Sarajevo Gaetan Boucher speed skating

Sarajevo 1984

Team Canada Medal Count

Gold medal icon 2
Silver medal icon 1
Bronze medal icon 1

Flag Bearers

Opening Ceremony

Closing Ceremony

Games Summary

XIV Olympic Winter Games

Now the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo won the rights to host the 1984 Olympic Winter Games by just three votes over Sapporo, bringing the Games to Socialist Yugoslavia.

Canada’s star of the Games was speed skater Gaétan Boucher, who had also been the Opening Ceremony flag bearer. After opening his Games with a bronze medal in the 500m, he won gold in the 1000m by almost a full second over pre-race favourite Sergey Khlebnikov. Two days later he again got the better of the Soviet skater in the 1500m, this time winning gold by nearly half a second. Combined with his silver from Lake Placid 1980, Boucher became the first Canadian winter athlete to win four Olympic medals.

Gaetan Boucher speed skating

The only other Canadian to stand on a podium in Sarajevo was figure skater Brian Orser who won silver behind three-time world champion Scott Hamilton of the United States for Canada’s best ever Olympic result in the men’s event. Orser actually won both the short program and free skate portions of the competition, but his seventh place finish in the compulsory figures made it impossible for him to catch Hamilton.

For many, the highlight of the Games was the free skate of British ice dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean. Among the most innovative skaters in history, their performance to Ravel’s Bolero received 12 of 18 perfect 6.0 scores, including all nine for artistic impression.

Brian Orser figure skating

Sadly, the peace and beauty of the Games would be forgotten a decade later when Yugoslavia split into separate republics and civil war destroyed many of the Olympic venues. The bobsleigh track became an artillery position, the site of the slalom races became a military installation, and the Zetra Figure Skating Centre where Torvill and Dean thrilled the crowd became nothing but rubble.

 

Canadian Medallists

Event Athlete Finish Sport
1,000m - MenGaétan BoucherGoldSpeed Skating - Long Track
1,500m - MenGaétan BoucherGoldSpeed Skating - Long Track
Singles - MenBrian OrserSilverFigure Skating
500m - MenGaétan BoucherBronzeSpeed Skating - Long Track

Overall Medal Count

Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
1Soviet Union610925
2East Germany99624
3Finland43613
4Norway3249
5United States44 - 8
6Sweden4228
7Czechoslovakia - 246
8Switzerland2215
T9Canada2114
T9West Germany2114
11France - 213
12Italy2 - - 2
13Liechtenstein - - 22
14Great Britain1 - - 1
T15Japan - 1 - 1
T15Yugoslavia - 1 - 1
17Austria - - 11

Teams