Snow to bury Sarajevo like in '84, day before the opening of the 14th Winter Olympics

Sarajevo today resembles the days from 31 years ago, when the 14th Winter Olympic Games were held in the capital of BiH, writes the BiH news agency Patria.

Just one day before the opening of the XVI Winter Olympics on February 8, 1984, the weather in Sarajevo was warm. The snow everyone so desired had not fallen. And then a miracle happened – on the night of February 7-8, snow buried Sarajevo and the surrounding mountains.

The scene from three decades ago could be repeated today. Meteorologists are announcing heavy snowfall, even up to half a meter, expected on Friday and Saturday.

Former climatologist of the Federal Hydrometeorological Institute, Željko Majstorović, who served as the commander of the unit responsible for snow removal at the Koševo stadium in 1984, said that there were no precipitations before that event, but on the night of February 7-8, snow began to fall very intensely.
However, one hour before the official start of the Games, everything was cleared and ready for that magnificent event.

The entire city rose to the occasion. Even Sarajevo high school students were engaged. They cleared snow from the seats at the Koševo stadium.

At the closing ceremony of the 1984 Winter Olympic Games on February 19, the then President of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch, said that Sarajevo was the best organizer of the Winter Olympic Games up to that point in their history. 

In 1978, in Athens, the International Olympic Committee chose Sarajevo as the host of the XIV Winter Olympic Games. Competing were also Japan's Sapporo and the joint bid of two Swedish cities, Falun and Gothenburg.

In those days, Sarajevo became the center of media attention from around the world. The program from February 8 to 19 included alpine skiing (Bjelašnica and Jahorina), bobsleigh and luge (Trebević), ice hockey and figure skating (Zetra and Skenderija), biathlon, Nordic skiing, and ski jumping (Igman). 49 national Olympic committees registered for these Games. A record number of participants arrived in Sarajevo. According to statistical data, 1,272 athletes from 49 countries participated in that event, and more than 4,500 journalists reported, writes Patria.