Have you ever attended an Olympics? (upd another Canada memory post # 37 )

[bcla]

I wasn't born when the Annapolis thing happened, lol.

How about DC in 1996?

 

[bcla]

During the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, some of the soccer matches were played up in the Bay Area at Stanford Stadium. A friend's dad was working security and got us tickets to the Brazil vs. Italy match. While it was an Olympic event, we weren't in LA in the middle of the action. There was a group of Brazilian fans in one section, and members of the Italian Navy in another. They sat in formation in their white uniforms which was a cool sight to see across the stadium. The wave was started a few times, but it would stop dead when it reached the groups of Brazilian or Italian fans. When they figured it out, they wouldn't stop! The Italian Navy started doing their own wave within their ranks, over and over and were just having the best time ever! The game we attended was the final one at Stanford, since the semi-finals and finals would be played in LA. They had a ceremony to extinguish the flame after the game. It was a great experience!

Brazil vs Italy was a semifinal. The other semifinal was at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena with the bronze medal match and the final at the Rose Bowl. I didn't go, but was kind of disappointed that my dad didn't accept the offer of tickets from the same friend who gave us tickets for the Brazil vs W. Germany prelim.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_at_the_1984_Summer_Olympics#Semi-finals

The other thing I noticed was that Stanford Stadium was horrible. We got to sit on splintery wooden seats and walked on planks. If anything fell down, it would keep rolling down the berm until it hit something where it stopped. The corridors were also cramped and were what I imagined an abandoned mine shaft would look like.

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

1996 Atlanta games. Both in Olympic stadium and also at Lake Lanier for the rowing events.

 

[pigletliz]

LA 84 - Track and Field, Women's marathon, Volleyball. I had a ton of fun trading pins. So much fun meeting people from all over the world.
Atlanta 96 - Opening Ceremony, Track and Field. Spent more money on pins.
Volunteered for the 2016 US Olympic Trial's for the marathon. I
I really hope to get the opportunity to volunteer for LA 2028,

 

[HiStitch626]

Atlanta 96 Opening Ceremony. There were gift bags in our seats. No idea what happened to the rest of the stuff, but I do still have the pin. It's a little Home Depot guy with a peach tree in a wheelbarrow. I went with a friend and cannot recall how she got the tickets. We could not stay long so wandered around Centennial park a little the next morning where there were exhibits and bands played and then came home. I was a little surreal seeing Centennial park on the news about a week later after the bombing.

 

[tennisfan]

Went to London 2012 as a spectator had hockey tickets. Also worked at the games for the ambulance service, got to see other events too by chatting to the right people

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Not only have I never attended the Olympics, but I am also currently boycotting the Olympics due to:

1. Norway's woman's beach handball team was banned for not wearing bikini bottoms.
2. Sha'Carri Richardson was banned for using weed.
3. Namibia female runners banned over high testosterone levels

These are all stupid rules.

 

[loves to dive]

1996 Atlanta Olympics, went to the gold medal men's soccer game (live in Athens they were held here and they took down our beloved hedges). Also saw the torch pass through here and went to Olympic Park once while they were happening. We could have gone to a couple more events since hubby's best friend's step dad was a partner at Home Depot and all of them got tickets to everything but we didn't want to deal with Atlanta.

 

[DL55]

The 1984 Olympics, an equestrian jumping event that the US won so got to listen to the national anthem at the end.
I was pregnant and wore a shirt that said "future Olympian". ( No, she did not become an Olympian. )

 

[bcla]

Not only have I never attended the Olympics, but I am also currently boycotting the Olympics due to:

1. Norway's woman's beach handball team was banned for not wearing bikini bottoms.
2. Sha'Carri Richardson was banned for using weed.
3. Namibia female runners banned over high testosterone levels

These are all stupid rules.

The first one isn’t Olympics related.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

The first one isn’t Olympics related.

Yeah, I realized that. I confused the euro championship with the Olympics. And they weren't banned, they were fined.

 

[RedAngie]

Yeah, I realized that. I confused the euro championship with the Olympics. And they weren't banned, they were fined.

Olympics have been boycotted for unrelated reasons before.

1976-Many African nations boycotted Montreal because a New Zealand rugby team (not an Olympic sport at the time) played matches in apartheid South Africa. They wanted New Zealand banned from the games.

1980-The US and many allies boycotted Moscow because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

1984-USSR and some allies boycotted Los Angeles in retaliation.

There were others in the early 1900s.

I’m not boycotting, I just haven’t watched anything yet. I did see about 30 seconds of Poland v Italy men’s indoor volleyball on a bar TV yesterday. Another TV had men’s water polo.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

Atlanta 1996. A friend and I took an early morning flight to Atlanta, arriving about 830am. We attended a late morning track and field session where the "happy just to be there" athletes ranked 50th and lower competed in heats and preliminaries. Men's and women's 100 meters, men's shot put, and maybe women's pole vault. The stadium was about 1/4 full. We sat about 1/3 of the way up in the upper deck in the elbow where home plate would be in the future for the Braves. Weird view from that angle, but there were giant video boards.

We then hung around around the Centennial Park area soaking up the atmosphere. In late afternoon we attended an indoor women's volleyball match. Poland vs. Peru held in a gussied-up gym on Georgia Tech's campus.

Return to the park area and walked the streets where we bought some unofficial knockoff T's and caps.

Return flight home was about 10:30pm. We brought a change of clothes in backpacks on the remote chance of staying overnight.

A few hours after we departed the bomb went off in Centennial Park.

 

[Brer_Papa]

The 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

We had tickets to the USA Basketball team. USA Baseball team. Field Hockey match -- not sure who played.

We had hung out at Centennial park but left an hour or so before the bomb exploded.

We stayed at a place called the Simpsonwood Estate which was at the northen end of the Metro system.

The night we went to the baseball game which was at the new stadium, the ball game at the old stadium finished the same time our game ended. The mob heading to the Metro was great. The Metro ride was unforgettable.

We were jammed in there so close I told the young Lady I was behind I should propose to her!

All in all, a great experience!

 

[ronandannette]

Olympics have been boycotted for unrelated reasons before.

1976-Many African nations boycotted Montreal because a New Zealand rugby team (not an Olympic sport at the time) played matches in apartheid South Africa. They wanted New Zealand banned from the games.

1980-The US and many allies boycotted Moscow because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

1984-USSR and some allies boycotted Los Angeles in retaliation.

There were others in the early 1900s.

I’m not boycotting, I just haven’t watched anything yet. I did see about 30 seconds of Poland v Italy men’s indoor volleyball on a bar TV yesterday. Another TV had men’s water polo.

I'm part of a national lobby encouraging the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Federal Ministry of Sport to pull the entire team out of Beijing 2021 due to serious diplomatic conflict between our country and the CCP. Free the Michaels!! It's a huge sacrifice to ask of our athletes; I know, but Canadian lives may literally depend on it.

 

[Grand Koalafornian]

Not yet, but I live in Los Angeles, so I plan to see some in 2028.

 

[charlie.nj]

Interesting replies. Wow the Atlanta Olympics scary stuff.

(sorry long post its been a while)

Oh Canada! Funny thinking about Montreal triggered another memory. My Aunt used to take us on bus trips along the East Coast. I think the company was called Cassa Tours out of NYC. Well in 1967 she took us to Montreal for the World’s Fair Expo 67 “Man and His World” (I bet they couldn’t name it that today..yikes) We didn’t stay at this hotel but my Aunt wanted to eat at the swankiest restaurant in Montreal. She made reservations at a restaurant in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel(?). Well we walked in and were immediately stopped by some highbrow Maitre-d. He told us we would not be permitted to dine because we lacked a proper jacket and tie. Geez we were just kids. My Aunt asked if anything could be done to get us in. We were starving and my Aunt really wanted to check the place out. (I wonder what the exchange rate for a “Jackson” was back then) A sweet older waitress came over and said to the Maitre-d “let them pick something out of the box”. What the heck were we going to be eating food out of a box? Yuck! (this was pre Micky D’s Happy Meal debut in 79 lol) It turns out the box was full of clothes I guess that were left in the restaurant over time. It had mostly jackets and ties. I did see a few solo shoes. (hmm must have been a wild night)

We were forced to pick out a jacket and tie from la boîte (aka the box). Slim pickin’s but I picked what I thought was the calmest jacket and tie. The jacket was massive and plaid. The tie was yes what else…a clip on bow tie. (it was also massive and plaid) You would have thought the Maitre-d would have just seated us as we walked in with our dress shirts instead of making us look like a clown troupe. As we walked to our table you could feel the laughter from the other patrons. We sat down red faced. We had the attention of the room everyone was staring at our table. I must have really looked like Bozo the Clown or Harpo Marks with my oversized coat, bow tie, and massive round do of brown curly hair. (hmm wish I had that time machine) All I needed was a horn to toot.

My Aunt sort of let the surrounding tables know what was going on and the laugher and stares died down. But as we all got a good look at each other we broke out into uncontrollable laughter which pretty much lasted through the whole meal. The stuffy Maitre-d who started all of this even came over a few ties and smiled at the fun we were having. We did cause another uproar when the waiter asked us what we wanted to eat and we replied a hamburger and French fries. The waiter yelled something in French I could just imagine what it translated to. Hopefully since we were just kids it was something watered down like “that dang portly American kid ordering a burger in a 5 star restaurant how dare he” but from the look on his face with spit flying out of his mouth on every French syllable, and veins popping out of his temple I didn’t think so. Lol Good memories.

PS – My nice Aunt also took us to WDW on one of the bus tours in 1972. I blame her for getting me hooked on WDW. It was so creepy traveling on I-95 back then when it was just a narrow road with that Spanish moss hanging off of the trees in most of the Southern states. Also there was NOTHING really surrounding WDW. Should have purchased property lol.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I attended the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics. The year Nadia Comăneci and Bruce Jenner were golden. Ahh the summer of 1976, “it was a very good year”. While my friends and I viewed Op Sail for America's Bicentennial, from the Jersey City, NJ waterfront we came up with the bright idea of driving to Montreal for the Summer Olympics. So, a couple of weeks after Op Sail we all piled into my friends car and drove to Montreal. Where would we stay? What would we eat? It didn’t manner we were young. Those were the days, not a care in the world. (does anyone have a time machine?)

Have you ever attended an Olympics…as a participant or spectator?

Hi charlie.nj!!!

I almost attended the 1984 Olympics since they were local, and almost volunteered, but we had a family vacation at that time, and ended up watching them from a hotel in Sevilla. My friend did volunteer and gave me one of her shirts, and we went to the Velodrome and traded some pins. That's as close as I got. A former coworker friend of mine goes to all of them with her husband and attends an event or two.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

I didn't attend, but I visited some Olympic sites in Montreal and Calgary years after. Calgary was especially interesting. West of the city is the location of the bobsled/luge tracks, ski jumps, and a few other facilities.

For some outrageous price we got to ride in a bobsled down the track with a pro driver and brakeman. I'm sure they only went about half the speed they do while racing, but it was an awesome experience.

And oh, yeah, people (including ex-wife) said my friend and I were crazy for going to Calgary (and Edmonton) in January. As it turned out, Calgary was kind of warm, in the low to mid 50sF, while back home in NJ there was an ice storm and deep freeze. Calgary was practically snowless except for piles at the edges of parking lots. Someone took a photo of us shirtless standing next to a snowpile.

(Edmonton was cold and snowy.)