المپیک سارایوو: تاریخچه بازی‌های زمستانی 1984

by Jason Vuic, Mahtab Safdari

Sarajevo, the unlikeliest of candidate cities in the unlikeliest of candidate countries did what many had thought impossible: it hosted an international sports competition at the highest level. Jason Vuic reconstructs the history of the Sarajevo games, the first Winter Olympics held in a communist country, and places its memorable competitions in the context of Cold War geopolitics. The book reminds readers that less than a decade after it hosted the Olympics, the Bosnian city of Sarajevo found itself at the vortex of a bloody and brutal civil war that would end with the dissolution of the multiethnic Yugoslavian state.

The second book examines the sports, it begins with a detailed account of the most anticipated matchup of the 1984 Winter Games, a meeting of the American and Soviet hockey teams that never was. The story of Sarajevo’s figure skating competitions, alpine skiing, and bizarre, yet fascinating tale of what, in the 1980s, were America’s most neglected winter sports are followed. It ends with a postscript of the dark and destructive days of war and suffering.

140 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2022

About the author

Specialist in the history of former Yugoslavia and in 1997-98 was a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar at the University of Novi Sad, Serbia.

He has published articles and op-eds in the South Slav Journal, Serbian Studies, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and the Indianapolis Star. His next project is a book-length history of the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics.