South Korea's government became a democracy under the pressure of organising the Olympics.
After boycotts of the Olympics in 1976, 1980 and 1984, the Games were again boycotted, but only by four nations: North Korea, Cuba, Ethiopia and Nicaragua.
CanadianBen Johnson wins the 100 m in a new World Record, but is then disqualified after he has been found guilty of doping.
Christa Rothenburger becomes the first (and last) athlete to win Olympic medals at the Winter Olympics and Summer Olympics in the same year. She adds a cycling silver to the speed skating gold she won earlier in the year in Calgary.
US diver Greg Louganis wins back-to-back titles on both diving events, but only after hitting the springboard with his head in the 3-m event final.
Tennis returns to the Olympics after a 64-year absence. Steffi Graf adds to her four Grand Slam victories in the year by also winning the Olympic title.
Table tennis is introduced at the Olympics, with China and the host nation both winning two titles.
Daniela Silivas of Romania wins three gold medals in gymnastics, Bulgarian weightlifters are stripped of their gold medals after testing positive for doping. The Bulgarian weightlifting team withdraws after this event.
The OlympicGames took their name from the Greek city of Olympia and though there were important athletic competitions held in other Greek cities in ancient times, the OlympicGames were regarded as the most prestigious.
Participation in the OlympicGames was originally limited to free born Greeks, but as Greek civilization was spread by the conquests of Alexander the Great, the Games drew entrants from as far away as Antioch, Sidon and Alexandria.
Coubertin and his colleagues of the newly formed International Olympic Committee eventually prevailed, and the first OlympicGames of the modern era were inaugurated by the King of Greece in the first week of April 1896.
Feeds |
Contact
