Seoul Searching Trivia Quiz

Answer:

The opening ceremony of the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, complete with its exotic dancers and parachutists, gave the world a warm, albeit lively, South Korean welcome. Then it was the athlete's turn to shine, and, promptly, we were captivated by the sublime movements of the Soviet gymnastic squad and the power that was East Germany's Kristen Otto, who would become the first female to win six gold medals at a single Games. This was almost matched by the USA's Matt Biondi who took home a total of seven medals, five of which were gold.

But, for each delightful and joyous memory that was generated here, there seemed to be an equally darker counter, lying in wait for its own moment of reveal. Whilst we didn't know it at the time, these were the last Summer Olympic Games to be conducted during the era of the Cold War and, thanks to the eventual dissolution of the USSR and the re-unification of Germany that was to follow, it would also be the last time that we would see those sporting powerhouses, the Soviets and the East Germans, at a Summer Games. As if to illustrate their might one last time, the Soviets would end up topping the medal table with 55 gold medals, followed by the East Germans with 37 and the United States with 36.

The Games which, to that point, were the most expensive to be staged, provided a financial windfall for South Korea who claim to have posted a profit of $349 million from the event. However, deeper than that, the country had given itself a massive facelift, generated a staggering amount of fresh infrastructure, that would accelerate the growth of the nation and had drawn in a lot of goodwill credits across the globe. That said, behind the veil, stories began to emerge of ruthless attempts to "purify" the urban areas and, to this end, hundred of thousands of residents, including children, vagrants and the homeless, were rounded up from the lower income zones and either detained or shoved out in locations far from the city centres.

In the lead up to the Games a belligerent North Korea had sought to co-host the event and demanded that they receive half of the contests and that they were also allowed to run an opening ceremony. When the negotiations between them, South Korea and the IOC (International Olympic Committee) broke down they responded by boycotting the Games and were joined in the protest by their ally in Cuba. Others that failed to make the journey to Seoul were Ethiopia, Albania and the Seychelles, all of whom simply did not respond to their invitations. Nicaragua and Madagascar also stayed at home, citing financial considerations.

Outside of the arenas in Seoul, students, on a wave of anti-American sentiment, were staging a series of protest marches in a bid to have some 42,000 American troops removed from South Korean soil. Their rallies, however, failed to disrupt the Games. Elsewhere it was a different story. The American broadcaster NBC had paid out approximately $440 million to win the rights to broadcast the Games. It is reputed that they managed to feather their nest to the tune of some $80 million in profit. Whilst their pockets inflated, their reputation went the other way. Calls about anti-Korean reporting were made, a lack of sensitivity to local culture was highlighted, there were complaints of excessive advertising and the reliance of too many taped features rather than live action. All of which left a sour taste in the mouths of many.

The USA walked away from the boxing arena with a swag of medals - three golds, three silvers and two bronze - yet this haul was not enough to assuage the bitterness they felt after the decision in the gold medal bout between their own Roy Jones Jr. and the local favourite Park Si-hun. For three rounds, Jones gave the South Korean's face a hammering, landing 86 punches while his opponent was only able to strike Jones 32 times. Park was even given a standing eight count in the third round. Remarkably, the South Korean was awarded the bout 3-2 by the judges. Though this was not his fault, Park later apologized to Jones and, at the medal presentation, raised his opponent's hand as a measure of where he stood with the result.

There was further furor in the boxing. When Bulgaria's Alexander Hristov was declared the winner of the gold medal against the local lad Byun Jong-it, the South Korean coaches rioted, storming the ring and throwing punches and chairs at the officials. The referee, New Zealand's Kevin Walker, immediately fled the country, fearing for his life. After another controversial decision in the bout between Bulgaria's Ivailo Marinov and the USA's Michael Carbajal, the validity of boxing as an Olympic sport was bought into question. Ultimately it was retained but the commotion in Seoul did lead to a change in the system of scoring.

Greg Louganis drew gasps from the crowd as one of his dives went awry and he concussed himself when the back of his head hit the diving board. This turned into equal amounts of amazement and admiration when he returned to complete the competition, winning gold medals in both of his events and reprising the result from the previous Games in Los Angeles (1984). Years later that admiration would dissolve to ire for many, when it was revealed that he was HIV positive at the time of the competition and had chosen not to reveal that fact to the officials.

Arguably, the finest moment in these Games was the 100 metre dash, the race that would decide who was the fastest man in the world... and it did not disappoint. A wave of euphoria swept through the Olympic Stadium as Canadian sprinter, Ben Johnson, won the race, took a staggering 0.04 seconds off the world record and left his opponents floundering in his wake. How quickly the mountain crumbles... the moment of greatest joy became the moment of the greatest pain when it was discovered that Ben Johnson had cheated. Two days after the race, Ben Johnson's urine sample tested positive for anabolic steroids. As we sit here, many years later, all of those records that had been set at Seoul, have now faded from memory, but the shame of Johnson's disgrace lives on.