Although I owned (and still) own the Barcelona 1992 video game for Genesis, I can't recall watching anything from those games.
The first I remember watching is Lillehammer 94, seeing Elvis Stojko skate.
As for the first Summer Games, I remember seeing Donovan Bailey win the gold in the 100m at Atlanta in 1996 and the political sour grapes that followed (that's a story for another day however, Olympic nationalism causes people to act irrationally)
Tommie Smith and John Carlos; Mexico City 1968.
1992 because of the Dream Team. The Olympics rarely have been worth a watch ever since.
I think I vaguely remember the 2004 Athens olympics, but I remember the 2006 Torino olympics more (I've always preferred the winter olympics :)). The 2010 olympics we're of course special as a Canadian, and I was also on a great ski trip at Fernie, BC (that was still the best skiing I've ever experienced)!
Next week I'll be skiing in Tremblant; 8 years gone by and I'll be watching the olympics on a ski trip once again.
First one I remember was 2000 Sydney
1976 Montreal - with the then-Bruce Jenner.
1984, ice hockey. I played when I was a kid, and it was the first olympics after the Miracle on Ice.
I settled down to enjoy a good hockey game, which the American network showed about 7 minutes of before switching to some vignette about the challenges overcome by an upcoming American figure skater. That doesn't seem surprising now, but it was a bit of a disappointment then.
Quote from: 7/8 on February 11, 2018, 10:27:35 PM
I think I vaguely remember the 2004 Athens olympics, but I remember the 2006 Torino olympics more (I've always preferred the winter olympics :)). The 2010 olympics we're of course special as a Canadian, and I was also on a great ski trip at Fernie, BC (that was still the best skiing I've ever experienced)!
Next week I'll be skiing in Tremblant; 8 years gone by and I'll be watching the olympics on a ski trip once again.
I'm guess I must be in the minority here in Canada when I say I prefer the Summer Games. It's the bigger more complicated event. It's the style of competition I like more, other than short track and snowboard/ski cross, there are no events where athletes are pitted against each other in races. It's just a preference.
Speaking of which, I was bitter when Vancouver won the Olympic bid as it took away our chance at a summer Olympics for at least a decade. Furthermore, the Olympics since then, with Vancouver being an exception have been a curse on the city who hosts them. The Athens olympics is the most serious example in recent times. The attitude in Toronto when we lost that bid in 2001 was that we'd get it right the next time for 2012 (which may have been a long shot considering the major cities of the world all bid for 2012) As I said, the Olympics were something the people wanted, Toronto entertained in 2015 the possibility of bidding for 2024 and that met understandable opposition. But I really wonder what Toronto would have been like today infrastructure wise if we hosted the 2008 Olympics or 2012 Olympics.
Did you ever wonder what those grey posts on some GTA overpasses are for? (GSV SB 410 @ Steeles to see an example) Well back for the 2008 bid, these held a banner which read something like ([Corporate Logo] supports Toronto's Olympic Bid" On a side note, I do remember some GTA overpasses utilizing these posts in 2015 advertising about the Pan American Games. The Olympic banners appeared on the overpasses from roughly Summer 2000 to when they lost the bid the following summer in 2001.
I have a memory of being at a large family gathering at my grandma's and knowing that the TV was on and that it was the Olympics and that it was in Atlanta, but I can't remember anything about which sport was on at the time.
The earliest one where I can remember exactly what I was watching is 1998 Nagano, specifically the opening ceremony.
Athens 2004 for me. Memory is pretty hazy though.
Hazy memory of 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich
Vague memories of the two 1992 competitions, definitely fully aware of the decision to split years and the next one in 1994.
Quote from: MisterSG1 on February 11, 2018, 11:49:10 PM
Furthermore, the Olympics since then, with Vancouver being an exception have been a curse on the city who hosts them.
The 2002 Olympics were awesome for Salt Lake City. Increased tourism, much improved infrastructure (including a complete reconstruction of I-15 through SL County), venues still in use, a light rail system...I could go on.
Quote from: MisterSG1 on February 11, 2018, 11:49:10 PM
Did you ever wonder what those grey posts on some GTA overpasses are for? (GSV SB 410 @ Steeles to see an example) Well back for the 2008 bid, these held a banner which read something like ([Corporate Logo] supports Toronto's Olympic Bid" On a side note, I do remember some GTA overpasses utilizing these posts in 2015 advertising about the Pan American Games. The Olympic banners appeared on the overpasses from roughly Summer 2000 to when they lost the bid the following summer in 2001.
There are several bridges with Olympic stuff on them in the Salt Lake City area. Three come to mind now, and I'm sure there are more:
Bangerter Highway at I-15 (https://goo.gl/maps/UnWCEuqWbqK2)
South Weber Drive at US 89 (https://goo.gl/maps/p41NS2k7jDK2)
I-80 and SR-224 (https://goo.gl/maps/DYxHCWrdWLR2) (this interchange was actually upgraded to a SPUI to prepare for the Olympics).
Barcelona. Though that's mostly the TV coverage's theme song.
Oldest specific Olympic-watching memory is bobsleigh at Nagano.
In the flesh, London 2012.
Quote from: MisterSG1 on February 11, 2018, 11:49:10 PMI was bitter when Vancouver won the Olympic bid as it took away our chance at a summer Olympics for at least a decade.
A Candian city could have bid for 2024 and didn't. The next three Olympics are all pretty close together - South Korea, Japan and China (Beijing having a second games just 12 years after the first - won by being the only people bidding!). Toronto didn't bid for 2024 or 2028, and so will have to wait for 2036 (due to LA 2028 and a dislike of 2 games in a row on one continent) unless no one bids for 2032 and they can pull a Beijing!
I know it's not quite the same, but hosting the Commonwealth Games would be a good step on the way to making any Toronto 2036 Olympic bid unstoppable - stop letting Hamilton (which held the first games in 1930) from launching bids doomed to failure (though perhaps the lessons from not giving Hamilton it in 2010 have been learned?), get experience of bidding, build a lot of the infrastructure (but a smaller scale - fewer athletes, fewer events) splitting the cost and spreading it out over two events, get experience of running such things. Become a safe bet with a successful Commonwealth Games in the 2020s and (unlike smaller UK cities which kept being told by the IOC that they were only interested in UK bids from London, despite the fact they would have been great Olympic hosts) make it hard for the IOC to not pick you.
Quote from: MisterSG1 on February 11, 2018, 11:49:10 PMFurthermore, the Olympics since then, with Vancouver being an exception have been a curse on the city who hosts them.
London? Yes, there have been issues (the massive public subsidy of West Ham, for instance - though that's nothing compared to US stadium shenanigans and is only really an issue as in the UK, teams build stadia with very few exceptions), but the legacy has been overwhelmingly positive and Londoners (Brits in general less so, mostly due to the grudge against London getting all the attention) are glad the 5-ring circus came to town. Stratford is still getting more and more a major centre post-2012 - the Olympics functioned as a catalyst and the snowball effect keeps growing. The city has restored its civic pride, and the Olympics, coupled with the Diamond Jubilee the same year did create a change in the national mood about throwing more parties. Add in that the tube network is now better signed for tourists.
I think Athens, Atlanta and Rio are the only ones in the past few years where they have been problems specifically due to holding the games. Sochi and Beijing's problems with the games were almost all to do with the government being an authoritarian regime.
Quote from: roadguy2 on February 12, 2018, 01:07:32 AMThere are several bridges with Olympic stuff on them in the Salt Lake City area.
That's the games-specific logo? The IOC police the copyright of the 5 rings very seriously and hosts only get to display one set post-games. London recycled the metal of some (eg Tower Bridge), reused others (eg St Pancras cut its set up and made them coloured curved benches) . The Lisa-Simpson-doing-a-lewd-act-on-Bart 2012 logo is nowhere to be seen in London anymore.
Beijing 2008 for me.
1964 Tokyo
Sydney 2000.
Montreal 1976 here, too.
Besides admiring Jenner's gold medal and world record, my surprise and confusion when Nadia Comaneci's score showed as "1.00." I knew nothing about gymnastics - still don't know much - but she had obviously done her skills very well.
Athens 2004
Even though I was only age 9, I remember being in the streets of Lake Placid when Team USA beat the Soviets in the hockey semifinals and the party that spilled into the street from there. I'm 99% sure we were also in the building for the bronze medal game and the medal ceremony. I also remember watching the closing ceremony on television back home after all that.
It's too bad the Olympics have outgrown places like Lake Placid. It's such a great winter sports area.
Quote from: Jim on February 12, 2018, 03:36:29 PM
Even though I was only age 9, I remember being in the streets of Lake Placid when Team USA beat the Soviets in the hockey semifinals and the party that spilled into the street from there. I'm 99% sure we were also in the building for the bronze medal game and the medal ceremony. I also remember watching the closing ceremony on television back home after all that.
It's too bad the Olympics have outgrown places like Lake Placid. It's such a great winter sports area.
There's just one thing that's incorrect. The famous USA vs USSR game was NOT a semifinal. The remaining four teams played a round robin with the remaining teams they hadn't played. (USA tied Sweden so 1 point was carried over but had not played USSR or Finland)
In fact, if the US had NOT defeated Finland two days later, USSR would have got the gold despite the upset two days earlier.
Quote from: MisterSG1 on February 11, 2018, 09:48:01 PM
Although I owned (and still) own the Barcelona 1992 video game for Genesis, I can't recall watching anything from those games.
The first I remember watching is Lillehammer 94, seeing Elvis Stojko skate.
As for the first Summer Games, I remember seeing Donovan Bailey win the gold in the 100m at Atlanta in 1996 and the political sour grapes that followed (that's a story for another day however, Olympic nationalism causes people to act irrationally)
Grenoble 1968. I also remember Vinko Bogataj's attempted jump in one of the qualifying events earlier that year.
The Helsinki Olympics. They weren't shown live but they did have highlights everyday.
Sarajevo 1984. Like kurumi, I remember how ABC would cut away from hockey. People complained and Jim McKay arrogantly responded on-air, "We are here to cover ALL the Olympics, not just hockey." I wonder if that debacle was part of what prompted NBC to try the ill-fated Triplecast for Barcelona in 1992.
(Speaking of broadcasting annoyances, tonight NBCSN was supposedly to be airing curling, but they haven't yet. They're showing biathlon right now. I wanted to watch curling.)
I didn't see all that much of the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 because a good part of it took place during a family vacation around Quebec and we were camping in tents a lot of nights. In general, I like the Winter Olympics more because I enjoy the winter sports more, although regardless of winter or summer I find it annoying whenever a "sport" depends on subjective judges' scores and not on objective criteria like who's faster or which team scores more goals/points.
Quote from: 1995hoo on February 12, 2018, 10:31:58 PM
(Speaking of broadcasting annoyances, tonight NBCSN was supposedly to be airing curling, but they haven't yet. They're showing biathlon right now. I wanted to watch curling.)
(I watched Curling on CNBC 5-8P EST today, not NBCSN. The Countryless Competitors defeated Norway. Mixed doubles gold medal game tomorrow. I'm going by the schedule in last Wednesday's WaPo special section, and the Comcast OSG.)
Remember when moguls used to be big and fluffy hills with tiny jumps? Those were the days.
I remember the watching the 1976 Winter Olympics (Austria, right?) and ABC's Jim McKay re-telling the story of the massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. I remember someone really busting their butt on the ski jump ramp which became the illustration of the "agony of defeat" during the opening montage of "Wide World of Sports".
I have always enjoyed the winter games a lot more than the summer games, and I have watched at least some part of every Winter Olympics since 1976, but I only really remember focusing on 1976 Montreal and 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics.
I would have to say the Sarajevo Winter Olympics of 1984. I don't really remember Lake Placid (I was 4 when they took place), so 1984 would really be the first memory, as the Red Army returned to power and the US team was pretty much a no-show. 1984 was really the first year that I started following sports; we had just got cable, and I was old enough to follow and appreciate them. I also remember LA later that year because my grandparents went; I still have the binoculars they used at the games.
Quote from: 1995hoo on February 12, 2018, 10:31:58 PMIn general, I like the Winter Olympics more because I enjoy the winter sports more, although regardless of winter or summer I find it annoying whenever a "sport" depends on subjective judges' scores and not on objective criteria like who's faster or which team scores more goals/points.
Which happens more often in winter Olympic sports, than summer surely?
While Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing and Snowboarding is only three, compared to Diving, Dressage, Gymnastics, Synchronised Swimming and Trampoline's 5, it's a higher proportion of the total events.
OK, being in the UK means that the technical, but judged on artistic quality as well, events like Figure Skating and Snowboarding are what highlights coverage focuses on at the Winter Olympics - because, Torville and Dean got what's now the older generation interested in watching the Winter Olympics for more than laughing at Eddie the Eagle and X-Games stuff gets the younger crowd interested. Obviously, the other events make the highlights package*, but whereas you get 15 minutes of the hour highlights program each on figure skating and stunts-on-snow (even when the focus is the Canadian team of skaters or that young American snowboarder), to get that much on other sports you'll need major British interest (a medal especially)** or some big story - eg the 5-minute feature/interviews they did on the all-Korea women's ice hockey team will be the most that sport gets covered in a day outside the live coverage.
*Skiing and the luge/bob/skeleton track typically getting more of the remaining time than other activities.
**though British coverage is less partisan than US coverage.
Lake Placid, NY - 1980
Quote from: english si on February 13, 2018, 05:47:51 AM
Quote from: 1995hoo on February 12, 2018, 10:31:58 PMIn general, I like the Winter Olympics more because I enjoy the winter sports more, although regardless of winter or summer I find it annoying whenever a "sport" depends on subjective judges' scores and not on objective criteria like who's faster or which team scores more goals/points.
Which happens more often in winter Olympic sports, than summer surely?
....
Probably true, but I never said I watch (or even try to watch) everything!
Sarajevo, 1984. Scott Hamilton winning the gold.
The '92 Dream Team. They looked like the Harlem Globetrotters against everyone.
1976 Montreal Summer Olympics... My granny was visiting us in NJ from Florida.. I think Hurricane Belle passed very during the time of the Olympics.
Z981
1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, back when Yugoslavia still existed.
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on February 13, 2018, 02:15:13 AM
I would have to say the Sarajevo Winter Olympics of 1984.
Quote from: cabiness42 on February 20, 2018, 04:03:59 PM
1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, back when Yugoslavia still existed.
Same here, although I only vaguely remember it because my grandmother wanted to watch figure skating. The fact that it was in Yugoslavia was curious to me (because as a kid, that spot on the map looked like Sarah-Jee-Vo). I recall a bobsled race or two, and that's it. Can't remember you who was in it and who won what. Later that year, the Summer Olympics in LA, and our summer camp made a big deal out of it. After the day was done, we'd watch it on TV.
Kind of stopped caring about it all around 1996 or so, as the corny commercial hype in between the pre-packaged (in-)action sort of dulled me. Sort of became more interested in the Olympics past decade or so.
As I get older, I think I do like the Winter Olympics more; without having really performed many winter sporting activities, they're kind of fascinating in a way.
Quote from: 02 Park Ave on February 12, 2018, 09:55:58 PMThe Helsinki Olympics. They weren't shown live but they did have highlights everyday.
You're either the oldest one here or are recollecting the
Movietone News clips of those Olympics shown on one episode of
M*A*S*H during the show's 6th Season (1977-1978). :)
Quote from: slorydn1 on February 12, 2018, 11:43:00 PM
I remember the watching the 1976 Winter Olympics (Austria, right?) and ABC's Jim McKay re-telling the story of the massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. I remember someone really busting their butt on the ski jump ramp which became the illustration of the "agony of defeat" during the opening montage of "Wide World of Sports".
Quote from: Jim McKaySpanning the globe to give you the constant variety of sports. The thrill of victory... the agony of defeat.
IIRC, that
Agony of Defeat clip dates back to either 1968 (I don't believe the clip is from the Grenoble Olympics) or 1969. ABC Sports started using it in their opening montage circa 1970. About 15(?) years later ABC Sports interviewed that ski jumper who was from then-Czechoslavakia (now Czech Republic) in a special retrospective presentation.
Back to the subject at hand: I didn't really become aware of the Olympics until the 1976 summer games in Montreal. I remember seeing kids/peers wearing
Montreal 1976 t-shirts at the time.
Although in later years my mother told me that while watching a movie at a local theater during the '72 Munich games (I was a bit too young (6) to recall those games, but do remember hearing of the name of Mark Spitz being talked about); the one running the projector actually stopped the movie and made an announcement of the massacre.
I periodically watched the subsequent games (Lake Placid 1980, Sarajevo 1984, LA 1984) but I really didn't start making a point of watching the games until Calgary 1988 (ABC's & Jim McKay's last Olympic Games broadcast). Such was largely due to my having my own TV in my campus apartment at the time (I was in my senior year).
Quote from: PHLBOS on February 21, 2018, 10:04:42 AM
Quote from: 02 Park Ave on February 12, 2018, 09:55:58 PMThe Helsinki Olympics. They weren't shown live but they did have highlights everyday.
You're either the oldest one here or are recollecting the Movietone News clips of those Olympics shown on one episode of M*A*S*H during the show's 6th Season (1977-1978). :)
Quote from: slorydn1 on February 12, 2018, 11:43:00 PM
I remember the watching the 1976 Winter Olympics (Austria, right?) and ABC's Jim McKay re-telling the story of the massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. I remember someone really busting their butt on the ski jump ramp which became the illustration of the "agony of defeat" during the opening montage of "Wide World of Sports".
Quote from: Jim McKaySpanning the globe to give you the constant variety of sports. The thrill of victory... the agony of defeat.
IIRC, that Agony of Defeat clip dates back to either 1968 (I don't believe the clip is from the Grenoble Olympics) or 1969. ABC Sports started using it in their opening montage circa 1970. About 15(?) years later ABC Sports interviewed that ski jumper who was from then-Czechoslavakia (now Czech Republic) in a special retrospective presentation.
Back to the subject at hand: I didn't really become aware of the Olympics until the 1976 summer games in Montreal. I remember seeing kids/peers wearing Montreal 1976 t-shirts at the time.
Although in later years my mother told me that while watching a movie at a local theater during the '72 Munich games (I was a bit too young (6) to recall those games, but do remember hearing of the name of Mark Spitz being talked about); the one running the projector actually stopped the movie and made an announcement of the massacre.
I periodically watched the subsequent games (Lake Placid 1980, Sarajevo 1984, LA 1984) but I really didn't start making a point of watching the games until Calgary 1988 (ABC's & Jim McKay's last Olympic Games broadcast). Such was largely due to my having my own TV in my campus apartment at the time (I was in my senior year).
...
Vinko Bogataj as I said earlier. It was in one of the "lead up" events to the Olympics in early 1968.
Los Angeles, 1984
Mark Spitz, 1972, Munich
Grenoble '68, vaguely, and only because my dad had them on. The only detail I remember was the Leo Arnaud theme and seeing an Olympic pennant on the slalom course and telling my folks "Let's get one of those!" I was 6 and a half. As for Mexico City, I only remember seeing promos on the Alphabet for it that summer but didn't watch a minute (by then my folks were divorced and mom and I were living in an apartment, and in fact I didn't watch sports on my own until I was almost ten). I didn't know about Smith and Carlos until I was about 11 and saw their famous picture in middle school.
ixnay
The 1984 Summer olympics in Los Angeles not far from me in Indio CA. I was able to remember my parents won free food (every time the US won a gold or other medal) in McDs and they were selling the offficial 1984 LA mascot Uncle Sam eagle ball caps. Note I was 4 years old at the time and my memory was developing to have permanent memories, like the various sports events on TV and the opening as well closing olympics ceremonies.
Vague memories of 72. The Olympics were different back then. Since RR won the Cold War, and they started paying the athletes, it is just a collection of goofy sports. I don't get the whole nationalism for nationalism's sake deal.
Quote from: SP Cook on May 04, 2018, 03:48:44 PM
Vague memories of 72. The Olympics were different back then. Since RR won the Cold War, and they started paying the athletes, it is just a collection of goofy sports. I don't get the whole nationalism for nationalism's sake deal.
I agree with you on that, but that's what keeps viewers interested. If it were athletes competing as individuals, sadly no one would watch. (Interestingly, despite how corrupt the IOC is, on their website, they do not acknowledge or mention medal tables whatsoever)
Nationalism defined by who can swim faster across a pool? It's actually sickening if you think about it. Worse is when irrational thinking gets involved in it, like Bob Costas of NBC in the whole Michael Johnson and Donovan Bailey fastest man controversy that he himself started over a claim in which anyone who understands anything about track would get.
I may dislike the royals, but Prince Harry's Invictus Games are how I wish the Olympics were treated. Invictus Games are contested between wounded soldiers, and in these games, there are medal ceremonies but no national anthems, and I didn't see one medal table while it happened.
1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville France.
Bits and pieces of the 1998 Nagano games when Eric "Air Bergy" Bergoust dominated aerial freestyle ski jumping and medaled. Bergoust is a Missoula native whose now with family and coaching future aerial freestyle jumpers for the 2022 Winter Olympics, which I have no idea where that will be.
Quote from: Billy F 1988 on May 26, 2018, 10:00:00 PM
which I have no idea where that will be.
Beijing China