ABSTRACT

Of the post-War Olympics, few burn brighter in the popular memory than the 1984 Los Angeles Games. London in 1948 ensured that the Olympic Games continued after the brutality and destruction of WWII; Japan in 1964 brought the Games to Asia; Mexico City in 1968 and Munich in 1972 provided visible images of protest and tragedy.1 Aside from a few iconic images, however, those Games fade into the backdrop with a plethora of Olympic moments that have defined a global sporting phenomenon. What explains the enduring images that many still hold towards the Games known as ‘LA84’?