University of Kentucky - Kentuckian Yearbook (Lexington, KY)

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Phoebe Mulls wmner of tho USA s only medal m women's gymnashcs rn xndwwduw competilwon, ws congratlr Xated by Bela Karolyw. Danny Manning scores in the USA USSR basketball game geme Mates of be mom; dreaw tamed In cansl pecta wnh mance year seen face th s Ingfw about Span: ondL HkAark away pom r ofa s buHer weake rneter memb teams Shane Louga ms 0 wnh gem. head the pr tempo ceede make gem. hum Louga trated In era of I'm I'm That abet fun.'

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Memories of Seoul The Summer Olympics once again brought the world many spectacular performances. Story and Layout by Tracey L. Boyd 6 1 988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea held many sur- prises for athletes and fans around the world. With the return of the Eastern bloc, after their '84 boycott, the Olympics once again proved to be a true test of world champions. Besides upsets in many events, the 24th Summer Games were shad- owed by scandals involving controversial judging, poor sportsmanship, and steroid use among athletes. This raised many questions and doubts among people about the true spirit of the Olympic Games, and led the Herald- Leader to run a special editO' rial column about such is- sues. Besides the official com- petition, there were two major sldeshows that will most be remembered about these games. First came the controversial boxing match between bantamweights Byun Jong of South Korea and Alexander Hristov of Bul- garia. When Hristov was an- nounced the decided winner of a close match, people raged in protest. The referee was assaulted by Korean boxing officials, coaches, and security guards, as well as people from the crowd throwing objects into the ring Jong, staged a sit-in as protest, but, after 67 min- utes, he rose, bowed to the After winning the 200 meter dash setting a world record and getting the gold, Flo-Jo tell to her knees ap- pearing to say a prayer of thanks. remaining crowd, and walked out with his head hung low in shame. The chaos surround- ing the unfavorable decision left many Koreans feeling shamed and embarassed, es- pecially as host to the Games. uNo matter what happens from this moment on, no matter what went be- fore and what follows, we can never recover from this tragedy, Oh 800 in, the general director of the South Korean boxing federation, told Sports Illustrated. After all was said and done in the 100 meter dash with the world-famous match- up between archrivals Carl Lewis of the USA and Ben Johnson of Canada, Johnson not only had the gold and a new world record by an in- credible margin, but also the accusations of having used steroids, Johnson, after test- ing positive for steroids, was stripped of his gold medal, and all of the benefits that go along with being an Olympic champion, He was also sus- pended from international competition for two years. According to several coaches, the surprise was not that steroids were being used, but that Johnson got caught Despite the few bad spots seen in every Olympics. the athletic victories prevailed by far. As tradition goes, the Olympics again brought to- Two USA baseball players celebrate their victory over Puerto Rico to put them in the Gold Medal Game.

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m Memories of Seoul gether the world's best ath- letes battling for the prestige of being an Olympic Cham- pion: a feat many have dreamed of and few have at tained. In the water, the Ameri- cans lived up to the high exA pectations established by all with their superb perfor- mances. Janet Evans, the 17 year old powerhouse always seen With a smile on her face. won three gold medals l'm smiling because I'm hav- ing tunt Thats what this is all about. to have fun she told Sports Illustrated Matt Bi- ondi, proclaimed to be the hMark Spitz of 882 swam away with five golds, a disape pointing silver by a hundredth ot a second in the tOO meter butterfly, and a bronze in his weakest event, the 200 meter freestyle. Biondi was a member of both men's relay teams that decisively won, shattering record times. Greg Louganis, a diving legend in his own time, came away with yet another Olympic gold, Although he hit his dead on the springboard in the preliminaries, he received temporary stitches and pro seeded with his dives to make it to the finals and a gold, HI think my pride was hurt more than anything, Louganis told Sports Illus- trated about his accident. In track and field. a new era of champions was recog- ttl'm smiling because ltm having fun. That's what this is all about, to have fun. -Janet Evans nized, and a fond farewell was bid to one of track's vet- eran superstars, Edwin Moses, Moses stepped down from his 12 year reign over the hurdle events, leav- ing his mark well established. Jackie Joyner-Kersee achieved her goals by WlnA ning a gold in the heptathalon and breaking her own world record Her sister-in-law, Florence Griffith Joyner was now the fastest woman in the world. FIo-Jol as fans called her, also went down in histoe ry for her extravagant fingere hails painted with Olympic designs on each nail. In team competitions, menls volleyball successfully beat the Soviets for the gold medal, removing any doubt as to their validity as world champions The gymnastics teams were not so fortunate. The men finished next to last and the women lost the bronze to the East Germans over a controversial penalty. The girls took the frustrating loss very well as Garrison- Steves said to Time mage azine, I know in my heart that we won the bronze medat. After two weeks of gruel- ing competition in late Sep- tember in a toreign land thou- sands of miles away. Americans finished third overall behind the East Ger- mans and the Soviets. l3 Greg Best, aboard Gem Twists won the silver medal in the Individual Jumping competition in ajumproff All photos courtesy of Todd Bu- chanan-Courier Journal-USA Today Olympics 27