30th Anniversary: 1984 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony

Were you inside The Coliseum on that day?

Some less-than-charitable souls might call Southern California a region with an especially short memory. 

We're said to love the new, the tomorrow, the next, the shiny-shiny and the sparkly-now. Did it happen a year ago? Is that building a decade old? Not of interest.

There are a thousand ways we refute these wrongheaded rumors, though, and a principal one? Our lasting devotion to and vivid memories of the 1984 Summer Olympics. The Los Angeles-based games served as an epic, widespread moment of change for the city, jump-starting it as a City of the Future and a center of culture, music, and ideas.

We mean, LA in the '80s? Big. You saw the LA Magazine articles, right? It was Our Decade. The Olympics also served as one of the hubbubiest times in the city, ever.

Did anyone visit Disneyland the weekend before or after? Crowds, right? Big, big crowds.

Monday, July 28 marks the 30th anniversary of the opening ceremony of the Olympics, and while there are no parades commemorating the fact, nor any special events at the Coliseum, you can reminisce with Vintage LA, which has been posting about the Olympics, and Swimming World, and KCET.

Of course, the Coliseum gets mentioned a lot, but venues around and beyond town, from Lake Casitas (rowing) to The Forum (basketball) to Mission Viejo (cycling) provided settings to the wider competitive spirit.

The Scene

Want to find new things to do in Los Angeles? The Scene's lifestyle stories have you covered. Here's your go-to source on where the fun is across SoCal and for the weekend.

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Were you at any of those spots? Or, for that matter, inside the Coliseum on July 28, 1984? Did you see Mary Lou Retton's memorable and historic run for the vault? Or her applause-worthy floor exercise?

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