The day when Sarajevo was the centre of the world

31 years ago, at the packed Koševo stadium, starting at 2 p.m., the opening ceremony of the 14th Winter Olympic Games began festively, and the Olympic flame was lit by Croatian figure skater Sanda Dubravčić, reports the Bosnian news agency Patria.

With a spectacular choreography and programme, Sarajevo was the centre of the world from 8 to 19 February. The 14th Winter Olympics featured 1,272 athletes from 49 countries, and more than 4,500 journalists reported on the event, writes Patria.

The programme from 8 to 19 February included alpine skiing (Bjelašnica and Jahorina), bobsleigh and luge (Trebević), hockey and figure skating (Zetra and Skenderija), biathlon, Nordic skiing and ski jumping (Igman). This concept of holding all disciplines within a 25 km radius had never been seen before.

SELECTION OF THE MASCOT VUČKO

The mascot of the Sarajevo Olympics was Vučko, one of the most recognisable symbols of Sarajevo. Readers of Yugoslav newspapers were asked to choose the mascot of the 1984 Winter Olympics from a list of six finalists. The winner was Vučko, a little wolf, designed by Slovenian designer and illustrator Jože Trobec. The other finalists were a squirrel, a lamb, a mountain goat, a porcupine and a snowball. In short animated films, shown before broadcasts of sports events, Vučko was usually portrayed as a clumsy, likeable athlete, not particularly skilled in sports performances. Yugoslav singer Zdravko Čolić voiced Vučko in the opening sequences.

At the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games on 19 February, the then President of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch, said that Sarajevo was the best organiser of the Winter Olympic Games in their history up to that point.

We remind you that Sarajevo, competing against Japan's Sapporo and Sweden's Gothenburg, won the organisation of the world's largest sports event in 1978, after which numerous preparations followed.

It was necessary to build capacities, infrastructure, venues... Skenderija, two ice rinks, the Holiday Inn, the Olympic Village in Mojmilo and Dobrinja, the Zetra hall, the bobsleigh track on Trebević, and ski jumps were built even a year before the Olympics.

See what it all looked like on 8 February