The awarding of the XIV Winter Olympics to Sarajevo caught many by surprise, including the host country, which went to work building new facilities and making improvements to old ones in order to accommodate the Games.
The choice of Sarajevo proved more than appropriate - for twelve days, the world witnessed as the then largest Winter Games ever, in terms of number of participants (from 49 countries) and media, went off without a hitch. The people of Sarajevo gained high marks for their hospitality.
Kosevo Olympic Stadium was the venue for the opening ceremony. Alpine skiing events were mainly spread over the mountains of Jahorina and Bjelasnica, while Igman hosted cross-country skiing, ski jumping and biathlon, bobsled and luge was held at Trebevic. Zetra Hall was the venue for figure and speed skating, ice hockey and closing ceremony. This would be the last time the closing ceremony for the Winter Games was held indoors.
Although the Soviet Union would finish the Sarajevo Games with the most medals, twenty five, it was the East Germans who would strike gold the most, with individuals and teams finishing first in ski jumping, women's figure skating, women's speedskating, women's luge, and the two-man and four-man bobsled - for a total of nine gold medals.
Readers of national newspapers were asked to choose the mascot for the 1984 Winter Olympics from a list of six finalists. The winner was Vucko, the little wolf designed by Slovenian designer and illustrator Joze Trobec.
Highlights of the XIV Olympic Winter Games
Gold-medal-winning figure skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean (UK) redefined the sport with their mesmerizing interpretation of Maurice Ravel's Bolero on Valentine's Day. They scored 12 out of 18 possible sixes for their free dance and the maximum possible of nine sixes for artistic impression.
Skier Jure Franko brought joy to the host nation by earning Yugoslavia 's first Winter Olympics medal, a silver in the giant slalom.
Marja-Liisa Hämäläinen from Finland won all three individual cross-country races for women and a bronze medal in the relay.
Twin brothers Phil and Steve Mahre (USA) took first and second place in the slalom.
The East German women dominated the speed skating competition, led by Karin Enke (two gold and two silver medals), Andrea Schöne (one gold and two silver), and Christa Luding-Rothenburger (one gold).
