This portion of ABC Sports coverage of Day 9 at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games took place on Sunday, August 5th….which began with the USA’s 400m hurdles gold medal winner, Edwin Moses, taking a victory lap after completing his winning race for his 105th straight victory in the 400m hurdles. As Moses moves around the Olympic track for the last time, he stops for hugs with his wife and mother….then takes a slow walk around the Olympic track….just soaking in all the cheers and excitement…..and once finished, he joins ABC’s Donna de Varona for an interview…..in which he dedicates this race to his father…..who had passed away earlier in 1984.
Next, the coverage shifts to Al Michaels st the L A Coliseum for the women’s track 100m medal celebration with USA Evelyn Ashford receiving her gold medal…..as USA Alice Brown got her silver…..and JAM Merlene Ottey-Page getting her bronze…..which is followed by the women’s volleyball semifinal game between the USA vs Peru…..as Bob Beattie and Kirk Kilgore pick up the action in the 2nd game of the match…..as they bring the action through the completion of the contest…..as the USA women move on to the finals to compete for gold.
ABC’s coverage then shifts to Howard Cosell at the boxing venue for the featherweight (125 lb / 57 kg) match between USA Meldrick Taylor vs. Mexico’s Francisco Camacho….as the youngest boxer on the USA team at 17 years old wins a unanimous decision over his Mexican counterpart…..as the one and one Howard Cosell calls the action. Boxing is followed by a KVUE Channel 24 Austin NewsBrief with Pat Comer…..just to get a update on local news in Austin.
The rest of this Day 9 program takes the viewer to Cathy Rigby McCoy and Jim McKay at the women’s gymnastics venue to cover the finals in the individual disciplines of uneven bars and balance beam….as they show the uneven bars routines of China’s Ma Yanhong…..who scores a perfect 10 to win gold along with the USA’s Julianne McNamara….who also scores a perfect 10 to tie for gold…..while USA teammate Mary Lou Retton scores a 9.95 to take the bronze medal. Next up for the girls was the balance beam competition in which Romania’s Simona Pauga and Ecaterina Szabo tie each other to win a gold medals each with scores of 9.90…..as USA Kathy Johnson, in her final competition ever, takes the bronze with a score of 9.85.
Once again, ABC provides the viewer with excellent coverage and broadcasting analysis of competition at the 1984 Los Angeles Games….as we at ImaSportsphile have to apologize for the sound on this video….as the voice track was obviously not in-sync or tracking properly when this video was recorded….but the imposition is not too difficult to bear….as the competition far outweighs the “gravelly” sound.
