The 1988 Seoul Olympics In 1988 Seoul held its first Olympic Games. There were teams participating from 159 countries. This was also the first Olympics not to experience a boycott for the past two Olympiads. The Olympics took place with more than 8,500 athletes participating and no major incidents taking place.
The Games got off to a dramatic start at the Opening Ceremony when the torch was run into the stadium by 76-year-old Sohn Kee-chung, the winner of the 1936 marathon. In 1936 Sohn had been forced to enter using a Japanese name because Korea was occupied by Japan. Ben Johnson (CAN) set a world record in the 100m dash, but tested positive for steroids. Johnson was the first well known athlete to be disqualified for using drugs. This was the start of Performance Enhancing Drugs (PED) hitting the world stage. |