LOS ANGELES 1984

Predictably the Soviet Union boycotted the Los Angeles Games, ostensibly for security reasons but in reality as revenge for the humiliation they had suffered four years earlier.

Yet Californians could not have cared less. The absence of the Soviet Union meant all the more medals for Americans, fitting in perfectly with the new mood of confident exuberance in Ronald Reagan's America.

An opening ceremony featuring 85 grand pianos set the tone of unabashed Hollywood schmalz and Carl Lewis proved the perfect leading man, fulfilling his ambition to emulate Jesse Owens's four gold medals in the 100, 200, long jump and 4x100 relay with an almost insolent ease.

Joan Benoit, who had undergone arthroscopic surgery on her right knee 2-1/2 weeks before the Olympic trials, overcame the heat and humidity to win the first women's marathon gold. Ed Moses, who had given a stumbling rendition of the Olympic oath, soared over the barriers to win his second 400 metres hurdles title.

The Games were a triumph for the head of the organising committee Peter Ueberroth, a former travel agent with a permanent tan, who courted big business to make a profit in excess of $200 million in the first private enterprise Games.