The 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics saw the United States dominate the medal table amid a Soviet-led Eastern Bloc boycott, producing historically skewed results.
Key Facts
- Total athletes
- 6,829 athletes from 140 nations
- Events contested
- 221 events in 21 sports
- US gold medals
- 83 (highest gold tally in single Games history)
- US total medals
- 174
- Nations receiving medals
- 47
- Individual most gold medals
- Carl Lewis & Ecaterina Szabo, 4 each
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The Soviet Union and numerous Eastern Bloc nations boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Games, largely in retaliation for the United States-led boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, significantly reducing competition from traditionally dominant athletic powers.
The Games of the XXIII Olympiad were held in Los Angeles from July 28 to August 12, 1984, with 6,829 athletes from 140 nations competing across 221 events. The United States led the medal table with 83 gold and 174 total medals, while Romania and West Germany placed second and third in gold medals.
The boycott-thinned field allowed the United States to record its highest gold medal total in Olympic history and its first overall medal-count lead since 1968. Romania achieved its highest-ever Olympic medal tally, Morocco and Portugal claimed first-ever gold medals, and five nations won their first Olympic medals of any kind.