Sarajevo- 1984

I was asked to pull together some comments on my Sarajevo experience. I thought it might add some perspective-

Sarajevo was never a winter sports town. None of us could figure out how they won the Olympics. They had neither history nor expertise in winter sports- picture mosques and mountains. And it was a poor city, not really fit for hosting an extravagant world event- even in 1984, before everything that followed. This is not to say that they didn’t pull off the games with style, they did- just not in a style that any of us recognized.

The snow that fell during the games was never brushed off the locals’ cars as there was not fuel to drive them. Cabs burned anything that would combust in order to milk the two week window of western currency that was available for them. I had the sense that none of the locals really understood the hoopla of these winter games, but appreciated the pomp, fanfare, and excuse for an international party. They were happy to have us and very gracious hosts. In retrospect I realize I was the more ignorant, not unusual for an American.

Everyone at the games- athletes and spectators alike- has their own Olympic moments and very few of these moments are particularly Olympic in the network TV sense of the word. In 1984 Scott Hamilton did a back flip and Bill Johnson won the downhill but the highlight for Kathy (my wife) was at the speedskating oval where the father of a US speedskater called out to his disappointed daughter- “That’s all right, honey- way to go! I love you!” The naked caring of this father’s voice more moving to Kathy than any gold medal performance she witnessed.

One of my fondest Sarajevo moments was sitting in the quiet no-man’s land of doping control with the ski jumping medal winners- a Finn, an East German, and a Czech- each of us with a beer to encourage the moment (perhaps celebrate theirs- I was 4th), none of us of the same tongue so using facial gestures and sign language to congratulate or commiserate… to acknowledge all we had in common without uttering a word. Imagine that.