1988 Summer Olympics
The Games of the XXIV Olympiad were held in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. The host was chosen in a 1981 vote, ahead of the Japanese city of Nagoya.
| Games of the XXIV Olympiad | |
| Nations participating | 159 |
| Athletes participating | 8,465 (6,279 men, 2,186 women) |
| Events | 263 in 27 sports |
| Opening ceremonies | September 17, 1988 |
| Closing ceremonies | October 2, 1988 |
| Officially opened by | Roh Taewoo |
| Athlete's Oath | Hur Jae |
| Judge's Oath: | Lee Hakrae |
| Olympic Torch | Sohn Kee-chung, Chung Sunman, Kim Wontak and Sohn Mi-Chung |
Highlights
- 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.
- Canadian Ben Johnson wins the 100 m in a new World Record, but is then disqualified after he has been found guilty of doping.
- Swimmer Kristin Otto of East Germany wins six gold medals. Other multi-medalists in the pool are Matt Biondi (five) and Janet Evans (3).
- Anthony Nesty of Suriname wins his country's first Olympic medal by winning the 100 m butterfly, scoring an upset victory.
- US Sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner wins three gold medals and a silver on the track.
- 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, Soviet Vladimir Artemov wins four.
- Two Bulgarian weightlifters are stripped of their gold medals after testing positive for doping. The Bulgarian weightlifting team withdraws after this event.
- Baseball and Taekwondo are demo sports
- Woman´s Judo
- The last amateur US men's basketball team fails to win the gold, for only the third time in Olympic history.
Medals awarded
See the medal winners, ordered by sport:
Medal count
Top medal-collecting nations:
(for the full table, see 1988 Summer Olympics medal count)
| 1988 Summer Olympics medal count | File:Olympic-rings.png | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | File:Sovetunion small.png USSR | 55 | 31 | 46 | 132 |
| 2 | File:Germany flag 1949 east.png East Germany (GDR) | 37 | 35 | 30 | 102 |
| 3 | File:Us flag large.png United States | 36 | 31 | 27 | 94 |
| 4 | File:South korea flag large.png South Korea | 12 | 10 | 11 | 33 |
| 5 | File:Germany flag large.png West Germany (FRG) | 11 | 14 | 15 | 40 |
| 6 | File:Hungary flag large.png Hungary | 11 | 6 | 6 | 23 |
| 7 | File:Bulgaria flag large.png Bulgaria | 10 | 12 | 13 | 35 |
| 8 | File:Romania flag large.png Romania | 7 | 11 | 6 | 24 |
| 9 |  France
|
6 | 4 | 6 | 16 |
| 10 | File:Italy flag large.png Italy | 6 | 4 | 4 | 14 |
See also
- 1988 Summer Paralympics
- International Olympic Committee
- WikiProject Sports Olympics
- IOC country codes
