Barcelona 1992: Games of the XXV Olympiad Online

Barcelona 1992: Games of the XXV Olympiad Online

An international multi-sport event played in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain in 1992.

Barcelona is the second-largest city in Spain, and the birthplace of then-IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch.

The city was also host for the 1982 FIFA World Cup. On October 17, 1986, Barcelona was selected to host the 1992 Summer Games over Amsterdam, Belgrade, Birmingham, Brisbane, and Paris, during the 91st IOC Session in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Barcelona had previously bid for the 1936 Summer Olympics, but they ultimately lost to Berlin.

At the Opening Ceremony Greek mezzo-soprano, Agnes Baltsa, sang "Romiossini" as the Olympic flag was taken around the stadium. Alfredo Kraus later sang the Olympic Hymn in both Catalan and Spanish as the flag was hoisted.

The Olympic flame cauldron was lit by a flaming arrow, shot by Paralympic archer Antonio Rebollo. The arrow had been lit by the flame of the Olympic Torch. Rebollo overshot the cauldron as this was the original design of the lighting scheme.

South Africa was allowed to compete in the Olympic Games for the first time since the 1960 Summer Olympics, after a long suspension for its apartheid policy.

After a close race in the Women's 10,000 meters event, white South African runner Elana Meyer and black Ethiopian runner Derartu Tulu (winner) ran a victory lap together, hand-in-hand.

Following its reunification in 1990, Germany sent a single, unified Olympic team for the first time since the 1964 Summer Olympics.

The 1992 Summer Olympics allowed NBA players to participate in the basketball competition for the first time.

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. These nations consisted of present-day Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

The separation of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia led to the Olympic debuts of Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Due to United Nations sanctions, Federal Republic Yugoslavian athletes were not allowed to participate with their own team. However, some individual athletes competed under the Olympic flag as Independent Olympic Participants.

Fermín Cacho won the 1,500 meters in his home country, earning Spain's first-ever Olympic gold medal in a running event.

Chinese diver Fu Mingxia, age 13, became the youngest Olympic gold medalist of all time.

In men's artistic gymnastics, Vitaly Scherbo from Belarus, (representing the Unified Team), won six gold medals, including four in a single day.

Scherbo tied Eric Heiden's record for individual gold medals at a single Olympics, winning five medals in an individual event. (Michael Phelps would later break this record in 2008).

In women's artistic gymnastics, Tatiana Gutsu took gold in the All-Around competition edging the United States' Shannon Miller.

Russian swimmers dominated the freestyle events, with Alexander Popov and Yevgeny Sadovyi each winning two events. Sadovyi also won in the relays.

Evelyn Ashford won her fourth Olympic gold medal in the 4×100-meter 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.

In women's 200 meter breaststroke, Kyoko Iwasaki of Japan won a gold medal at age of 14 years and six days, making her the youngest-ever gold medalist in swimming competitions at the Olympics.

After demonstrated in six previous Summer Olympic Games, baseball officially became an Olympic sport. Badminton and women's judo also became part of the Olympic program, while slalom canoeing returned to the Games after a 20-year absence.

Roller hockey, basque pelota, and taekwondo were all demonstrated at the 1992 Summer Olympics.

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. This notably included player Steve Timmons, sacrificing his trademark red flattop for the protest.

Mike Stulce of the United States won the men's shot put, beating the heavily 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 400-meter 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.

Gail Devers won the 100-meter dash in one of the closest races in history. Five women finished within 0.06 seconds of each other. In the 100 meter hurdles, Devers was a clear favorite to win, though finished in fifth place when she hit the final hurdle and stumbled over the finish line. Voula Patoulidou from Greece won the event.

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. The Dream Team, which easily won the gold medal, would be inducted as a unit into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.

Jennifer Capriati won the single's tennis competition at the age of 16. She had previously earned a spot in the semifinals of two grand slams at the age of 14.

Two gold medals were awarded in solo synchronized swimming after a judge inadvertently entered the score of "8.7" instead of the intended "9.7" in the computerized scoring system for one of Sylvie Fréchette's figures. This error ultimately placed Fréchette second, leaving Kristen Babb-Sprague for the gold medal. Though immediate protests to FINA were unsuccessful, FINA awarded Fréchette a gold medal in December 1993, replacing her silver medal and leaving the two swimmers both with gold.

Indonesia won its first-ever gold medal, after winning a silver medal at 1988 Olympics. Susi Susanti won the gold in badminton women's singles after defeating Bang Soo-hyun in the final round. Alan Budikusuma won the badminton men's singles competition, earning a second gold medal for Indonesia. Several years later, Susanti and Budikusuma married and she received the nickname golden bride or Olympic bride.

The 1992 Summer Olympic program featured 257 events in 25 sports.

A total of 169 nations sent athletes to compete in the 1992 Summer Games.

With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, twelve of the fifteen new states formed a Unified Team, while the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania each had their own teams for the first time since 1936.

For the first time, Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina competed as independent nations after their separation from Socialist Yugoslavia, and Namibia and the unified team of Yemen (previously North and South Yemen) also made their Olympic debuts.

The 1992 Summer Olympics notably marked Germany competing as a unified team for the first time since 1964, while South Africa returned to the Games for the first time in 32 years.

The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was banned due to UN sanctions, but individual Yugoslav athletes were allowed to take part as Independent Olympic Participants. Four National Olympic Committees did not send any athletes to compete: Afghanistan, Brunei, Liberia and Somalia.

Brunei participated in the Opening Ceremony, but its delegation consisted of only one official. This also occurred in the 1988 Games.

Afghanistan didn't send their athletes to compete, but the country took part in the Parade of Nations.

Liberia and Somalia also participated in the Opening Ceremony, but its accredited athletes (five and two, respectively) did not enter to compete.

The celebration of the 1992 Olympic Games had an enormous impact on the urban culture and external projection of Barcelona. The Games provided billions of dollars for infrastructure investments, which are considered to have improved the quality of life and attraction of the city for investment and tourism. Barcelona became one of the most visited cities in Europe after Paris, London, and Rome.

Barcelona's nomination for the 1992 Summer Games sparked the application of a previously elaborated ambitious urban plan. Barcelona opened to the sea with the construction of the Olympic Village and Olympic Port in Poblenou. New centers were created, and modern sports facilities were built in the Olympic zones of Montjuïc, Diagonal, and Vall d'Hebron. Hotels were also either built or refurbished. The construction of ring roads around the city helped reduce the density of the traffic, and El Prat airport was modernized and expanded as two new terminals were opened.

The 1992 Summer Olympics cost Barcelona a total of USD 11.4 billion (in 2009 dollars), with a cost overrun of 417 percent in real terms.

There were two main musical themes for the 1992 Games. One was "Barcelona", composed five years earlier by Freddie Mercury and sung as a duet with Montserrat Caballé. Due to Mercury's death eight months earlier, the duo was unable to perform the song during the opening ceremony. A recording of the song instead played over a travelogue of the city at the start of the opening ceremony.

"Amigos Para Siempre" (Friends for Life) was the other musical theme. It was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Don Black, and sung by Sarah Brightman and José Carreras during the closing ceremonies.

Ryuichi Sakamoto composed and conducted the opening ceremony musical score. The Opening Olympic fanfare was composed by Angelo Badalamenti and with orchestrations by Joseph Turrin.

The official mascot was Cobi, a Catalan sheepdog in cubist style designed by Javier Mariscal.

A renewal in Barcelona's image and corporate identity could be seen in the publication of posters, commemorative coins, stamps minted by the FNMT in Madrid, and the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Official Commemorative Medals, designed and struck in Barcelona.

The Unified team won most medals - 112.

Christopher Boardman of Great Britain made two world records during the Men's individual pursuit.