Samaranch Rekindles 1984 Flame Commemorating L.A. Olympics

Juan Antonio Samaranch, president of the International Olympic Committee, made a stop in Los Angeles Thursday to participate in a ceremonial rekindling of the 1984 Olympic flame.

Samaranch, IOC president for the past 10 years, who presided at his first Summer Olympics at the ’84 L.A. Games, helped light a torch in the garden of the old Britt House facility that now houses the Amateur Athletic Foundation. The foundation, established and run by a portion of the surplus funds generated by the ’84 Games, is headed by Chairman of the Board David Wolper and President Anita DeFrantz, each of whom participated in the ceremony. Samaranch was handed a lit torch by Rafer Johnson, the former decathlon gold medalist who lit the torch in the Coliseum to open the ’84 Games.

“The Olympic movement reached a crossroads in 1984,” Samaranch said. “The kind and capable people of Los Angeles directed us toward the success we have today. Los Angeles accepted the torch we handed it in 1978 and took it to new heights in 1984.”

The torch was lit on a permanent platform in the garden in front of the Paul Ziffren Sports Resource Center. The platform was designed from 50 pieces of glass entitled “The Olympic Flame Helix” and built at a cost of $60,000 by area architect Heidi Hefferlin.