WORLD SPORTS SCENE / RANDY HARVEY : From Rose Bowl to Albertville to Barcelona, a Very Good Year

What in the world happened in sports in 1992?

Read on:

Sportspersons of the Year, Local :

Alan Rothenberg, chief executive of the U.S. Soccer Federation and the 1994 World Cup organizing committee, was influential in the decision to bring more 1994 World Cup games, including the final, to the Rose Bowl than to any other stadium.

Even if you don’t like soccer, you have to like the potential economic impact on the Southland. Even if it’s not the $1 billion that he estimates, many dollars, pounds, francs, pesos, etc., will come rolling in. If the hooligans come rolling in with them, we reserve the right to rescind this honor.

In Olympic track and field, Gail Devers won the 100 meters after battling Graves’ disease, and Kevin Young broke Edwin Moses’ longstanding world record in winning the 400-meter hurdles. Oscar De La Hoya was the only U.S boxer to win a gold medal. Anita DeFrantz joined the International Olympic Committee’s inner circle with her election to the executive board.

Sportspersons of the Year, International :

Even if they did not have tickets to events, thousands of Catalonians filled the streets and plazas of Barcelona each night of the Summer Olympics, just to be part of the festival. They gave the Barcelona Games a flavor that cannot be duplicated.

Vitaly Scherbo of Belarus won six gymnastics gold medals. Only swimmer Mark Spitz, with seven in 1972, has won more in the same Olympics. Spanish cyclist Miguel Indurain dominated the Tour de France. Hungarian swimmer Krisztina Egerszegi won three gold medals, more than any other woman in individual events at Barcelona.

Dream Teams :

The Dream Team won its Olympic basketball games by an average of 43.8 points. Of its opponents’ successful shots, a large majority were taken with cameras.

Cuba’s Olympic baseball team outscored its opponents, 95-16. Cuba’s boxers won gold medals in seven of 12 weight classes. Chinese divers won three of four gold medals available. Invited to the European Championships in soccer only because Yugoslavia was banned, Denmark won.

Olympic Moment :

After being denied an opportunity to compete in the 1988 Olympics at Seoul because of an injury, Britain’s Derek Redmond was determined to finish his 400-meter semifinal heat at Barcelona even if he had to crawl around the track, which he almost did after pulling a hamstring halfway through the ace. He stayed upright with the help of his father, Jim, who came from the stands to escort him across the finish line.

Olympic Moment II :

After finishing 1-2 in the 10,000 meters at Barcelona, a black Ethiopian, Derartu Tulu, and a white South African, Elana Meyer, embraced and, hand in hand, ran a victory lap together.

Moment You Won’t See in a Bud Greenspan Film :

Within a few seconds after finishing fourth in the Olympic 100 meters, Gwen Torrence said two of the medalists had used performance-enhancing drugs. Although she said at the time that she was not including Devers, the winner, Torrence later implicated her U.S. teammate. Even after winning the 200 meters, Torrence did not back off her accusations.

Most Appropriate Nickname :

Because his idol is Ben Johnson, young British sprinter Jason Livingston is known as “Baby Ben.” On the day before the track and field competition began at Barcelona, he was sent home for failing a drug test.

When Sport Does Not Imitate Life :

On the day after the opening ceremony at Barcelona, a woman from Bosnia stood next to a woman from Serbia. Both held guns, which was mandatory because they were competing in the air rifle final. The Serbian, Aranka Binder, won the bronze medal. “At least, they weren’t shooting at each other,” a Croatian competitor said.

It Was a Very Good Year, but ...

Dan O’Brien set the world record in the decathlon, but earlier in the summer failed to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team when he no-heighted in the pole vault during the trials. That could, and did, happen to the best of them. Sergei Bubka set three world records in the pole vault, giving him 32 for his career, but did not clear any height in failing to defend his Olympic title.

Algeria’s Noureddine Morceli set the world record in the 1,500 meters, a month after he finished seventh in the event at Barcelona. Kenya’s Moses Kiptanui set world records in the 3,000 meters and the steeplechase and ran the fourth-fastest time ever in the 5,000 meters, all after an Olympics he missed because he didn’t make his country’s team. Switzerland’s Paul Accola won the overall World Cup title in skiing but did not win a medal in the Winter Olympics.

A Gift That Keeps On Giving:

Eager to aid Lithuania’s fledgling democrary, the Grateful Dead designed warm-up suits for the country’s bronze medal-winning men’s basketball team. Tie-dyed T-shirts with the same design are available through TicketMaster. Proceeds are donated to the Lithuanian national basketball team.

Names We’d Like to Hear Less in ‘93:

Maradona, Clenbuterol, Butch Reynolds, Reebok, Katrin Krabbe, Nike.

One Name Christopher Bowman Would Like to Hear Less in ‘93:

Christopher Bowman. Some of the notorious figure skater’s alleged off-ice exploits were featured this year in the National Enquirer.

Names We’d Like to Hear More in ‘93:

Marion Jones, AJ Kitt, Kristine Quance, Eric Wynalda, Christopher Bowman.

Clutch Shot of the Year:

Disabled archer Antonio Rebello shot a flaming arrow into the air. It soared into its target, the caldron atop Barcelona’s Montjuic Stadium, and ignited the Olympic flame.