Word: seoul
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...home with the U.S. boycott team and watched the victories go to a Soviet and an East German whom Louganis had outscored at Montreal four years before. Louganis achieved his double at Los Angeles in 1984 and hinted at retirement. But next week he too will be competing in Seoul, perhaps in part because he is one of just a handful of U.S. and Soviet athletes with a personal memory of a real Olympics -- one that transcends diplomatic chills and thaws and brings together the world's best in the 23 official sports of the Summer Games...
...other countries on hand, the Soviet gold-medal tally jumped from 49 in Montreal to 80 in Moscow, while the U.S., unhindered by the Soviets and the equally formidable East Germans, vaulted from 34 gold in Montreal to 83 gold in Los Angeles. With the sporting world reunited, Seoul may be a rude awakening for flag wavers on both sides. But the shock will likely be worse for U.S. viewers: the memory of Los Angeles is more recent, and more unrealistic. At the 1984 Friendship Games, East bloc athletes outperformed Olympic winners in 20 of 41 track-and-field events...
...daring decision for an athlete already in her late teens. Within four years, helped by careful coaching and a training regimen of up to six hours a day for six days a week, she became the world's best. Officials made sure she and other superstars would get to Seoul. Although Soviet track trials allow hopefuls to prove themselves during five meets (vs. just one for aspirants in the U.S.), places were guaranteed in advance to some 20 top performers, including Lisovskaya. Nominally a fourth- year student in the school program that she entered eight years ago, Lisovskaya, 26, receives...
...arcane world of team handball, where he was the U.S. hero at the 1987 Pan Am Games, he is a big story. A member of the squad since 1977, he played at the 1984 Olympics, when the team finished ninth, and is captain of the contingent going to Seoul. His sacrifices to keep playing would be almost incomprehensible to the average baby boomer. He lives, along with up to 600 other athletes, in U.S. Olympic Committee dorms in Colorado Springs, where he cannot cook or bring liquor into the room, and his bathroom and phone are down the hall...
...athletes and fans from both nations, just as for any warriors facing legendary foes, the end of myth will come with the start of true competition. In 1988 in Seoul, as in 1976 in Montreal, some Soviets will do better than expected, and some Americans will surprise even themselves. Some obscure athletes will overcome a lack of support, and some highly trained ones will be off form on the fateful day. But for Lisovskaya and Louganis and all their counterparts, this time there will be no "if onlys," no implied asterisks next to their achievements. What is special...