Barcelona 1992 -- Highlights

A dream team

Men's basketball was open for the first time to professionals, allowing the creation of the "Dream Team" (USA-basketball), which included Magic Johnson, M. Jordan, L. Bird and C. Barkley. In eight matches, the team attained an average of 117 points and never asked for a time out.

Boulmerka gets the gold

In the 1,500m final, Lyudmila Rogacheva (Unified Team) set a torrid pace and burned away the rest of the field except for Hassiba Boulmerka (ALG-athletics). Two hundred metres from the finish, Boulmerka drove past Rogacheva and cruised to victory.

A big surprise

Fermin Cacho Ruiz (ESP-athletics) was not one of the favourites in the 1,500m. However, the final was run at an unusually slow pace and Cacho took advantage of this and, with a delirious crowd screaming his name, won the race over the final sprint.

The first black African woman champion

In the last lap of the 10,000m final, Derartu Tulu (ETH-athletics) darted into the lead and went on to win. At the finish line, Tulu, the first black African woman to earn an Olympic medal, waited for her opponent Elana Meyer, a white South African. They set off hand in hand for a victory lap that symbolised hope for a new Africa.