For example, here's an interview with a volunteer drummer:

https://www.tovima.gr/2024/08/09/life/pos-ezisa-os-ethelontis-tin-teleti-enarksis-ton-olympiakon-tis-athinas/

If any GBers have their own special memories of the event, this thread is theirs!

https://www.facebook.com/papaioannou.page/videos/1023820432518831

However Victorian State Government Cabinet Papers from 1990 have been released today after 35 year embargo and they have shown that the Government at the time did not outline truthfully all the expected costs

They claimed the 1996 Games would post an estimated $80 profit, however they refused to factor in any ancillary costs which would of led to hundreds of millions cost blowout if the Melbourne bid was successful

By 1992 Victoria was financially screwed anyway but thanks Coca-Cola Atlanta for saving us from an even worse situation 

Baron-Pierre IV asked me several years ago at the very popular ceremonies threads here about my fascination with Moscow 1980 and that OC/CC, which I still watch often. I responded quite well as to why I have this interest, eventually becoming a personal cult thing, from learning on a limited basis from an American perspective from reading books and encyclopedia yearbooks to fleeting TV clips to making my own drawings and making lists, attaining as much info as I could get my hands on at the time, with hopes of possibly making an animated documentary as a 9-10 year old to writing a summarizing paragraph about it for my grade school newspaper to later buying/reading Olympic books to thankfully the Internet. We can still learn from this as well as the mistakes. BTHarner immediately added that it was an Olympics that felt forbidden and nearly forgotten to us Americans, that "we're not supposed to know about it". Can't stop the curiousity.

Starting things off, there's a brand new book released to commemorate the Moscow 1980's 45th anniversary called The 1980 Moscow Olympics: A Day-By-Day History by sports historian/author Tommy A. Phillips. Good Seats Still Available podcast episode #406's subject matter, hosted by Tim Hanlon, is that book and interview with Phillips on all the interesting details and stories, some well-known like "the standout performances from the Soviet gymnasts, steroid-assisted East German swimmers, a rogue Austrian equestrian dressage competitor, Great Britain's dueling track duo (Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett) - and lesser-known athletes from around the globe who seized their moment in the absence of many Western rivals. Phillips also walks us through controversies and logistical missteps that plagued the Games, including judging disputes, wind-aided performances and technical problems, all unfolding within the sleek but tightly controlled confines of the Soviet-run Olympic venues" and "shares some of the stranger, more human stories that emerged from his deep dive into archival material." Some athletes like India's and Libya's men's basketball and volleyball teams, respectively, were outclassed, to put it nicely. Certainly plan to pick up this book. There's plenty of Moscow 1980-themed books over the 40+ years, including those released even leading into these Summer Olympics like cookbooks. There's two books actually titled Boycott, one American and the other Australian, already mentioned here in these threads. As a reminder, the Australian Boycott was written by a swimmer who actually competed in Moscow as a 16-year old team co-captain (Lisa Forrest).  Another book I recall reading was from the eyes and observations of a British journalist at the library. Forgot the title right now--was many years ago-- but was published in 1981. Definitely there's got to be related Canadian, more British, French, Dutch, Swedish, German, New Zealand, Brazilian, Finnish, Mexican, Australian, Spanish, Swiss, Austrian, Irish, Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Italian, Greek, Portuguese, Russian, Arab, Costa Rican, Danish, former Yugoslavian, Romanian, Indian, etc. Moscow 1980-themed books we can catalog: 

https://goodseatsstillavailable.com/listen/2025/8/3/episode-406-the-1980-moscow-summer-olympics-with-tommy-phillips

Speaking of Australia's complicated relationship with Moscow 1980 when then-PM Malcolm Fraser wanted to join the US-led boycott but ultimately failed, just two weeks ago some members, 48 of them, of the 121-strong 1980 Australian Olympic Team were finally honored, welcomed home, and formally recognized in Canberra at the Australian Parliament by PM Anthony Albanese and Liberal Party national oppositional leader MP Sussan Ley. Many sporting the traditional green and gold formal wear they wore when they marched into Lenin Stadium back then. Facing backlash with split public opinion at home, they were slammed, crucified, shunned, abused, and disrespected as traitors, unAustralians, and even getting death threats and cold silence along with no national fanfare leaving or returning. Needless to say, the experience was traumatic; some others couldn't even attend the House of Commons session in Canberra because of that. A Summer Olympics that resulted in 9 medals Australia walked a way from--all but two of them came from the swimming pool including two golds from Michelle Ford in the women's 800m and Mark Tonelli (butterfly), Mark Kerry (backstroke), Peter Evans (breaststroke), Neil Brooks (freestyle), and heat swimmer Glenn Patching from the men's 4x100m medley relay, the only time Australia won that event. The latter prompted ABC Radio's Norman May's famous call "Gold! Gold to Australia! Gold! Gold!". Kayaker John Sumegi and 200m sprinter Rick Mitchell both won silver medals in the non-swimming sports. Ian Campbell in the triple jump should've medaled instead of being controversially fouled multiple times. Seven swooped in at the last minute to cover these Games to Australians (well under 100 hours) on TV as national business and broadcasting interest diminished because of the boycott chill spectre. With all of that, some notable and serious Australian medal contenders like swimmer Tracey Wickham, the men's and women's field hockey teams, sprinter Raelene Boyle, and the equestrian team opted not to participate in Moscow. Of course since then, Australia has become more of an all-around international sports force in multiple sports besides swimming and track and field. It did produce some history, fun facts and legacy: it was Australia during the Opening Ceremony that saw a man and women for the first time both carry actually the Olympic flag--swimmer Max Metzger and sprinter Denise Boyd in a practice that wouldn't be seen again until, incidentally, Sydney 2000 with Jeong Eun-Soon and Pak Jung-Chul marched together in the Opening Ceremony carrying the unified Korean flag leading the unified Korean team. Starting with Tokyo 2020, it has become a regular practice with male and female athletes sharing the flag in both ceremonies. Another legacy lies in swimmer Ron McKeon, whose daughter, the recently retired and well-decorated swimmer Emma McKeon, was present in Canberra with her dad.    

Some of these 1980 Australian Summer Olympians are now sadly no longer with us like basketball sharpshooter Ian Davies and sprinter Mitchell. Some went on to compete in subsequent Summer Olympics like marathoner Rob De Castella, basketball players Davies and Danny Morseau, diver Jenny Donnett, decathlete Peter Hadfield, and McKeon, but they all deserve to be honored. 

Over 6 million people watched the Opening Ceremony in Australia on Channel 7 that night which is one of the most-watched programs in Australian history 
 

Here is the full video 

What I have with me as I write this inaugural post here is a copy of Sports Illustrated's 1984 Summer Olympic preview issue that I just bought for a dollar at a book fair at my college. Wow! You know it's now considered old school when SI's Olympic previews back then, like 30 years ago, were thick like a coffee table book! SI's more recent Olympic previews, both Winter and Summer, are no longer THAT thick! ABC was a trailblazer in its coverage back then, proclaiming it as 'the greatest undertaking in TV history" with its exclusive live coverage of 186 hours for the US, "more than the last three televised Summer Games combined" (not counting NBC's aborted Moscow 1980 planned coverage of 150 hours), and overseeing other nations' coverage transmissions with ABC's "Olympic Tradition Continuing...". But over the years SI's previews reduced in length through recent Olympics to the point of being comparable to SI's standard-length issues, save for the swimsuit issue. But that's a reflection of many things like with, with its growing and diversifying American sports fan base, not as interested in the Olympics like in years past. Still a massive tentpole sports and media event but audiences are fragmented now. More casually followed these days with a still (and perhaps growing) significant hardcore fan base like here even as the IOC has grown and richer in stature since 1984. Just now reading but will take a while to fully study it. Does have its medal predictions that it's still famous for come Olympic time.

Speaking of studying, Olympic media coverage has been academically studied and indeed written into a book or two with one covering how NBC handled Athens 2004 because of the massive TV fee spent to the IOC to have the US TV rights, its clout, and its combined wall-to-wall coverage in various events around the clock through its family of networks. Feel more than free to happily contribute to this add stuff around the world!

Currently working on a grad school project on the 2024 bid race. I'm trying to collect as much information as I can regarding the various bid files cities submitted. 

Thanks to my activity on this board during that race, I've got the following files:

• Boston 2024 (Withdrawn):
  • All bid documents
• Los Angeles 2024:
  • All bid documents
• Paris 2024:
  • All bid documents
• Rome 2024:
  • Stage 1 candidate file (the only one created)
• Budapest 2024:
  • Stage 1 candidate file
  • Stage 2 candidate file

I am struggling to find the following files though:

• Hamburg 2024:
  • Any domestic bid documents
• Budapest 2024:
  • Stage 3 candidate file (submitted to the IOC on deadline, but the bid was withdrawn a month later)

I am hoping one of you lovely members here may have one of these missing documents lurking in a dark deep abyss on your computers or favored cloud service. I cannot find them in my own, or anywhere online. I'm going crazy because I feel 100% certain I had them at some point. 

Olympicopolis architects on their £1.3 billion vision for E20

The Olympicopolis scheme will see outposts of the V&A, Sadler’s Wells and Washington DC’s Smithsonian line up alongside new university campuses. The architects talk through their £1.3 billion vision for the Olympic Park

Olympicopolis is an ugly name for a beautiful idea — the creation of a museum and education complex at the south end of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The name derives from Albertopolis — the nickname given to Prince Albert’s grand vision for South Kensington in the wake of the Great Exhibition of 1851 that saw the building of grand edifices including the Natural History Museum, the Albert Hall and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The 21st-century version for east London, in plans seen for the first time by the Standard, promises to deliver a string of architectural pearls along Stratford Waterfront (fronting the River Lea just south of the stadium) that are of a scale and unity of conception not seen in London for generations. It will, in contrast to formal South Ken, see cultural institutions in brick and steel where the public will be encouraged to roam through perforated ground floors and along linking riverside terraces with outdoor performance and exhibition spaces.

Outposts of the V&A, Sadler’s Wells and Washington DC’s mammoth Smithsonian museum complex will line up alongside a new home for the relocating UAL's 5,000 London College of Fashion students and 500 staff and two 30- to 40-storey residential towers. Around a nearby bend in the river a second campus for University College London — UCL East — promises to embed its 13,000 students and staff in the local community.

Dublin architects O’Donnell & Tuomey and London-based Allies & Morrison are shaping the £1.3 billion vision. The Government is providing £141 million and the London Legacy Development Corporation and the Greater London Authority a further £198 million. The institutions themselves and private sector funding will contribute £789 million and a further £180 million is being fundraised philanthropically. A planning application is expected by the end of the year. O’Donnell & Tuomey is designing the V&A and Sadler’s Wells, Allies & Morrison the flats, the fashion college and the Smithsonian. A competition to design UCL East has just been launched.

More @ http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/olympicopolis-architects-on-their-13-billion-vision-for-e20-a3198041.html

Games wise worked out for London and Paris in the end.

But that said, let's take a step back down memory lane to another time - seemingly more carefree and innocent, even if horrible things were about to happen during those, the "serene Games" of Munich 1972. Here is a great video I found today on Twitter, commemorating that sunny and mild Bavarian late summer day when the Games of the XX Olympiad opened. Enjoy some great pictures capturing the spirit of the summer of 1972, behind the scenes of an opening ceremony that back then stunned the world especially with its music for the parade of nations. You can hear some parts of that music in the video, too. The pictures were taken by a photographer who was accompanied by his son to the opening ceremony who now composed this video.

https://gerdhachmann.hamburg/wernerhachmann/reisen/deutschland/bayern/muenchen1972.mp4

Found some time to get musically involved with the Los Angeles 1984 Summer Olympics that I didn't know he was involved in until a few years ago. The 1984 LA Official Summer Olympic Music Soundtrack album, that I was certainly aware of for many years but never bought or listened to. So this was his contribution--that he also composed, produced, co-arranged, and of course--to that with the instrumental theme used for the gymnastic competition at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion entitled Grace, a very synth-oriented production that's track 8 out 12 of them. Found out about this thanks to, incidentally, Network Ten Australia's 1984 Olympic OC coverage on YouTube over a few years ago! Obviously very pertinent to pay tribute to Q here since this is an Olympic forum. Forever rest in eternal musical peace and power, Quincy, you more than earned it:

It's worth nothing that this journalist mentions the exact pitfalls of what I think with hosting the Olympics.

What exactly did Paris get out of it this time? Was there any accelerated construction for hosting the five ring circus?

What about Los Angeles, will they have built anything or will those Olympic Lanes do the trick?

Round 1:  Montreal 25, Moscow 28, Los Angeles 17

Round 2:  Montreal 41, Moscow 28

Montreal was generally seen as the "neutral" choice between world powers USA and the Soviet Union.  Los Angeles bid again for 1980, with Moscow being the only other bidder.  Speculation ranges as to why LA lost again for '80, from the IOC "punishing" the US for Denver withdrawing from hosting the '76 Winter Games (they withdrew in 1972), to the "interest" in having for the first time, a communist nation hosting an Olympics.

Anyway, I was always curious to know what LA's 1976 bid (and 1980 bid, for that matter) consisted of.  It looks like it was mix of already existing facilities old (like the Coliseum) and new (like the "recently completed" Pauley Pavilion at UCLA), and some brand new ones to be specifically built for the Games.

I was very surprised to learn that there was a plan to build an Olympic Village just northwest of downtown.  From what I can glean from the candidature file, based on the maps, it looks like it would have been in the area where Beverly Blvd. and 2nd and 1st Streets all intersect, where Vista Hermosa Park is now.  I'm very sure it would have required the complete demolition of that old neighborhood in the area, to build what would have looked like this:

Interestingly, there would have been events in the San Fernando Valley.  A new swim stadium would have been built there:

The Encino Velodrome in the SFV would have been, well, the velodrome.  The Encino Velodrome still exists, and it's right in the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area.  Here's what it looked like in 1960:

A new equestrian center would have been built in Griffith Park, "just minutes" from the athletes' village:

Griffith Park currently has an equestrian center, but I don't know if it's the same one that was planned for the 1976 Summer Olympics.

And, a Points of Interest map:

Whoever's a Spaniard here, it's flashback time. Tell me what you were doing at the day of the announcement

And the full coverage to live it again (TV3 coverage, Catalán only except when Felipe Gonzalez addressed to the public at the end of the broadcast)

Quote

MELBOURNE, Sep 5 AAP - More than 300 veteran Olympians from around the world have confirmed they will be in Melbourne for this year's golden anniversary celebrations of the 1956 Melbourne Games.

The centrepiece of the celebrations will be a ceremony at the MCG commemorating Australia's first Olympics which will be preceded by an exhibition ``Melbourne 50 Years On''.

Organisers say representatives of almost all the 67 competing nations will be present.

``It looks like being as many as 320 - we had a reply the other day from an athlete from Iceland who was here in `56,'' said organiser Nadia Streat.

Olympians Club of Australia president Leon Wiegard said the golden anniversary would reinforce international recognition of Melbourne as one of the great sporting cities in the world.

``This recognition had its fouondations in the `56 Olympics and it was reflected again in the Commonwealth Games,'' Wiegard said.

He said the anniversary provided Victoria and Melbourne with the opportunity to have a ``50 year look at itself'' and acknowledge its international standing.

The highlight of 10 days of celebrations will be the MCG ceremony on November 19 with a commemorative dinner on November 22, the day in 1956 the Games began.

AAP

Watching this video is interesting about how Menem and his government really tried to sell the idea of that modern and developed new Argentina after the dark days of National Reorganization Process and the confrontations during Alfonsin regime. And how in 1997, the economic bubble was starting to show fissures but still Menem continues to promote that image. 

Now going to the proper bid, although really ambitious, on paper that could have changed the urban redesign of Buenos Aires and the proper infrastructure happened in Puerto Madero in our days may have a more social value with a proper sport city linked with ecology. Still, i'm talking on paper. 

Anyway, considering the current situation, probably this dream (And considering the legacy of the Youth Olympics) this may not happen in at least two generations, if being generous.