Snapshots From the Games

Float. It was a great name for a swimmer, and American Jeff Float kept it in the headlines for a few heady days during the 1984 Olympics after his contribution to the United States’ upset victory over the much-feared Michael Gross and West German team in the 800-meter freestyle relay.

The so-called “Gross Busters” became instant-but-brief American heroes, with Float captivating the country with his near-delirious celebration on the victory stand. As a 13-month-old child, Float had been stricken with viral meningitis, resulting in an 80% hearing loss in his right ear and 60% in his left. Yet that hardly stopped Float from soaking in every drop of the moment and singing the national anthem at the top of his lungs with his arms spread to the heavens.

Float, who used hearing aids and lip-reading to help communicate, said he drew inspiration during the race from the crowd.

“I’ve felt the crowd before,” he said,” but this is the first time I’ve ever really heard it.”

Then, breaking up the teammates sitting next to him, Float added:

“The noise was deafening, really.”

The 1984 Olympics were defined by such moments, played out around a city so notorious for its gridlock that people were afraid to drive for the 16 days of the competition, thus leaving the freeways wide open and spacious.

It was so quiet, the noise was deafening, really.

* One month shy of her 25th birthday, almost twice as old as some of her competitors, Kathy Johnson won the bronze medal in the balance beam, two nights after falling off the beam in another event. The medal was a surprising climax to a 13-year gymnastics career marked by injuries, broken bones and personal sacrifice. “I missed some proms,” said Johnson, the so-called “Old Lady” of U.S. gymnastics, “but 25 years from now, I’ll have this medal and not just some dead flowers. I would have liked to have had the proms. But this is sweeter.”

* Bitter rivals in the years leading up to the Olympics, American cyclists Connie Carpenter-Phinney and Rebecca Twigg staged a great road race in the streets of Mission Viejo, with the younger, favored Twigg entering the last 100 meters with what appeared to be an insurmountable lead. With 50 meters left, Carpenter, closing the gap, threw her bike forward, using a strategy she’d just learned from her husband, Davis Phinney, who would finish fifth in the men’s road race later that day. The tactic enabled Carpenter-Phinney to win by half a wheel, with the two rivals clasping hands after crossing the finish.

* Tennis was a demonstration sport at the ’84 Games, a few days in the sun at UCLA’s new tennis center, with professional veterans such as Jimmy Arias and Andrea Jaeger expected to entertain the curious. Instead, the event launched two of the greatest careers in the sport as little-known teenagers Stefan Edberg and Steffi Graf won the men’s and women’s competitions in decisive fashion. Four years later in Seoul, Graf would complete her “Golden Slam,” winning the Olympic gold medal in addition to the singles championships of the four major tournaments.

* Baseball also was a demonstration sport in ‘84, with Dodger Stadium providing the backdrop 16 years before Tom Lasorda managed Team USA to the gold medal in Sydney. The games at Dodger Stadium demonstrated that baseball had a future as an Olympic sport, although the anticipated star of the U.S. squad, USC’s Mark McGwire, got off to a false start. After leading the NCAA with 32 home runs in ‘84, McGwire had only four singles, six strikeouts and no runs batted in in five Olympic games as the U.S. lost the final to Japan, 6-3. For McGwire and Team USA, better days would come.

* Swimmer Rick Carey put a face on the expression “ugly American” by winning the gold medal in the 200-meter backstroke and sulking on the victory stand because he was disappointed in his time. Carey hung his head, he ignored the crowd, he was the anti-Jeff Float. Scalded for his behavior in the media, Carey issued a public apology, asking fans not to “get the impression I didn’t appreciate winning. What everyone saw was purely an emotional reaction -- or overreaction -- to Rick Carey’s imperfection.” Later, Carey won the 100 backstroke. No world record. But this time, he managed to smile.

* Darlene May became the first woman to referee an Olympic basketball game when she worked an early-round women’s game involving Australia and South Korea. “I hope this opens the door for other women to officiate,” said May, then the 43-year-old coach of the Cal Poly Pomona women’s basketball team. “I feel I can do as good a job as men officials from other countries.” Australia Coach Brendan Flynn concurred. “On the whole, I would rank her as one of the four best officials I’ve seen here at the Olympics,” he said. Cal Poly Pomona named an on-campus gymnasium after May, who died in 1996.

* Forty-four-year-old American hammer thrower Ed Burke became something of a cult hero when he qualified for the ’84 Olympic team 16 years after his last Olympic competition. He was a banner carrier for the middle-aged, and the U.S. team, as he was selected to carry the American flag at the opening ceremony. Burke failed to qualify for the final, unable to break into the top 12, but he wasn’t disheartened. “We always have a little family meeting beforehand to discuss these crisis times,” he said. “We figured if I came out of the final, great. If not, that’s OK too.”

* It was the grimace-and-bear-it moment of the ’84 Olympics: U.S. middle heavyweight weightlifter Derrick Crass collapsing with the bar during competition, resulting in a dislocated shoulder and an injured knee. Newspaper photos of Crass’ elbow, bent at an unnatural angle, made a nation wince, although Crass insisted the dislocation looked worse than it actually was. A bartender from Colorado Springs, Colo., Crass spent the time riding to the hospital where his arm would be X-rayed by telling jokes to the doctor riding with him.

* Soccer was a startling turnstile success at the ’84 Games. A crowd of 63,624 turned out at the Rose Bowl for the United States’ first-round 1-0 loss to Italy, with France’s gold-medal triumph over Brazil drawing 101,799. The 32-game event drew 1,421,627 spectators. “If you give good soccer to the people, even the Americans, they’ll go for it,” Brazil Coach Jair Picerni said after the final. The United States had just lost its bid to play host to the 1986 World Cup to Colombia (later moved to Mexico), but the success of ’84 helped convince the czars of international soccer to book the World Cup on American soil a decade later.

* The anticipated 100-meter breaststroke showdown involving John Moffet and Steve Lundquist lost much luster when Moffet tore a groin muscle during a qualification round. Moffet needed his leg wrapped and injected with xylocaine just to swim the final, won by Lundquist in world-record time. In a memorable scene just after the race, Lundquist reached down to the pool to hug Moffet, who placed fifth. French reporter to U.S. reporter: “Where exactly is the groin?” U.S. reporter: “Don’t you have a word for it in French?” French reporter: “Actually, we have two.”