Each and every 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics video in our museum is absolutely “nuggets of gold” in our treasure chest of vintage Olympic memories….as there are two majors reasons for their value to us at ImaSportsphile. First and foremost, these were the Olympics games which our Bone Daddy….the original Sportsphile and owner of our 2300 hours of vintage sports, comedy and music that we are posting here on our site….along with two friends, Sky Pilot and Prince of Pleasure attended The Games live and in color….while setting an Olympic fan record that can never be broken….only tied….by attending 26 live events in the 26 sports competed for medals at the ’84 Olympics…..so, many of the telecasts are of events that The Tres Amigos saw up close and personal.
On this the 8th day of ABC Sports coverage of the Games….ABC has Frank Gifford and Kathleen Sullivan at the studio desk welcoming the viewers to the days televised events….as they start off with a look-back at the night before’s events….when they flip it to Tim Brant and Jim Cruz at the Water Polo game between the USA verses Spain by picking up play in the 2nd Half with the USA up 8 – 5 with just over 7 minutes left in the game…then coverage goes to Grecco Roman Wrestling with a match between West Germany’s Pausquale Passarelli vs. Japan’s Masaki Eto in the 125 lb. gold medal match….which is followed by a look-back at last night’s men’s gymnastics floor exercise medal round with USA Peter Vidmar winning the silver medal….as this live competition is followed by a highlight of USA Peter Korman winning the first ever Olympic medal in men’s gymnastics…..a bronze in the floor exercise also.
After a commercial break the action switches to Bill Fleming at the Cycling Team Pursuit Event where the USA was taking on arch rival Australia in the finals at the Olympic Velodrome….as velodrome cycling was a sport that Bone Daddy had never seen live before….and he saw this final live that day….and he described it as riveting, thrilling and energizing…..as he was amazed at how fast these cyclists were actually going…..whereby on this day, Australia edged out the Americans in an exciting race to win gold…. as the USA garnered silver. Later in this Day 8 coverage….Frank Gifford interviews gold medal cyclist USA Mark Gorski and silver medalist USA Nelson Vale….who had only a few years before the Olympic Games….been a New York City bicycle delivery man….as ABC provides a wonderful look into Vail’s family the night he won his silver….TRUE ECSTACY!!
Next comes women’s rowing from Lake Casitas….as Los Tres Amigos were there for this day’s competition which featured an interview between broadcast legend Curt Gowdy interviewing USA Women 4s rowing team coxswain Abibail Peck before their race….where the USA team was just nudged out for the bronze medal by Australia….as Romania took gold and Canada silver. Later in this telecast, the women’s single sculls finals are shown with the USA Charlotte Geer winning the silver medal….plus the women’s quads sculls were covered…as the USA Team took silver. Later in the three hour program, the women’s 8s finals were covered….and the USA fought the ’84 Olympics women’s rowing powerhouse by Romania by a nose to win gold….and Bone Daddy was there….and saw the USA women’s rowing team take home 1 gold medal and 2 silver medals. WHAT A TREMENDOUS DAY!!! Diana Nyad follows the live rowing coverage with an informative piece on how value a daily rowing exercise is for the human body.
Day 8’s swimming events that were covered by ABC’s Jim Lampley and Donna de Varona included the women’s 800m freestyle finals as USA Tiffany Cohen wins gold….USA Michelle Richardson silver….and GBR Sarah Hardcastle bronze….when later in the day’s coverage, various heats of the men’s 200m individual medley were swam while featuring USA Pablo Morales….Canada Alex Baumann….and USA Steve Lundquist…..which if followed by the women’s 200m butterfly qualifying heats which feature USA’s Nancy Hogshead.
In track and field competition covered by Marty Liquori and Al Michaels….as they highlight the women’s shot put finals with West Germany Claudia Losch winning gold is covered….plus the men’s 400m dash heats featuring USA Antonio McKay and JAM Bert Cameron. Along with track and field….ABC covered the women’s team handball game between the USA vs South Korea in the qualifying rounds…..and the men’s shooting air rifle competition….with an outstanding piece on the complex process of scoring the competition….and Kathleen Sullivan does an outstanding interview with USA Mark Todd….the gold medal winner in the equestrian Individual 3-Day Event.
Any way you cut the pie….this video is MUST SEE TV to any and all Olympics fans.
