a piece of news on TV caused him to stop the water glass that he wanted to put on the coffee table in the air. "The Soviet leader announced today that the Soviet Union will not send athletes to the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles because the U.S. government cannot guarantee the safety of Soviet athletes." Samaranch was stunned. Why did the Soviets announce in such a hurry that they would boycott the Los Angeles Olympics?Another piece of news below seems to have inadvertently solved the mystery in Samaranch's mind. This day is May 8th. On this day in 1945, the Soviet Union, together with the rest of the Allied Powers, defeated Nazi Germany and Germany surrendered unconditionally.This is a proud day for the Soviet Union, a day for the Soviet Union to show its power to the world.It chose to announce this decision today, which is undoubtedly a challenge to the United States. Obviously, the seriousness of the problem has exceeded Samaranch's imagination.He now understands why Reagan doesn't want to meet him.This is completely understandable.Even if Reagan had met with him, he would not have agreed to make concessions to the demands made by the Soviets.As president of the United States, he would not make any gestures that might be construed as bowing to Soviet pressure.At the same time, he also knows that although the president of the United States can be said to be powerful in the world, he still cannot count on many administrative affairs in the country. But Samaranch did not stop there, he will continue to work hard.He immediately called Uber Ross.Uber Ross spoke to Samaranch from the air in his private helicopter.He told Samaranch that he couldn't spare even one minute to discuss the issue with Samaranch that day, and it would be better for him to come to the hotel the next morning to have an interview with Samaranch. The next day, Uber Ross came to the hotel as scheduled and exchanged views with Samaranch.Uberroth agreed with Samaranch's view that the US government should first make some concessions, and then go to the Soviet Union to change its attitude. Uber Ross and Samaranch came to the White House and asked to see Reagan again.They waited nearly two hours before Reagan agreed to meet with them, but the time was limited to a quarter of an hour. Reagan was wearing a dark blue suit, his face was obviously tired, and the lines on both sides of his mouth were more prominent.He listened quietly to Samaranch explaining his thoughts. After a while, he couldn't help interrupting him: "I have listened carefully to your opinion, Mr. Samaranch. But the realization of these wishes cannot be based on wishful thinking. Basically. Even if we make concessions, the Soviet leaders will find other new excuses. What I can tell you is that if the Soviet athletes can participate in the Los Angeles Olympics, we will guarantee their personal safety, and we will be in the During the competition, the provisions of the "Olympic Charter" were fully complied with, other than that, there is nothing I can do to help." Reagan stood up as he spoke, stretched out his right arm and shook hands with Samaranch, then with Uberros, and then turned and left. Reagan's misgivings were not without reason.Samaranch didn't doubt it either.The Soviets often backtracked, putting Samaranch in an embarrassing situation. Before the 1980 Moscow Olympics, Brezhnev, then General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, announced that the Soviet Union would never boycott the Olympics like the United States, because the Olympics, like peace, is a very important cause.Moreover, after Los Angeles won the right to host the Olympic Games, Samaranch secretly went to the Soviet Union in 1982 to persuade Brezhnev's successor Andropov to let go of the past.Andropov was persuaded and agreed to send athletes to the Los Angeles Olympics.Unexpectedly, after Andropov's sudden death, his successor, Chernenko, was still brooding over the shame of four years ago, and made a fuss about what the U.S. government had raised in California by the pen of Victor Lewis. He and exiles from some other countries attempted to instigate the defection of Soviet athletes during the Olympics, and were preparing to organize a parade against the participation of Soviet sports teams in the Los Angeles Olympics. In fact, the Soviet Union's announcement of not participating in the Los Angeles Olympics was not only a retaliation for the boycott of the Moscow Olympics by the Carter administration, but also a warning to all countries that were enemies of the Soviet Union.Not long before the Soviet Union announced its boycott of the Los Angeles Olympics on May 8, Reagan had just visited China, and the Pope had also visited South Korea.Both world titans made speeches lashing out at the Soviet Union during their visits. Despite such a complicated political background for the decision of the Soviet leader, Samaranch was still not ready to give up the last effort.Talks with Reagan were fruitless, and Samaranch flew to the Soviet Union again. In Moscow, Samaranch had a long talk with Chernenko.Maybe he thought that sometimes personal feelings can play a greater persuasive role. Samaranch mentioned his friendly attitude towards the Soviet Union as the vice president of the International Olympic Committee when he was organizing the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games.Moreover, during his more than three years as the first Spanish ambassador to the Soviet Union, he has forged a profound friendship with the Soviet people.He hoped that the Soviet Union would stop this endless mutual boycott in the interests of the entire Olympic movement. However, Chernenko was not moved by it. He believed that the interests of the Olympic Movement should be considered, but as the supreme leader of the Soviet Union, he considered more the interests of the Soviet Union.The Soviet Union thanked Samaranch for his efforts at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, but that event was eventually boycotted.The Soviet Union will never make any concessions in the face of any countercurrent against the Soviet Union. Samaranch returned to Lausanne helplessly.This road is blocked, and another path is opened.The Soviet Union will definitely not participate in this Olympic Games. The problem now is to get as many countries as possible to participate in the Olympic Games and reduce the number of boycotting countries. The International Olympic Committee began active activities and lobbying.In order to enable all 42 African countries to participate in the Olympic Games and increase the number of participating countries, the International Olympic Committee decided to fund and bear the full cost of six athletes from each African country, and gave each country $6,000 for equipment. The number of countries participating in the Olympic Games may be quite a lot, but just as the United States did not participate in the Moscow Olympics, the level of competition in the Moscow Olympics was greatly reduced. Without the participation of countries such as the Soviet Union and East Germany, the level of the Los Angeles Olympics would naturally be greatly reduced. For example, Sergey Bubka, the Soviet athlete known as the "Pole Vaulting Czar", has broken most of the indoor and outdoor records kept by himself 30 times in a row.Against his will, he improved the world record by 1 cm by 1 cm. In addition to making a lot of money, he also attracted the attention of all countries in the world.Just imagine, without the participation of such an athlete, how the Olympic pole vault competition will be eclipsed. Without the participation of the Soviet team, the basketball game would not be so exciting.The US team now has its own giant center Patrick Ewing, who stands 2 meters 23 and is preparing to take on the Soviet team's giant Arveda Sabonis on the court.Maybe people won't see this kind of scene anymore. And the absence of the German Democratic Republic from the Olympic Games will leave a void that no one can fill.The excellence of their athletes in athletics and swimming greatly surpassed that of the Soviet Union.Especially for female athletes, if they do not participate in the Olympics, the number of awards won by American athletes will be greatly increased, but this number is undoubtedly mixed with water.Having won the medal in this way, one can imagine the mood of the American athletes: happy and ashamed. Not only that, the actions of socialist countries to boycott the Los Angeles Olympic Games will also greatly damage the economic benefits of this Olympic Games.For example, after the Soviet Union announced that it would not participate in the Los Angeles Olympics, the American Broadcasting Company immediately lowered the television broadcast fee by another 60 million US dollars.This alone cost Uberroth at least $40 million. Originally, the air tickets to and from Los Angeles and all the hotels were booked, but due to the new decision of the Soviet leader, Uber Ross had to cancel most of the 18,500 rooms originally reserved for the delegation of the socialist countries.In addition, tourism, catering and other aspects will also lose hundreds of millions of dollars. Revenue from tickets has also plummeted.It is difficult to arouse the enthusiasm of the audience in a competition without the participation of Soviet athletes.So Uberroth ingeniously printed a kind of VIP ticket, each VIP ticket was 25,000 US dollars, which can be used by two people to watch all the games of the Olympic Games.Uberroth also deliberately set aside 2 million of the 8 million tickets for foreign audiences. Naturally, the price of this part of the ticket is higher than the price of the remaining 6 million tickets. Although some socialist countries such as the Soviet Union announced that they would not participate in the Los Angeles Olympics, certain expenses for the Olympics did not decrease as a result.For example, the Los Angeles Olympics will still employ 50,000 service personnel, 160 million security personnel, 5,500 artists, 4,000 drivers, etc.In addition, 2,400 cars will be hired for athletes, sports officials and journalists. Uber Ross also regretted it afterwards. If he had known that the Soviet Union and other countries would not participate in the Los Angeles Olympics, he would have made the opening ceremony smaller like the Moscow Olympics, which would have saved a lot of money. But Uberroth is Uberroth.If there were no diamonds, he wouldn't have taken on the porcelain work in the first place.If he is not very sure, he will not take this stall. Although some expenses cannot be reduced, there are many projects that can adopt workarounds, which will save a lot of money.First, Los Angeles hosted the Olympic Games in 1932.In modern Olympic history, four cities have hosted the Olympic Games twice, namely Paris, London, Berlin and Los Angeles.Although the scale of the Olympic Games today is not the same as it was then, some facilities of the previous Olympic Games are still available, such as the Olympic Village. The Olympic Village can also be said to be a pioneering work in Los Angeles.When the 10th Olympic Games was held in Los Angeles, the organizing committee specially established an Olympic Village for male athletes in order to facilitate management.But the female athletes participating in this Olympic Games are still scattered in various hotels in the city. Since then, the International Olympic Committee has made regulations requiring the Olympic Organizing Committee to build an Olympic Village for male and female athletes.And this requirement was written into the "Olympic Charter". Ideas of yesteryear find new uses today.Uber Ross did not build a new Olympic Village, and used university buildings to solve the shortage, which saved him a lot of expenses and greatly reduced his workload.Still, he has his hands full.He flies from one district to another, from one city to another, in his private helicopter almost every day, and when he arrives at a place, he says a few words and confesses something, but within two or three minutes leave in a hurry. Anything in the hands of a merchant will become a commodity.Uberroth also introduced the commercial mechanism into the Olympic Games.If the pioneering work of the 1932 Los Angeles Olympic Games was the establishment of the Olympic Village, then the pioneering work of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games was the open commercialization of the Olympic Games. Although the commercialization of the Olympic Games did not start with the Los Angeles Olympic Games, the publicization of the commercialization has made the commercialization of the Olympic Games public and legal again.Since then, people no longer shy away from the word "commercialization", and have summed up a lot of experience from the practice of the Los Angeles Olympic Games, and then carried it forward, so that the profit of the Olympic Games soared, and objectively played a role in promoting the development of the Olympic movement. A typical example of the open commercialization of the Olympic Games is that Uber Ross found that participating in the Olympic torch relay is something that many people dream of and are proud of, so he proposed a way to publicly sell the right to participate in the torch relay, that is Those who run the Olympic torch relay in China must pay $3,000 for each mile they run.As soon as this remark came out, the world was in an uproar.Although Uber Ross's approach has aroused criticism, he still goes his own way, anyway, the last large sum of money is collected. In addition to TV rights and selling souvenirs, sponsorship and advertising are of course an important source of income for the Olympic Games.Ueberroth is not only good at this, but also innovative.In this Olympic Games, he is the first to promote the wonderful method of only one company sponsoring each industry. As a businessman, Uber Roth deeply realized that the most important thing for entrepreneurs is the popularity of their products.Without popularity, it is difficult to sell the product as a commodity. The popularity of the product is directly proportional to the profit earned by the product.In order to make their products more famous than their competitors, various manufacturers are often willing to spend a lot of money in an attempt to crush their competitors.Uberroth decided to use this psychology of merchants to increase sponsorship revenue.The practice of accepting only one sponsorship from each industry results in more income than the practice of not rejecting all comers and the more the better. Coca-Cola and Pepsi have always been life-and-death rivals. Since the 1960s, every Olympic Games has been a battlefield between the two. At the 1980 Moscow Olympics, Pepsi had the upper hand. Although the bet was a bit high, it became a brand after all and increased sales.Coca-Cola, despite its claim to be the number one, still pales in comparison.At the Los Angeles Olympics, Coca-Cola is determined to save face. UberRoth throws a $4 million reserve price at two big firms.PepsiCo was not well-prepared and was still hesitating. Coca-Cola was already confident and raised the sponsorship fee to 13 million at once, which was more than twice the reserve price proposed by Uberroth.A director of the Coca-Cola Company aggressively said that we have an extra 9 million at once, just to give Pepsi no room to fight back and repel it in one fell swoop.Sure enough, Pepsi did not fight back, and Coca-Cola became the exclusive sponsor of the beverage industry. After Uberroth accepted 13 million US dollars, he set his sights on the two tycoons of photosensitive film, Kodak and Fuji, and the reserve price was also 4 million US dollars.However, this time it was not so smooth. Kodak was confident in its strength, and the Olympic Games was held on its own territory, so it seemed calm and unwilling to sign the final contract with Uberroth.At this time, the Japanese, who have always had a keen sense of smell, seemed to sense something, and decided to take this as an opportunity to enter the US market in one fell swoop.Fuji bargained with Uber Ross, and finally bought the exclusive film sponsorship rights for the Los Angeles Olympic Games at a price of 7 million US dollars.By the time Kodak woke up, Fujifilm had flooded the American market, and Kodak's advertising manager was fired. The 23rd Los Angeles Olympic Games flexibly applied commercial means and achieved great success, which had a great impact on hosting the Olympic Games in the future.Since then, while trying to maintain the glorious tradition of the Olympic movement, the International Olympic Committee has adopted a flexible attitude towards the means and methods of hosting the Olympic Games, and has recognized the rationality of the commercial operation method to a certain extent. Economically speaking, the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games was a very successful Olympic Games.Thanks to Uberroth's careful planning and good management, the Olympic Games made at least 250 million US dollars in profit.Compared with the Moscow Olympic Games, especially compared with the Montreal Olympic Games, it cannot but be said that this is a great achievement. Although a lot of money was earned, most of it flowed into the pockets of Uber Ross, and the International Olympic Committee and the National Olympic Committees only got a little leftovers. At the beginning of organizing the Olympic Games, Uberroth proposed to the International Olympic Committee that the International Olympic Committee should not contribute funds, but in exchange, the International Olympic Committee must agree to make corresponding concessions, that is, the International Olympic Committee will be removed from the TV station in accordance with the usual practice. The 1/3 ratio of rebroadcasting fee extraction is reduced again.The International Olympic Committee had no choice but to do so, and it did not expect such a large profit.There was an appointment at the beginning, but now it is hard to go back on it. The Los Angeles Olympics was held very successfully, and Samaranch was very satisfied with it.Despite all the twists and turns, the contradictions were minimized after all.This is the first Olympic Games he has hosted since he became the president of the International Olympic Committee.Aside from his joy, Samaranch still has a little regret, that is, the sales of the Olympic Games are "a bit expensive". In fact, Ueberroth regarded the Olympics as a great opportunity to make money from the very beginning.He has long stated that the Olympic Games can't be bought cheaply. The 23rd Olympic Games was held in Los Angeles, the "City of Angels" on the west coast of the United States from July 28 to August 12, 1984.Despite boycotts from the Soviet Union and 12 other countries from the Eastern European bloc, delegations from 141 countries and regions attended the event.The total number of participating athletes reached 7078 (5458 male players and 1620 female players).This is the second time in the history of the modern Olympic Games that more than 7,000 athletes participated in the Olympic Games. The first time was the 20th Olympic Games held in Munich, Germany in 1972. Due to the absence of sports powerhouses such as the Soviet Union and East Germany, the U.S. team easily won 177 medals (including 83 gold medals), greatly surpassing the second-ranked Romanian team (53 medals in total, including 20 gold medals).The sports delegation of the People's Republic of China, participating in the Olympic Games for the first time since 1952, won 15 gold medals, 8 silver medals and 9 bronze medals, ranking fifth in the scoreboard. Carl Lewis of the United States won four gold medals in men's 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump and 4×100 meters relay in one fell swoop. 3 gold medals) and became popular in the "City of Angels". During the game, the American audience left a "deep" impression on the whole world. They were passionate and hoarse in every game. The wild shouts of "America! America!" filled the competition venues from beginning to end, which made Europeans feel bored .At that time, Mrs. Beverlyou, the director-general of the International Olympic Committee, said: "They are all like children. We in France call this 'patriotism'." audience.In the end, Samaranch had to write a letter to the TV station, reprimanding it for broadcasting too many shots of viewers waving American flags.Nevertheless, Samaranch gave a high evaluation of the Los Angeles Olympic Games at the closing ceremony, calling it "the most successful sports event in human history". The Los Angeles Olympics created two historical firsts. First of all, this is the first privately-run Olympic Games in history, which has changed the previous mode that can only be hosted by cities or jointly hosted by the country and cities.This is a successful attempt, which provides some experience for the host country of the Olympic Games in the future. In fact, the countries participating in the bid to host the 25th Olympic Games and preparing to participate in the 26th Olympic Games are considering the possibility of completely changing the Olympic Games to private.Perhaps one day, the relevant provisions of the "Olympic Charter" will be amended accordingly. Second, the Los Angeles Olympic Games has also made new attempts in terms of specific forms and methods of fundraising, and the results have been quite good.With the development of the commodity economy, some degree of commercialization of the Olympic Games is inevitable.In the future, only when sports and business are organically combined can they promote each other and develop together. Of course, there may also be some deviations. For example, the practice of paying a certain amount of money to participate in the Olympic torch relay is debatable.Besides, there are different views on whether to auction off the Olympic symbols or games as a pure commodity is contrary to the original intention of the Olympic movement. Regardless, the Los Angeles Games were a success.It left a lot of experience and some lessons.Samaranch heaved a sigh of relief as he watched the Olympic flag being handed over to the Seoul delegates.As the president of the International Olympic Committee, his first major mission has finally been successfully completed.The Los Angeles Olympic Games has also been recorded in history as the turning point of the modern Olympic Games from decline to victory.