The 1984 Olympics were played in Los Angeles, USA. This edition was historic in many ways. It was the most financially successful Olympics of that time, which also laid the foundation for the future. This was the time of the Cold War and America boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Therefore, in 1984, 14 countries including the Soviet Union boycotted this edition. The result was that America topped the medal tally by winning 68 gold medals, whereas in 1980 Russia topped the medal tally with 80 gold medals. This was about foreign countries, but from India's point of view too, the Olympics held in Los Angeles was quite successful.

Although, India could not win a single medal in this edition, but the women athletes did wonders.

PT Usha missed the medal

In the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, 48 ​​players from India participated in 7 sports. Although India did not win a single medal in this edition, it is remembered for the performance of women athletes. At that time, Indian athletes were nowhere to be seen in track races as compared to other athletes of the world. Athlete PT Usha, who was famous in India as Udan Pari and Track Queen, missed the medal by a few milliseconds.

She missed the bronze medal in the 400 meter hurdle race by 1/100 second. She finished fourth in this race. Before her, India's great athlete Milkha Singh missed the medal in the 1960 Olympics by 1/10 second and finished fourth.

Apart from PT Usha, Shiny Abraham reached the semi-finals in the 800 meter race. Shiny was the first Indian woman to do so.

Made an Asian record

PT Usha and Shiny Abraham athletes had done wonders in single event, in 4*400 meter relay race PT Usha, Shiny Abraham, D Valsamma and Vandana Rao reached the final. In the final, all four female athletes finished last at 7th position. Although PT Usha, Shiny Abraham, D Valsamma and Vandana Rao could not win any medal, but they completed the race in 3 minutes 32.49 seconds and made an Asian record.

Hockey team was the favorite, but failed

The Indian hockey team had a golden history in the Olympics. The team had been dominating this game even before independence. Not only this, the Indian hockey team had won a total of 8 gold medals including the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Therefore, it was considered the favorite in 1984 as well. According to Zafar Iqbal, who was the captain of this edition's team, the Indian hockey team was the best team in the Olympics. Everyone was watching Australia and India in the final match.

To play the semi-finals, the Indian team had to defeat West Germany and the score of both the teams in the match was 0-0 and only 3 minutes were left for the game to end. Captain Zafar Iqbal also got a chance, but he failed to score a goal. Due to the match being drawn, the team finished in the fifth position and could not move forward. Let us tell you that in this tournament, the Indian team lost only 1 match and had to be eliminated due to a draw.