1992 Summer Olympics

Games of the XXV Olympiad
Host city	Barcelona, Spain
Motto	Amigos Para Siempre (Spanish) Amics Per Sempre(Catalan) (Friends Forever)
Nations participating	169
Athletes participating	9,356 (6,652 men, 2,704 women)
Events	286 in 32 sports
Opening ceremony	July 25
Closing ceremony	August 9
Officially opened by	King Juan Carlos I
Athlete's Oath	Luis Doreste Blanco
Judge's Oath	Eugeni Asensio
Olympic Torch	Antonio Rebollo (paralympic archer)
Stadium	Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys

The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same year since 1924, and place them in alternating even-numbered years, beginning in 1994. The 1992 Summer Games were the last to be staged in the same year as the Winter Games.^[1]

Host city selection

Barcelona, the birthplace of then-IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch, was selected over Amsterdam, Belgrade, Birmingham, Brisbane and Paris in Lausanne, Switzerland, on October 17, 1986, during the 91st IOC Session. It had bid for the 1936 Summer Olympics, losing out to Berlin. The chart's information below comes from the International Olympic Committee Vote History web page.

1992 Summer Olympics bidding results
City	NOC Name	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3
Barcelona	Spain	29	37	47
Paris	France	19	20	23
Brisbane	Australia	11	9	10
Belgrade	Yugoslavia	13	11	5
Birmingham	United Kingdom	8	8	-
Amsterdam	Netherlands	5	-	-

Highlights

David Robinson, player of the "Dream Team", in the match against Puerto Rico

• The Olympic flame cauldron was lit by the Paralympic archer Antonio Rebollo, who shot an arrow lit by the last torch runner into it. Rebollo deliberately overshot the cauldron; though some sources claim it was a show for the safety of the spectators^[2], in fact Rebollo's arrow lit the natural gas rising from the cauldron.^[3]
• South Africa was allowed to compete in the Olympics for the first time since the 1960 Games, after a long suspension for its apartheid policy. White South African runner Elana Meyer and black Ethiopian runner Derartu Tulu fought a close race in the 10,000 m (won by Tulu) and then ran a victory lap hand in hand.^[4]
• Following its reunification in 1990, Germany sent a single, unified Olympic team for the first time since the 1964 Games.
• 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".
• The break-up of SFR Yugoslavia led to the Olympic debuts of Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Due to United Nations sanctions, FR Yugoslavian athletes were not allowed to participate with their own team. However, individual athletes could compete under the Olympic flag as Independent Olympic Participants.
• In men's artistic gymnastics, Vitaly Scherbo from Belarus, representing the Unified Team, won six gold medals, including four on a single day. Five of the six golds were in individual events, tying Eric Heiden's record for individual gold medals at a single Olympics (Michael Phelps would tie this record in 2008).
• In women's artistic gymnastics, Tatiana Gutsu took gold in the All-Around competition edging the United States' Shannon Miller.
• In the diving competitions, held in the view of the Sagrada Família, Fu Mingxia won the high dive event at the age of 13.
• Russian swimmers dominated the freestyle events, with Alexander Popov and Yevgeny Sadovyi each winning two events (Sadovyi won a third with in the relays).
• Evelyn Ashford won her fourth Olympic gold medal in the 4x100 metre 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 metres breaststroke, Kyoko Iwasaki of Japan won a gold medal at age of 14 years and 6 days, became the youngest-ever gold medalist in swimming competitions at the Olympics.
• After being demonstrated six times, baseball became an Olympic sport, with Cuba winning the gold medal, Chinese Taipei winning silver, and Japan, the bronze.
• Badminton and women's judo became part of the Olympic programme, while slalom canoeing returned to the Games after a 20-year absence.
• Roller hockey became a demonstration sport in the 1992 Games. Argentina won the gold medal. Basque pelota and taekwondo were also demonstration sports.
• 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 (including Steve Timmons, sacrificing his trademark red flattop for the protest).
• Mike Stulce of the USA won the men's shot put, beating heavy 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 400m 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. 5 women finished within 0.06 seconds of each other.
• 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.
• After making the semifinals of two grand slams at the age of 14, Jennifer Capriati won the single's tennis competition at the age of 16

Venues

Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc

Palau Sant Jordi and Montjuïc Communications Tower

• Olympic Ring in Montjuïc:
  • Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc - opening/closing ceremonies, athletics
  • Palau Sant Jordi - artistic gymnastics, volleyball finals and handball finals
  • Piscines Bernat Picornell - swimming, synchronized swimming and water polo final
  • Piscina Municipal de Montjuïc - diving and water polo
  • INEFC - wrestling
• Sants-Montjuïc area:
  • Palau dels Esports de Barcelona - rhythmic gymnastics and volleyball
  • Palau de la Metalúrgia - fencing
  • Pavelló de l'Espanya Industrial - weightlifting
• Olympic area of Vall d'Hebron:
  • Velòdrom d'Horta - track cycling
  • Camp Olímpic de Tir amb Arc - archery
  • Pavelló de la Vall d’Hebron - volleyball and basque pelota (demonstration)
  • Centre Municipal de Tennis Vall d’Hebron - tennis
• Olympic area in the Diagonal:
  • Camp Nou - football
  • Palau Blaugrana - judo, taekwondo (demonstration) and roller hockey final (demonstration)
  • Estadi de Sarrià - football
  • Real Club de Polo - equestrian events
• Olympic Village area in Poblenou:
  • Port Olímpic - sailing
  • Complex Esportiu Municipal Mar Bella - badminton
  • Poliesportiu Estació del Nord - table tennis
• Elsewhere in metropolitan Barcelona:
  • Pavelló Olímpic de Badalona (Badalona) - basketball
  • Pavelló dels Països Catalans (Badalona) - boxing
  • Palau D'Esports de Granollers (Granollers) - handball
  • Camp de Tir Olímpic de Mollet (Mollet del Vallès) - shooting
  • Sant Sadurní d'Anoia - road cycling
  • Camp Municipal Feixa Llarga (L'Hospitalet de Llobregat) - baseball
  • Camp Municipal de Beisbol de Viladecans (Viladecans) - baseball
  • Canal Olímpic de Catalunya (Castelldefels) - canoeing/kayak (flatwater)
  • Club Hípic El Montanyà (Seva) - equestrian events
  • Circuit de Catalunya (Montmeló) - road cycling (team time trial)
  • Estadi Olímpic (Terrassa) - field hockey
  • Estadi de la Nova Creu Alta (Sabadell) - football
• Elsewhere in Catalonia:
  • Lake of Banyoles (Banyoles) - rowing
  • Parc Olímpic del Segre (La Seu d'Urgell) - canoeing/kayak (slalom)
• Other venues:
  • La Romareda (Zaragoza) - football
  • Estadio Mestalla (València) - football

Medals awarded

See the medal winners, ordered by sport:

Demonstration sports

• Basque pelota
• Roller hockey (quad)
• Taekwondo

Participating nations

Participants

169 nations sent athletes to compete in these Games. With the Collapse of the Soviet Union, twelve states formed a Unified Team, while the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania had their own teams. Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina competed as independent nations after separation from Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia was banned due to UN sanctions, but individual Yugoslav athletes were allowed to take part as Independent Olympic Participants. It was also the first Olympics since 1964 that a unified Germany competed at the Olympics. Just four National Olympic Committees didn´t send their athletes to compete: Afghanistan, Brunei, Liberia and Somalia.

Medal count

These are the top medal-collecting nations for the 1992 Games. (Host country is highlighted):

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Unified Team	45	38	29	112
2	United States	37	34	37	108
3	Germany	33	21	28	82
4	China	16	22	16	54
5	Cuba	14	6	11	31
6	Spain	13	7	2	22
7	South Korea	12	5	12	29
8	Hungary	11	12	7	30
9	France	8	5	16	29
10	Australia	7	9	11	27

Broadcast Rights

•  United States: NBC
•  Brazil: Rede Globo, Rede Record, SBT, Rede Bandeirantes, Rede Manchete, Sportv, and ESPN Brasil
•  Australia: Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Special Broadcasting Service, Seven Network, Nine Network, and Network Ten
•  Indonesia: TVRI, RCTI, SCTV, TPI
•  China: China Central Television, Beijing Television Station, Shanghai Media Group, Tianjin Television, Chongqing Television, Fujian Television, and Shenzhen Media Group
•  Singapore: Television Corporation of Singapore, and StarHub TV
•  Brunei: Radio Television Brunei
•  Hong Kong: ATV, TVB, Cable TV Hong Kong, NOW TV, HKBN bbTV, Pay Vision, Star TV, and Phoenix Television
•  Taiwan: Taiwan Television:TTV, TTV Family, TTV Finance, TTV Health, China Television:CTV, CTV News Channel, CTV MyLife, Chinese Television System:CTS, CTS Education and Culture, CTS Recreation, CTS News, Formosa TV: FTV, FTV News, Follow Me TV, Public Television Service: PTS, Dimo TV, HiHD, Sanlih E-Television, Gala Television, Era Television, TVBS, Chung T'ien Television, Eastern Television, Videoland Television Network, Unique Satellite TV, STAR TV, Taiwan Broadcasting System, and HBO Asia
•  Japan: NHK: NHK General TV, NHK Educational TV), NNN: Nippon TV, JNN: TBS TV, MBS TV, FNN: Fuji TV, ANN: TV Asahi, TXN: TV TOKYO, TOKYO MX, and Open University
•  Malaysia: Radio Televisyen Malaysia, Media Prima Berhad, and Astro (satellite TV)
•  India: Zee Network, STAR TV, and Sahara One
• Ireland: RTÉ
•  Italy: RAI
•  Germany: ARD, ZDF, and DWTV
•  Great Britain: BBC
•  Netherlands: Nederlandse Omroep Stichting
•  Philippines: ABS-CBN
•  Canada: CBC
•  Belgium: BRTN
•  Chile: TVN, UCTV
•  Poland: TVP
•  Switzerland: SRG SSR idee suisse

Effect on the city

Frank Gehry's Fish sculpture in front of the Hotel Arts (left) and the Torre Mapfre (right) in the Olympic Village neighbourhood

The celebration of the 1992 Olympic Games had an enormous impact on the urbanism and external projection of the city of Barcelona. The Games enabled billions in investments in infrastructure that are considered to have improved the quality of life and attraction of the city for investments and tourism^[5], making Barcelona become one of the most visited cities in Europe after London, Paris and Rome.^[6][7]

The nomination of the city as organizer was the spark that led to the application of a previously elaborated ambitious urban plan^[8]. Barcelona was opened to the sea with the construction of the Olympic Village and Olympic Port in Poblenou, a decayed neighbourhood. Various new centres were created, and modern sports facilities were built in the Olympic zones of Montjuïc, Diagonal, and Vall d'Hebron. 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. New hotels were built and some old ones were refurbished.

Songs and themes

There were two main musical themes of the 1992 Games. One was "Barcelona", composed five years earlier by Freddie Mercury and sung as a duet with Montserrat Caballé. The duo were to have performed the song during the opening ceremony, but due to Mercury's untimely death eight months earlier, the song's recording was played over a travelogue of the city at the start of the opening ceremony[1]. The other was "Amigos Para Siempre" (Friends for Life), written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Don Black, and sung by Sarah Brightman and José Carreras during the closing ceremonies.

Mascot

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

See also

• 1992 Summer Paralympics
• 1992 Winter Paralympics
• 1992 Winter Olympics
• Summer Olympic Games
• Olympic Games
• International Olympic Committee
• List of IOC country codes
• Triplecast

Notes

References

• "Barcelona 1992". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee. http://www.olympic.org/en/content/Olympic-Games/All-Past-Olympic-Games/Summer/Barcelona-1992. 
• "All the Medallists since 1896". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee. http://www.olympic.org/en/content/All-Olympic-results-since-1896/?AthleteName=&Games=1333912&Country=&Sport=&TargetResults=true&resultsPageIPP=30. 
• Official Report of the Games of the XXV Olympiad Barcelona 1992

External links

• "Barcelona 1992". Olympic.org. International Olympic Committee. http://www.olympic.org/en/content/Olympic-Games/All-Past-Olympic-Games/Summer/Barcelona-1992. 
• Barcelona Olympic Foundation
• Olympic Review 1992 - Official results
• Barcelona Olympic Stadium
• Barcelona 1992 Olympic pins (broken link)