Olympic Chronology

Canadian hockey team wins 3rd consecutive gold medal.

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2nd Winter Olympics games close at St Moritz, Switzerland.

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May 17

9th modern Olympic games open in Amsterdam.

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Jul 28

Olympics open at Amsterdam.

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Ray Barbuti saves US team from defeat in Amsterdam Olympics track events by winning 400 m (47.8 sec).

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Dec 26

Johnny Weissmuller announces his retirement from amateur swimming.

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1931

Apr 28

Program for woman athletes approved for 1932 Olympics track & field.

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Jul 23

France announces they can't afford to send a team to 1932 LA olympics.

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1932

Feb 04

The first Winter Olympics held in the United States (and the 3rd Winter Olympics Games) open at Lake Placid, NY. New York Governor Franklin D Roosevelt opened the ceremonies.

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Feb 06

Dog sled racing happened for the first time in Olympic competition. The demonstration program was presented by the United States and Canada. “Mush! Mush! Onward you huskies!”

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Feb 09

America entered the 2-man bobsled competition for the first time at the Olympic Winter Games held at Lake Placid, NY.

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The U.S. won its first Olympic bobsled competition (both the two-man and four-man races) at the Winter Olympic Games at Lake Placid, NY. Twelve other teams competed in the event. This was also the first bobsledding competition in the United States. The four-man team included Edward Eagan, who was also the 1920 Olympic light heavyweight boxing champion. Eagan's winter gold medal made him the first person to take home gold in both the Summer and Winter Olympics.

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US bobsled team member Eddie Eagan becomes only athlete to win gold in both Summer & Winter Olympics (1920 boxing gold); 3rd Winter Olympics games close at Lake Placid NY,

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3rd Winter Olympics games close at Lake Placid NY.

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The Olympic Games opened in Los Angeles, CA. The Games would revisit Los Angeles -- and the same venues of the Los Angeles Coliseum, the Rose Bowl, etc. -- in 1984.

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Aug 14

10th Olympic Games at Los Angeles closes.

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1933

Oct 19

Berlin Olympic Committee vote to introduce basketball in 1936.

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1935

Jun 06

Jesse Owens is elected Captain of the 1936 track team at Ohio State University. He is the First Negro to hold such position on any Ohio State Team.

Oct 17

Pacific Assoc of AAU votes not to participate in Berlin Olympics.

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1936

Feb 06

Adolf Hitler opens the Fourth Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

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Sonja Henie, Norway, wins 3rd consecutive Olympics figure skating gold.

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4th Winter Olympics games close at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

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Jul 12

Jesse Owens wins his place on the Olympic team in three events.

Aug 01

Olympic games begin in Berlin. Hitler and top Nazis seek to gain legitimacy through favorable public opinion from foreign visitors and thus temporarily refrain from actions against Jews.

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Jesse Owens wins broadjump at Olympic Games in Germany;will also win 3 other events.

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Aug 05

Jesse Owens wins his third gold medal by running a 200-meter race in 20.7 seconds at the Olympic Games held in Berlin, Germany.

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Aug 09

Jesse Owens became the first American to win four medals in one Olympics. Owens ran one leg of the winning 400-meter relay team in Berlin. His three other gold medals were won in the 100-meter, 200-meter and the long jump events.

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Aug 12

Berlin, Germany was host to the Olympics and the youngest winner of a gold medal (to that day). The USA.’s 13-year-old diver, Marjorie Gestring, won the springboard event.

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Aug 14

The first basketball competition was held at the Olympic Games -- in Berlin, Germany. The U.S. defeated Canada, 19-8.

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Aug 16

The 11th Olympic games close in Berlin.

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1937

Dec 27

German immigration officials with no explanation bar Juan Carlos Zabala (Argentina), 1932 Olympic marathon champion, from entering Germany.

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1938

Jul 20

Finland awarded 1940 Olympic games after Japan withdraws.

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1939

Nov 04

1940 Olympics awarded to Helsinki, Finland.

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1940

May 01

The 1940 Olympics are cancelled.

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1948

Jan 30

5th Winter Olympic games open in St Moritz, Switzerland.

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Dick Button becomes first US figure skating Olympics champion.

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Gretchen Fraser becomes first US woman Olympics slalom champion.

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5th Winter Olympic games close at St Moritz, Switzerland.

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Jul 29

King George VI opens 14th modern Olympic games in London.

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Aug 06

Seventeen-year-old Bob Mathias won the decathlon competition at the Olympic Games being held in London, England.

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Aug 06

Fanny Blankers-Koen (Neth) is first women to win 3 golds at Olympics.

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Aug 07

A new Olympic Games record was set when 83,000 spectators attended the final day of track and field events. The Games, held in London, England, had gate receipts totaling more than $2 million.

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Aug 11

Summer Olympics opens in London.

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Aug 14

14th Olympic games in London closes.

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1950

Aug 29

Intl Olympic Committee votes admission to West Germany & Japan in '52.

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1951

May 07

Russia was admitted to participate in the 1952 Olympic Games by the International Olympic Committee.

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1952

6th Winter Olympics games opens in Oslo, Norway.

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Feb 25

The 6th Winter Olympics games close at Oslo, Norway.

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Jun 22

The US Olympic Fund increased by $1,000,000, thanks to a nationwide, 14-1/2 hour telethon that starred Bing Crosby and Bob Hope.

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Jul 19

15th modern Olympic games opens in Helsinki.

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15th Olympic games close in Helsinki Finland.

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1955

Track & Field names Jesse Owens all-time track athlete.

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1956

Jan 26

7th Winter Olympic games open in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.

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Feb 03

Toni Sailor becomes first Olympics skier to sweep the 3 alpine events.

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7th Winter Olympics games close at Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.

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Jun 10

16th modern Olympiad equestrian events open in Stockholm.

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Nov 06

Holland & Spain withdraw from Olympics, protest Soviets in Hungary.

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Nov 22

16th modern Olympic games opens in Melbourne.

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Dec 01

Alain Mimoun wins 13th Olympic marathon (2:25:00.0).

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Dec 08

The Olympic games, which had opened Nov 22, closed this day at Melbourne, Australia. ‘The Friendly Games’, as this Olympiics came to be known, was Australia’s first attempt at hosting the Olympics and left “an enduring legacy not only for Melbourne and Australia but for the Olympic movement itself.”

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1960

Feb 18

Vice president Nixon opens the 8th Winter Olympics games in Squaw Valley CA. A lack of snow had prompted organizers to hire Native Americans to do a snow dance, but a deluge of rain was the only result. Snow finally arrived just before the opening ceremonies, which had to be delayed to await the arrival of U.S. Vice-President Richard M. Nixon, who would declare the games open. The storm had held up his flight.

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US beats Germany in Olympics hockey finals round, 9-1.

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Feb 26

USA's David Jenkins wins the Olympics Gold for men's figure skating.

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The US Olympic hockey team defeated the Soviets, three goals to two, at the Winter Games in Squaw Valley, CA. (The US team went on to win the gold medal.)

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Feb 28

US wins Olympics hockey gold medal by defeating Czechoslovakia 9-4; 8th winter Olympics games close at Squaw Valley CA; the Soviet Union team got championship honors.

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Aug 25

The 17th summer Olympics open in Rome.

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Sep 10

Running barefoot, Ethiopian Abebe Bikila wins Rome Olympic marathon.

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Sep 11

The 17th Olympic games close in Rome.

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1963

IOC votes Mexico City to host 1968 Olympics.

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1964

Jan 29

9th Winter Olympic games open in Innsbruck, Austria.

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Feb 02

Sjoukje Dijkstra (Netherlands) win Olympics gold for figure skating.

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Feb 09

9th Winter Olympic games close at Innsbruck, Austria.

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Mar 04

Emilia Eberle Romania, gymnast, scored a perfect 10 in 1980 Olympics, is born.

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Oct 10

18th modern Olympic games opens in Tokyo.

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1968

Skater Kees Verkerk win Olympics gold in the 1500m.

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Feb 06

The XIXth Winter Olympic games are opened in Grenoble, France by President deGaulle. Some 18,000 people participated in the opening ceremonies as the games were dedicated by General Charles de Gaulle. Thousands of scented paper roses were dropped from helicopters against a background of five circles drawn in the sky by the smoke of parachutists. And Olympic flags were shot into the air by cannons.

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Feb 10

Peggy Fleming wins the Olympics figure skating gold medal, Grenoble, France.

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Feb 11

Peggy Fleming wins Olympics figure skating gold medal, Grenoble, France.

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Feb 18

10th Winter Olympics games close at Grenoble, France.

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Feb 26

Thirty-two African nations agree to boycott the Olympics because of the presence of South Africa.

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Oct 12

The games of the XIX Olympiad were opened in Mexico City by Mexican President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz. Norma Enriqueta Basilio de Sotelo became first woman to light the Olympic flame. The high-altitude (2,240 meters or 7,573 feet above seal level) and polluted air in Mexico City, put the athletes to a real test. Black Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos gave the black power salute during the national anthem as a protest against racism in the U.S. They were expelled from the Olympic Village & thrown off the team by the USOC.

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Oct 16

During Olympics Tommie Smith & John Carlos give black power salute.

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Lee Evans sets world record of 43.8 seconds in 400 meter dash.

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Bob Beamon of USA sets the long jump record (29' 2") in Mexico City.

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US Olympic Committee suspends Tommie Smith & John Carlos for giving "black power" salute as a protest during victory ceremony.

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Oct 23

Kip Keino (Kenya) wins gold medal for 1,500m (3 min 34.9 sec).

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1970

Heintje Simons (14) wins 7 gold records.

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May 15

South-Africa excluded from Olympic play.

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1972

Feb 02

The Winter Olympics begin in Sapporo, Japan.

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Aug 26

The Summer Olympics open in Munich, West Germany.

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Aug 31

Olga Korbut, USSR, wins an olympic gold medal in gymnastics.

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Sep 04

Swimmer Mark Spitz captured his seventh Olympic gold medal in the 400-meter medley relay event at Munich, Germany. Spitz became the first Olympian to win seven gold medals.

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Sep 05

Rick DeMont lost the gold medal he received in a 400-meter swimming event because a banned drug was found in his system during routine drug testing.

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Sep 10

US Men's olympic basketball teams 1st loss, 51-50 to USSR (disputed).

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Sep 11

The troubled Munich Summer Olympics ended. (XDG, p 4A, 9/11/2003)

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Sep 12

Lord Michael Killanin succeeds Avery Brundage as head of Olympics.

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1973

Sep 13

ABC announces it obtained TV rights for the 1976 Olympics.

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Dec 12

Canada begins selling Olympic coins ($5 & $10 silver coins).

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1976

Feb 04

The 12th Winter Olympic games open in Innsbruck, Austria.

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Dorothy Hamill wins Olympics figure-skating gold, Innsbruck, Austria.

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12th Winter Olympics games close at Innsbruck, Austria.

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Jul 17

21st modern Olympic games opens in Montreal.

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Jul 18

Nadia Comaneci, the 14-year-old star gymnast from Romania, stunned those watching the Olympic Games by executing perfect form to collect a perfect score of ‘10’ from the judges. This was the first perfect score ever recorded on the uneven parallel bars. Nadia went on to collect seven perfect scores, three gold medals, a silver and a bronze. She also won two gold and two silver medals in the 1980 Olympics. Pretty heavy stuff for the tiny lady.

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Japanese beat Russian for Olympic gold in woman's volleyball.

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1979

Apr 08

People's Republic of China joins IOC.

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Sep 26

1984 summer LA Olympic coverage sold to ABC for $225 million.

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1980

Jan 04

President Carter announces US boycott of Moscow Olympics.

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Jan 20

President Jimmy Carter announces US boycott of Olympics in Moscow.

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Jan 25

Dutch Government demands boycott of Olympics.

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Feb 02

The U.S. Hockey Team won its “Do you believe in miracles?” gold medal. Final score: U.S. 4, Finland 2.

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The 13th Olympic Winter Games begin in Lake Placid NY. (Dayton Daily News, 02/13/2000, p. 2A)

Eric Heiden skates Olympics record 500 meter in 38.03 seconds.

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Eric Heiden skates 5k in 7 02.29 (Olympics Record).

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Eric Heiden skates Olympics record 1000 meter in 1 15.18.

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Feb 21

Hanni Wenzel is first Liechtensteiner to win Olympics gold (giant slalom).

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Feb 21

Eric Heiden skates Olympics record 1500 meter in 1 55.44.

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A pivotal moment for ice hockey in the United States came on this day. The 1980 ‘Miracle on Ice’ U.S. victory over Russia was a dramatic, come-from-behind, 4-3, victory. The U.S. went on to defeat Finland, 4-2, two days later to win the gold medal.

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13th Winter Olympics games close at Lake Placid NY.

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Eric Heiden wins all 5 speed skating golds at Lake Placid Olympics.

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The US hockey team defeated Finland, four goals to two, to clinch the gold medal at the Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid,

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Mar 21

President Jimmy Carter announces to the U.S. Olympic Team that they will not participate in the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow as a boycott against Soviet intervention in Afghanistan.

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Apr 12

US Olympic Committee endorses a boycott of the Moscow games.

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Apr 13

"TASS" denounced US boycott of the Moscow Summer Olympics.

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Jul 19

The Moscow Summer Olympics began, minus dozens of nations that were boycotting the games because of the Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan.

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The closing ceremonies for the 1980 Summer Olympic Games conclude. Dozens of countries boycotted the Olympics in Moscow due to Soviet involvement in Afghanistan. (XDG, p 4A, 8/3/2000)

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1981

Sep 30

Seoul, South Korea is selected to host 1988 Summer Olympics.

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1982

Oct 13

International Olympic Committee restores 2 gold medals from 1912 Olympics to Jim Thorpe, post-humously.

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1983

Jan 18

IOC restores Jim Thorpe's Olympic medals 70 years after they were taken from him for being paid $25 in semipro baseball.

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1984

The XIV Winter Olympics opened in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia (now Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina). Some 1,579 athletes from 50 nations participated. The Olympic facilities have since been all but destroyed by the war in Bosnia.

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Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean skate "Bolero" at the Olympics receiving all perfect scores for quality & the gold medal.

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Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean of Britain win the gold medal in ice dancing at the Sarjevo Olympics. (XDG, p 4A, 2/14/2004)

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Bill Johnson becomes 1st American to win Olympics downhill skiing gold.

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The XIV Winter Olympic Games ended at Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. The Soviet Union led all countries with 25 medals, the United States captured nine medals to tie for fifth place. Within the shadow of what was the Olympic Stadium, hundreds, maybe thousands, of Bosnians are now buried; the result of the civil war that began in the early 1990s.

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First brother combo to win Gold & Silver in same event at the Olympics (Phil & Steve Mahre-Slalom).

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Mar 24

IOC agrees to 6-team exhibition baseball tournament in Olympics.

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May 08

The Soviet Union announces it will not participate in Summer Olympics planned for Los Angeles.

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Jul 28

The 23rd Summer Olympic Games opened at the Los Angeles Coliseum in Southern CA. Peter V. Uberroth, head of the US Olympic Committee, welcomed 7,800 athletes from 140 nations during the 3-1/2 hour opening ceremonies.

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Jul 29

Summer Olympics opens in LA.

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US men's gymnastics team won team gold medal at LA Summer Olympics.

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Jul 31

US men's gymnastics team won team gold medal at LA Summer Olympics.

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Aug 04

Carl Lewis wins gold medal in 100-meter dash at LA Summer Olympics.

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Aug 05

Joan Benoit (US) won the first women’s Olympic marathon at the Summer Games in Los Angeles in 2h 24m 52s.

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Aug 07

Japan beats US for olympic gold medal in baseball.

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Aug 08

Carl Lewis won his third gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics. He won the 200-meter sprint. At the same time, Greg Louganis received his first gold medal in diving in the springboard competition.

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Aug 09

Daley Thompson of Great Britain wins the Olympic decathlon with a record 8847 points at the Summer Games in Los Angeles. Thompson joined Bob Mathias as the only decathletes to win back-to-back gold medals in the event.

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Aug 10

Mary Decker’s chances for a medal in the 3,000-meter run at the Summer Olympics fell to the ground in Los Angeles. Zola Budd, representing great Britain, collided with Decker. The U.S. runner, and the favorite to win, fell, sprawling off the track.

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Aug 11

Carl Lewis duplicates Jesse Owens' 1936 feat, wins 4 Olym track golds.

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Aug 26

Tatyana Kazankina of USSR sets 3k woman record (8:22.62) in Lennigrad.

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Aug 26

Zdena Silvaha (Cz) throws discus 74.55 m (women's world record).

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1985

Feb 18

Diver Greg Louganis is recognized as the top amateur athlete in the United States, as he received the James E. Sullivan Award of the Amateur Athletic Union in Indianapolis, IN. Louganis won double gold at the 1984 Olympic Games.

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Apr 12

US Olympic Committee endorses a boycott of the Moscow games.

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1986

Sep 29

Mary Lou Retton, who stunned audiences with perfect 10 scores in the Olympics of 1984, called it quits from the wide world of gymnastics.

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Oct 14

The International Olympic Commitee decides to stagger the Winter & Summer Olympic schedule.

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1988

Jan 11

USSR announces it will participate in the Seoul Summer Olympics.

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15th Winter Olympics games open at Calgary, Canada.

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Feb 20

Figure skater Brian Boitano wins a gold medal in the Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada. (XDG, p 4A, 2/20/2001)

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15th Winter Olympics games opens in Calgary, Alberta.

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Yvonne van Gennip skates female record 3k (4:11.94).

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Matti Nykanen becomes winter Olympics first triple gold medalist.

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Bonnie Blair (US) wins Olympics 500 meter speed skating in record 39.1.

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Katarina Witt (GDR) wins 2nd consecutive Olympics figure skating.

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Debi Thomas becomes the first African American to win a medal at the Winter Olympics.

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Feb 28

15th Winter Olympics games close at Calgary, Canada.

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Sep 15

Lillehammer, Norway upsets Anchorage to host 1994 Winter olympics.

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Sep 17

Opening ceremonies for the 1988 Summer Olympics take place in Seoul, South Korea. (XDG, p 4A, 9/17/2000)

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Sep 18

The Seoul Summer Olympics were the first since Munich in 1972, to have no organized boycotts going on. On this first day of competition, the Soviet Union was first to claim a gold medal -- in the women's air rifle event. U.S. swimmers won silver and bronze in women’s platform diving.

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Sep 19

U.S. diver Greg Louganis struck and injured his head on the board in a preliminary round of springboard diving at the Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Days later, however, Louganis won the gold medal in springboard diving.

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Sep 22

South Korean coaches attack the New Zealand referee after disputing his decision, the Olympic Korean boxer stages a 67 minute sit-in.

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Sep 24

Canada's Ben Johnson runs drug-assisted 100 m in 9.79 sec.

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Sep 24

Seoul Summer Olympics flashes: 1) Carl Lewis ran the fastest 100 meters of his life, 9.92 seconds, but was beaten by Canadian Ben Johnson’s 9.79. “I ran the best I could, and I'm pleased with the race.” Lewis said. (Lewis did become the recipient of the that gold medal when Johnson tested positive for steroids, a banned substance for Olympic athletes.) 2) Jackie Joyner-Kersee amassed a world-record score (7,291) in the heptathlon (seven different track-and-field events for women).

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Sep 24

Jackie Joyner-Kersee of USA sets the heptathlon woman's record (7,291).

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Sep 25

Florence Griffith Joyner runs Olympic record 100m in 10.54s.

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Sep 30

Louise Ritter, US, jumps 6'8" to win the Olympic gold medal.

Oct 02

The games of the XXIV Olympiad closed at Seoul, Korea. The Soviet Union topped the medals tally with 132 (55 gold) against 102 medals for East Germany (37 gold) and 94 for the United States (36 gold). The Olympics were also profitable, with a surplus of $288 million.

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Dec 01

NBC bids record $401 million to capture rights to 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

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1989

Jan 30

Olympian, Bruce Kimball, is sentenced to 17 years in prison for killing 2 teenagers in a drunk driving accident.

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Jun 07

23 year old olympic barefoot South African runner Zola Budd retires.

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Jun 12

Ben Johnson, Canadian Olympian, admits using steroids.

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1990

Mar 28

Jesse Owens receives the Congressional Gold Medal from President George Bush.

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Sep 18

Atlanta is chosen to host the 1996 (centennial) Summer Olympics.

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1991

Jul 09

The International Olympic Committee readmitted South Africa.

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1992

The XVIth Winter Olympic Games opened in Albertville, France. The games ran through Feb 23 and included 64 countries with 1801 athletes, 488 of whom were women.

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Feb 10

Bonnie Blair wins 1992 Olympics first gold medal for the USA.

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Feb 21

Kristi Yamaguchi wins a gold medal in the Olympic figure skating competition at Albertville. Midori Ito of Japan wins silver, Nancy Kerrigan wins bronze. (XDG, p 4A, 2/21/2002)

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Kristi Yamaguchi of the United States won the gold medal in women’s figure skating at the Albertville Olympics. Although she fell while performing a triple loop, she committed far fewer errors than her rivals, thus getting the gold medal. Midori Ito of Japan won the silver, Nancy Kerrigan of the United States the bronze. “Yamaguchi crafted her title on a feathery vision of artistic precision and elegance, with near total disdain for the latest trends in acrobatic jumping,” wrote Michael Janofsky in the New York Times.

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16th Winter Olympics games close in Albertville, France.

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Jul 25

25th Olympic Summer games opens in Barcelona, Spain

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Aug 09

25th Olympic Summer games close in Barcelona, Spain

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1993

Sep 23

Sydney, Australia, was selected fo host the 2000 Summer Olympics, beating out Bejing. (XDG, p 4A, 9/23/2003)

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1994

The XVIIth Winter Olympic Games opened in Lillehammer, Norway. The games ran through Feb 27th.

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At the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, American Tommy Moe wins the men's downhill, defeating local hero Kjetil Andre Aamodt by four hundredths of a second. (XDG, p 4A, 2/13/2003)

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Alexander Golubev skates Olympics record 500 meter (36.33).

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Figure skaters Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding encounter each other at the Winter Olympics in Norway before posing for a US team photograph. (XDG, p 4A, 2/16/2004)

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Feb 25

At the Winter Olympics in Norway, Oksana Baiul of Ukraine wins the gold, Nancy Kerrigan of the US wins the silver, Chen Lu of China wins the bronze and Tonya Harding comes in 8th in ladies' figure skating. (XDG, p 4A, 2/25/2004)

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17th Olympics Winter games close in Lillehammer, Norway.

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1995

Jun 16

Salt Lake City was awarded the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.

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Dec 12

The International Olympic Committee announced that NBC had successfully bid a record $2.3 billion for the exclusive U.S. TV (broadcast and cable) rights to the 2004 and 2008 Summer Games and the 2006 Winter Games. $894 million is for the 2008 games alone. And the deal calls for a 50-50 revenue sharing program with the IOC.

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1996

Jun 23

Michael Johnson beat the oldest world record in the books (Italy’s Pietro Mennea’s 19.72 had stood for 17 years). Johnson ran 200 meters in 19.66 seconds to rap up the Olympic Trials in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Jul 19

The Centennial Olympics opened in Atlanta, Georgia. In the biggest Olympics staged in the 100-year history of the Games, 197 nations marched in the opening ceremonies. Montreal singer Celine Dion sang "The Power of the Dream," written by David Foster, Kenneth (Babyface) Edmonds and Linda Thompson -- and commissioned for the Olympics. Former heavyweight champ and Atlanta native Evander Holyfield carried the Olympic torch into the stadium. Holyfield handed off to American swimmer Janet Evans Evans, who ran up the aisle with the torch and lighted the torch of heavyweight champ Muhammad Ali. (Evans also swam the 800m in the Olympics and was talking with a German TV crew when the infamous Olympic Centennial Park bomb exploded.)

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Jul 20

26th Olympic Summer games opens in Atlanta, Georgia

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Jul 23

At the Atlanta Olympics, Kerri Strug made a heroic final vault despite torn ligaments in her left ankle as the US women gymnasts clinched their first-ever Olympic team gold medal.

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Jul 27

An early-morning pipe-bomb blast in Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta killed Alice Hawthorne of Albany, Georgia, and injured more than 100 other people as an overnight celebration erupted into chaos. Hawthorne, 44, died from bomb shrapnel that struck her in the head. Her 14-year-old daughter, Fallon Stubbs, was wounded by flying screws and nails. A suspect, Eric Robert Rudolph, remains at large -- and on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.

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Jul 29

Carl Lewis won his ninth Olympic gold medal by winning the long jump competition at the 1996 games. Lewis tied swimmer Mark Spitz for most golds by an American athlete. Lewis also was only the second athlete (the other was discus thrower Al Oerter) to win the same track event in four straight Olympics.

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The US Olympic softball team defeated China, 3-to-1, to win the gold medal.

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Aug 01

At the Atlanta Olympics, Michael Johnson broke his world track record by more than three-tenths of a second, winning the 200 meters in 19-point-32 seconds.

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Aug 04

26th Olympic Summer games close in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Oct 26

Federal prosecutors cleared Richard Jewell as a suspect in the Olympic park bombing.

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1997

Mar 07

Athens, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Rome & Stockholm are finalists for 2004 Olympics site

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1998

Feb 07

The XVIIIth Winter Olympic games opened at Nagano, Japan. Wind, rain, fog and lightning, with a mild earthquake thrown in, played havoc with Alpine skiing during the first five days. Then, good weather moved in and, when the games ended, the Japanese were hailed for their excellent show.

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NHL stops season until Feb 24th to accommodate the Olympics.

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At Nagano, Norwegian Bjorn Daehlie becomes the first man to win six Winter Olympic medals when he places first in the 10 km classical cross-country race. (XDG, p 4A, 2/12/2003)

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Two Japanese ski jumpers, Kazuyoshi Funaki and Masahiko Harada, leapt to gold and bronze medals in the 120-meter event at the Nagano Olympics. (XDG, p 4A, 2/15/2003)

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Feb 17

The US women's hockey team wins the gold medal at Nagano, Japan, defeating Canada, 3-1. (XDG, p 4A, 2/17/2003)

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US hockey team destroys their rooms at Olympics village in Japan.

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Feb 20

American Tara Lipinski became at age 15 the youngest gold medalist in winter Olympics history when she won the ladies' figure skating title at Nagano, Japan.

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18th Winter Olympics games close at Nagano Japan.

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As the Nagano Winter Olympics wound down, the Czech Republic defeated Russia 1-to-0 to win men’s hockey. And Bjorn Dahlie, the Norwegian cross-country skier, extended his Winter Olympics record by picking up his 12th medal (his eighth gold) in the last race at Nagano: the 50-kilometer cross-country race.

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Mar 17

USA Women's Hockey Team beats Canada for first Olympics Gold medal

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1999

Jan 08

The top two executives of Salt Lake City's Olympic Organizing Committee resigned after disclosures that civic boosters had given cash to members of the International Olympic Committee.

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Jan 24

The International Olympic Committee voted to expel six IOC members after charges that they had accepted money and other compensation from officials from cities bidding to host the Olympics. The cities included Sydney, Australia (2000 summer games) and Salt Lake City, Utah (2002 winter games).

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Mar 17

The International Olympic Committee expelled six of its members in the wake of a bribery scandal, but backed President Juan Antonio Samaranch.

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2001

Jul 13

Beijing China is awarded the 2008 Olympics. (XDG, p. 1A, 7/13/2002)

Ref: 83

2002

Jan 31

Former Olympic gymnast Olga Korbut is arrested for shoplifting figs and other foods from a Publix near Atlanta, GA. Charges are dropped when Korbut agreed never to set foot in a Publix again. (Sports Illustrated, p 32, 4/22/2002)

Feb 09

19th Winter Olympics opens in Salt Lake City UT/Quebec City.

Ref: 5

Feb 11

At the XIX Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, UT, Canadian pairs skaters David Pelletier and Jamie Sale earn a silver medal in pairs figure skating. Russian skaters Anton Sikharulidze and Elena Berezhnaya earn the gold medal. There is an immediate uproar from the crowd and other officials indicating the Canadian pair had been robbed.

One of the pairs figure skating judges, Marie-Reine LeGougne of France, in an unsolicited outburst, admits she was approached by Didier Gailhauet, head of the French Skating Federation, who instructed her on which pair to place first.

The International Skating Union announces it will conduct an "internal assessment" of the Olympic judging that gave the Russians the pairs figure skating gold medal over the Canadians. (XDG, p 4A, 2/12/2003)

Ref: 83

At the Salt Lake City winter games, the head of the French Olympic team said the French figure skating judge had been pressured before she voted to give the gold medal to the Russians in pairs.

Ref: 70

Marie-Reine LeGougne of France, the pairs figure skating judge at Salt Lake City is suspended indefinitely by the ISU (International Skating Union) for failing to immediately report her impropriety. The ISU then recommended to the IOC (International Olympic Committee) that a gold medal be awarded to the Canadian pairs skater David Pelletier and Jamie Sale.

Skating and Olympics officials awarded Canadian pairs figure skaters Jamie Sale and David Pelletier a gold medal, while letting the Russian pair, Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, keep their gold medal, as a way to resolve a judging controversy that had dominated the Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

Ref: 70