SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — War-scarred Sarajevo is looking back to happier times from February 1984 as it celebrates the 40th anniversary of staging a successful Winter Olympics.
“Our Olympic spirit is alive,” said Izet Radjo, president of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Olympic Committee, with Sarajevo eying a bid to host the 2032 Winter Youth Olympic Games.
It was a time of opportunity for Yugoslavia, of which Bosnia was then a part, but less than a decade later everything had changed. Bosnian Serb forces laid siege to Sarajevo in the early 1990s during the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia. About 350,000 people were trapped, for 46 months, subjected to daily shelling and sniper attacks and cut off from the outside world.
And its Olympic venues lay in ruins.
Ahmet Karabegovic, who served as secretary general of the 1984 Winter Olympics, said the sporting legacy aided the city’s post-war recovery, with the world both familiar with Sarajevo and shocked by what had happened.
Nestled among mountains, Sarajevo had successfully welcomed thousands of tourists and nearly 3,000 athletes, coaches and officials from 49 countries. The sleepy socialist town built new alpine and Nordic ski trails, ski jumps, bobsled and luge runs, a skating rink, dozens of apartment blocks and numerous hotels. It also changed from coal to gas heating, reconstructed its water and sewage systems and expanded its airport and roads.
While the U.S. led a boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, followed by the Soviet Union-led boycott of the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, “everybody came to Sarajevo,” Karabegovic said. That included European royals, Hollywood stars and a Soviet cosmonaut. In the immediate post-Olympic years, Sarajevo flourished, establishing itself as a winter tourist destination.
An exterior view of the destroyed Igman Hotel, built to house the competitors of the Sarajevo Winter Olympic Games, on Igman mountain near Sarajevo, Bosnia, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. Sarajevo is paying tribute this week to one of its most glorious moments: the two weeks of February in 1984 when it staged an impeccable Winter Olympic Games. While taking the nostalgic trip down memory lane, Bosnian Olympians say they are looking to the future with hope to again pull off an “apparently impossible feat” and reignite the Olympic flame over Sarajevo in 2032. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
Majda Hanic belongs to the post-war generation of Bosnians who managed to resurrect hockey in the country — at Zetra Olympic Hall in Sarajevo. The hall was destroyed during the war and fully rebuilt in 1999 with financial help from the International Olympic Committee. Hanic said Bosnia took a decade after the war “to gather 50 women who wanted to play ice hockey.” Now she is the captain of Bosnia women’s hockey team.
From the windows of her flat, Hanic can see the Olympic rings and the logo of the 1984 Winter Games on a tower near Zetra, and that makes her “contemplate the day when we’ll reach the first round of Olympic qualifiers.”
Bosnian and international athletes and officials gathered this week in Sarajevo to mark the city’s 40th Olympic anniversary, and IOC president Thomas Bach offered words of encouragement by video.
Ahmed Karabegovic, General Secretary of the Organizing Committee of the Sarajevo Winter Olympic Games, walks trough the Museum of the Sarajevo Winter Olympic Games in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. Sarajevo is paying tribute this week to one of its most glorious moments: the two weeks of February in 1984 when it staged an impeccable Winter Olympic Games. While taking the nostalgic trip down memory lane, Bosnian Olympians say they are looking to the future with hope to again pull off an “apparently impossible feat” and reignite the Olympic flame over Sarajevo in 2032. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
The Sarajevo Winter Olympics “stood out because at the height of the Cold War, they brought together the best winter sport athletes from political rivals and sworn enemies in a peaceful competition.”
Because of “our joint efforts,” Bach added, “when the guns fell silent (after Bosnia’s 1992-95 war) you rebuilt your Olympic heritage.
“Thank you for carrying this Olympic legacy into the future.”
Ahmed Karabegovic, General Secretary of the Organising Committee of the Sarajevo Winter Olympic Games, poses for a photograph after an interview with the Associated Press in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. Sarajevo is paying tribute this week to one of its most glorious moments: the two weeks of February in 1984 when it staged an impeccable Winter Olympic Games. While taking the nostalgic trip down memory lane, Bosnian Olympians say they are looking to the future with hope to again pull off an “apparently impossible feat” and reignite the Olympic flame over Sarajevo in 2032. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
Graffiti resembling Sarajevo Winter Olympics mascot Vucko decorates a destroyed bobsleigh track on Trebevic mountain near Sarajevo, Bosnia, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. The bobsleigh track area was a Bosnian-Serb artillery stronghold during the war 1992-1995 Bosnian war. Sarajevo is paying tribute this week to one of its most glorious moments: the two weeks of February in 1984 when it staged an impeccable Winter Olympic Games. While taking the nostalgic trip down memory lane, Bosnian Olympians say they are looking to the future with hope to again pull off an “apparently impossible feat” and reignite the Olympic flame over Sarajevo in 2032. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
General view of the destroyed bobsleigh track on Trebevic mountain near Sarajevo, Bosnia, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. The bobsleigh track area was a Bosnian-Serb artillery stronghold during the war 1992-1995 Bosnian war. Sarajevo is paying tribute this week to one of its most glorious moments: the two weeks of February in 1984 when it staged an impeccable Winter Olympic Games. While taking the nostalgic trip down memory lane, Bosnian Olympians say they are looking to the future with hope to again pull off an “apparently impossible feat” and reignite the Olympic flame over Sarajevo in 2032. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
Graffiti covers the destroyed bobsleigh track on Trebevic mountain near Sarajevo, Bosnia, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. The bobsleigh track area was a Bosnian-Serb artillery stronghold during the war 1992-1995 Bosnian war. Sarajevo is paying tribute this week to one of its most glorious moments: the two weeks of February in 1984 when it staged an impeccable Winter Olympic Games. While taking the nostalgic trip down memory lane, Bosnian Olympians say they are looking to the future with hope to again pull off an “apparently impossible feat” and reignite the Olympic flame over Sarajevo in 2032. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
The destroyed bobsleigh track on Trebevic mountain near Sarajevo, Bosnia, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. The bobsleigh track area was a Bosnian-Serb artillery stronghold during the war 1992-1995 Bosnian war. Sarajevo is paying tribute this week to one of its most glorious moments: the two weeks of February in 1984 when it staged an impeccable Winter Olympic Games. While taking the nostalgic trip down memory lane, Bosnian Olympians say they are looking to the future with hope to again pull off an “apparently impossible feat” and reignite the Olympic flame over Sarajevo in 2032. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
The destroyed Igman Hotel, built to house the competitors of the Sarajevo Winter Olympic Games, on Igman mountain near Sarajevo, Bosnia, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. Sarajevo is paying tribute this week to one of its most glorious moments: the two weeks of February in 1984 when it staged an impeccable Winter Olympic Games. While taking the nostalgic trip down memory lane, Bosnian Olympians say they are looking to the future with hope to again pull off an “apparently impossible feat” and reignite the Olympic flame over Sarajevo in 2032. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
The interior of the destroyed Igman Hotel, built to house the competitors of the Sarajevo Winter Olympic Games, on Igman mountain near Sarajevo, Bosnia, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. Sarajevo is paying tribute this week to one of its most glorious moments: the two weeks of February in 1984 when it staged an impeccable Winter Olympic Games. While taking the nostalgic trip down memory lane, Bosnian Olympians say they are looking to the future with hope to again pull off an “apparently impossible feat” and reignite the Olympic flame over Sarajevo in 2032. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
General view of the Zetra Olympic Hall, the venue where figure skating competition of Sarajevo Winter Olympic Games took place in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. Sarajevo is paying tribute this week to one of its most glorious moments: the two weeks of February in 1984 when it staged an impeccable Winter Olympic Games. While taking the nostalgic trip down memory lane, Bosnian Olympians say they are looking to the future with hope to again pull off an “apparently impossible feat” and reignite the Olympic flame over Sarajevo in 2032. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
The Kosevo Olympic Stadium where the opening ceremony of the Sarajevo Winter Olympic Games took place in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. Sarajevo is paying tribute this week to one of its most glorious moments: the two weeks of February in 1984 when it staged an impeccable Winter Olympic Games. While taking the nostalgic trip down memory lane, Bosnian Olympians say they are looking to the future with hope to again pull off an “apparently impossible feat” and reignite the Olympic flame over Sarajevo in 2032. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
Destroyed tartar running track is seen inside Kosevo Olympic Stadium where the opening ceremony of the Sarajevo Winter Olympic Games took place in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. Sarajevo is paying tribute this week to one of its most glorious moments: the two weeks of February in 1984 when it staged an impeccable Winter Olympic Games. While taking the nostalgic trip down memory lane, Bosnian Olympians say they are looking to the future with hope to again pull off an “apparently impossible feat” and reignite the Olympic flame over Sarajevo in 2032. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
The destroyed ski jump track on Igman mountain near Sarajevo, Bosnia, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. Sarajevo is paying tribute this week to one of its most glorious moments: the two weeks of February in 1984 when it staged an impeccable Winter Olympic Games. While taking the nostalgic trip down memory lane, Bosnian Olympians say they are looking to the future with hope to again pull off an “apparently impossible feat” and reignite the Olympic flame over Sarajevo in 2032. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
A child slides down the destroyed ski jump track on Igman mountain near Sarajevo, Bosnia, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. Sarajevo is paying tribute this week to one of its most glorious moments: the two weeks of February in 1984 when it staged an impeccable Winter Olympic Games. While taking the nostalgic trip down memory lane, Bosnian Olympians say they are looking to the future with hope to again pull off an “apparently impossible feat” and reignite the Olympic flame over Sarajevo in 2032. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
Adnan Hidic works in his shop on a copper souvenir depicting Sarajevo Winter Olympics mascot Vucko in the old town Bascarsija, in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. Sarajevo is paying tribute this week to one of its most glorious moments: the two weeks of February in 1984 when it staged an impeccable Winter Olympic Games. While taking the nostalgic trip down memory lane, Bosnian Olympians say they are looking to the future with hope to again pull off an “apparently impossible feat” and reignite the Olympic flame over Sarajevo in 2032. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
Adnan Hidic poses for a photo with the copper souvenir depicting Sarajevo Winter Olympics mascot Vucko in front of his shop in the old town Bascarsija, in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. Sarajevo is paying tribute this week to one of its most glorious moments: the two weeks of February in 1984 when it staged an impeccable Winter Olympic Games. While taking the nostalgic trip down memory lane, Bosnian Olympians say they are looking to the future with hope to again pull off an “apparently impossible feat” and reignite the Olympic flame over Sarajevo in 2032. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
Souvenirs resembling Sarajevo Winter Olympics mascot Vucko are being displayed for sale in downtown Sarajevo, Bosnia, Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. Sarajevo is paying tribute this week to one of its most glorious moments: the two weeks of February in 1984 when it staged an impeccable Winter Olympic Games. While taking the nostalgic trip down memory lane, Bosnian Olympians say they are looking to the future with hope to again pull off an “apparently impossible feat” and reignite the Olympic flame over Sarajevo in 2032. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
A bartender pours milk in a in coffee cup designed for the Sarajevo Olympic Games in a Kawa coffee shop in downtown Sarajevo, Bosnia, Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. Sarajevo is paying tribute this week to one of its most glorious moments: the two weeks of February in 1984 when it staged an impeccable Winter Olympic Games. While taking the nostalgic trip down memory lane, Bosnian Olympians say they are looking to the future with hope to again pull off an “apparently impossible feat” and reignite the Olympic flame over Sarajevo in 2032. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
People walk under a banner depicting Sarajevo Winter Olympics mascot Vucko in downtown Sarajevo, Bosnia, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. Sarajevo is paying tribute this week to one of its most glorious moments: the two weeks of February in 1984 when it staged an impeccable Winter Olympic Games. While taking the nostalgic trip down memory lane, Bosnian Olympians say they are looking to the future with hope to again pull off an “apparently impossible feat” and reignite the Olympic flame over Sarajevo in 2032. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
A man walks next to the store selling merchandise with the symbols of the Sarajevo Winter Olympic Games in downtown Sarajevo, Bosnia, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. Sarajevo is paying tribute this week to one of its most glorious moments: the two weeks of February in 1984 when it staged an impeccable Winter Olympic Games. While taking the nostalgic trip down memory lane, Bosnian Olympians say they are looking to the future with hope to again pull off an “apparently impossible feat” and reignite the Olympic flame over Sarajevo in 2032. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
The logo of Sarajevo Winter Olympics is seen on a Zetra hall, the venue for the figure skating in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. Sarajevo is paying tribute this week to one of its most glorious moments: the two weeks of February in 1984 when it staged an impeccable Winter Olympic Games. While taking the nostalgic trip down memory lane, Bosnian Olympians say they are looking to the future with hope to again pull off an “apparently impossible feat” and reignite the Olympic flame over Sarajevo in 2032. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
Ahmed Karabegovic, General Secretary of the Organizing Committee of the Sarajevo Winter Olympic Games, poses for a photo after the interview with the Associated Press in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. Sarajevo is paying tribute this week to one of its most glorious moments: the two weeks of February in 1984 when it staged an impeccable Winter Olympic Games. While taking the nostalgic trip down memory lane, Bosnian Olympians say they are looking to the future with hope to again pull off an “apparently impossible feat” and reignite the Olympic flame over Sarajevo in 2032. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
A man walks over a logo of the Sarajevo Winter Olympics in downtown Sarajevo, Bosnia, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. Sarajevo is paying tribute this week to one of its most glorious moments: the two weeks of February in 1984 when it staged an impeccable Winter Olympic Games. While taking the nostalgic trip down memory lane, Bosnian Olympians say they are looking to the future with hope to again pull off an “apparently impossible feat” and reignite the Olympic flame over Sarajevo in 2032. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
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AP Sports: https://apnews.com/sports and AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics
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