The , officially known as the '''Games of the XXIV Olympiad''', were held in
1988 in
Seoul ,
South Korea . The host was chosen in the September
1981 vote, ahead of the
Japan ese city of
Nagoya .
After boycotts of the Olympics in 1976, 1980 and 1984, the Seoul Games were again boycotted, led by
North Korea and followed by
Cuba ; the basis of the boycott was South Korea's refusal to co-host the Olympics with
North Korea , which rejected all compromise. However it was an early, visible triumph of
Nordpolitik that no other Communist nations boycotted the Games despite being allies of North Korea.
Ethiopia ,
Seychelles and
Nicaragua could not afford to send their athletes for economic reasons.
]]
- Ben Johnson wins the 100 m in a new world record, but is disqualified after tests positive for Stanozolol .
- American Boxer Roy Jones Jr. loses the gold medal to South Korean fighter Park Si Hun in a controversial 3-2 judge's decision, despite clearly dominating the fight. Allegations swirled that Korean officials had fixed the judging.
- Swimmer Kristin Otto of East Germany wins six gold medals. Other multi-medalists in the pool are Matt Biondi (five) and Janet Evans (3).
- Anthony Nesty of Suriname wins his country's first Olympic medal by winning the 100 m butterfly, scoring an upset victory; he is also the first black person to win a swimming title.
- Soviet Vladimir Artemov wins four gold medals in Gymnastics , Daniela Silivas of Romania wins three.
- US Sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner wins three gold medals and a silver on the track.
- Christa Rothenburger becomes the first (and last) athlete to win Olympic medals at the Winter Olympics and Summer Olympics in the same year. She adds a cycling silver to the Speed Skating gold she won earlier in the year in Calgary .
- US diver Greg Louganis wins back-to-back titles on both diving events, but only after hitting the springboard with his head in the 3-m event final.
- Mark Todd wins his second consecutive individual gold medal in the three-day event in equestrian on Charisma , only the second time in eventing history that a gold medal has been won consecutively.
- Tennis returns to the Olympics after a 64-year absence, and Steffi Graf adds to her four Grand Slam victories in the year by also winning the Olympic title.
- Table Tennis is introduced at the Olympics, with China and the host nation both winning two titles.
- Two Bulgaria n weightlifters are stripped of their gold medals after failing doping tests, and the team withdraws after this event.
- Lawrence Lemieux , a Canadian sailor in the Finn Class was in second place and poised to win a silver medal when he abandoned the race to save an injured competitor. Lemieux finished in 22nd place, but received the Pierre De Coubertin Medal for Sportsmanship.
- Baseball and Taekwondo are demonstration sports.
- Women's Judo was held for the first time.
- The last amateur US men's basketball team fails to win the gold for only the third time in Olympic history.
See the medal winners, ordered by sport:
(''Host nation in .'')
