Date: 17 September - 02 October 1988
NOCs (Nations): 159
Athletes: 8,391 (2,194 women, 6,197 men)
Sports: 25
Events: 237
Volunteers: 27,221
Media: 11,331 (4,978 written press, 6,353 broadcasters)
Although the drug disqualification of sprinter Ben Johnson was
the biggest story of the 1988 Olympics, the Seoul Games were
highlighted by numerous exceptional performances. Christa
Luding-Rothenburger, who was also a speed skater, earned a silver
medal in cycling to become the only person in history to win Winter
and Summer medals in the same year. Steffi Graf concluded her Grand
Slam tennis season by winning Olympic gold. Greg Louganis repeated
victories in both diving events. Florence Griffith-Joyner dominated
the sprints. For the first time, all the medalists in dressage were
women.
In 1988, the Chinese Olympians came back home from the Seoul
Olympics with mingled feelings. While failing to live up to
expectations in some of their strong events such as gymnastics,
weightlifting and women's volleyball, they made significant
breakthroughs in a few areas where they had long remained in
oblivion, notably in swimming and rowing. Their medal tally, though
less than what it was in Los Angeles four years before, represented
no mean effort considering the unprecedentedly high standard of
performance attained by the Seoul Games.
The 24th Olympic Summer Games held on September 17-October 2
attracted some 10,000 athletes from 160 countries and regions, with
237 gold medals awarded in 23 sports. The standard was so high that
world and Olympic records tumbled one after another. In total,
world records were broken 33 times and equalled five times, and
Olympic records were shattered 227 times and equalled 42 times.
After 16 days of high-level competition, the Soviet Union ruled
the roost, bagging 55 golds, 31 silvers and 46 bronzes, followed by
the German Democratic Republic (37, 35, 30) and the United States
(37, 31, 27). South Korea, taking full advantage of its position as
the host, won 12 golds, 10 silvers and 11 bronzes to rank first in
Asia and fourth on the world list.
For China, the results of five golds, 11 silvers and 12 bronzes
were far from satisfactory. Compared with their performance at the
23rd Olympics, the Chinese athletes did not do so well in Seoul as
they faced many more strong rivals, including those who did not
show up in Los Angeles. Another reason why they failed was that
they showed poor psychological preparation which did not stand them
in good stead in high-calibre world competitions. However, the
results basically reflected China's actual strength in competitive
sports. It was only the second time for it to send its full-fledged
delegation to the Olympics and its contingent was still young and
inexperienced compared with most of the world sporting powers.
He Zhuoqiang, a gold medallist at the previous Olympic Games,
failed to lift a weight he had successfully lifted several times
before. Ace gymnast Li Ning, who had won three golds in Los
Angeles, turned in a disappointing performance due to injuries. But
it was a small comfort that Lou Yun took a gold in the men's
vaulting horse. The women's volleyball team, which had captured the
world title on five occasions in succession, first lost to the
Peruvians and then suffered a dismal defeat at the hands of the
Soviets. Sharpshooter Xu Haifeng who won the first gold medal in
the '84 Olympics placed third in the men's air pistol. Jiang
Jialiang, world champion in men's table tennis, even failed to make
the semifinals.
Nevertheless, the bright side should not be overlooked. Two
teenager divers, Xu Yanmei and Gao Min, brought home a gold medal
each for their brilliant performances in the women's platform and
springboard events respectively. Li Qing and Xiong Ni, also
teenagers, collected a silver each in the women's springboard and
the men's platform respectively. Their successes, plus the silver
and bronze medals taken by Tan Liangde and Li Deliang in the men's
springboard, filled a shining page in China's diving history.
Swimming used to be a weak sport for China, but a number of
young Chinese swimmers came to the fore in Seoul, including Yang
Wenyi (16 years old), Zhuang Yong (16) and Huang Xiaomin (18) , who
succeeded in getting a silver each in the women's 50m freestyle,
100m freestyle and 200m breaststroke respectively. Qian Hong (17),
another promising swimmer, earned a bronze in the women's 100m
butterfly. Their heartening achievements helped open a new era in
China's swimming history.
In table tennis, a national sport in China, though the players
were not in good form, they still managed to win gold in two of the
four events contested, namely Chen Jing in the women's singles and
Chen Longcan/Wei Qingguang in the men's doubles.
Chinese women rowers sprang a surprise by taking a silver and a
bronze in the coxed fours and coxed eights respectively. This was
heart-warming news indeed, for rowing was a young sport taken up by
only a limited number of people in the country. The news that woman
shot-putter Li Meisu gained a bronze -- the only track and field
medal for Asia at the Games -- was also heartening.
(COC Website?? July 8, 2004)