The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum opened the Olympic Games for a second time, making it the only venue to host two Summer Olympics.
The 1984 Olympic Torch Relay began in New York City and concluded at the Coliseum, traveling 9,320 miles on foot by 3,636 runners. Gina Hemphill, a granddaughter of four-time Olympic gold medalist Jesse Owens, carried the torch into the Coliseum, completed a lap around the track, and handed it off to the final runner, Rafer Johnson, winner of the 1960 Olympic decathlon. He touched the flame of the torch to a flammable Olympic logo, which ignited all five rings and continued up to the cauldron atop the peristyle and remained aflame for the duration of the Games. Johnson made history as the first person of African descent to light the cauldron.
The United States Army Band formed the Olympic rings to kick off the opening ceremony, which hosted 140 National Olympic Committees, a record number at that time. John Williams composed the GRAMMY-winning song for the XXIII Olympiad, “Los Angeles Olympic Theme” later also known as “Olympic Fanfare and Theme” and has become one of the most recognizable musical themes in history.
The 1984 Olympics are widely considered to be the most financially successful modern Olympics, serving as an example on how to run future Olympic games. As a result of low construction costs, due to the use of existing sport infrastructure, coupled with a reliance on private corporate funding, the Games generated a profit of over $250 million.