South Africa, an outcast in international sports for a generation, was welcomed back to the Olympic family Tuesday like a Prodigal Son repenting sins of apartheid.
The International Olympic Committee granted full recognition to the South African National Olympic committee only weeks after South Africa's parliament repealed its laws of racial segregation.
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Cuba concludes Games with gold rush
Aug. 19, 1991
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HAVANA - Cuba scored a knockout on the final day of the 11th Pan American Games by winning 17 events to the USA's six, decisively claiming the gold-medal championship of the 16-day competition.
Cuban athletes posted 140 first-place finishes to 130 for the USA, which hadn't been bested in the gold count since the inaugural Pan Ams in 1951.
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Embattled Helmick resigns; USOC chief hopes athletes now get focus
Sept. 19, 1991
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Robert H. Helmick resigned Wednesday night as U.S. Olympic Committee president, two weeks after disclosure of his private business dealings hurled the USOC into crisis.
Helmick, a Des Moines attorney, stepped down after two phone consultations Wednesday with members of the USOC Executive Committee.
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New world order; USOC healing process won't come easy
Sept. 20, 1991
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How tarnished is the USA's Olympic gold?
The United States Olympic Committee and perhaps even Congress must confront that question and more, after Wednesday's unprecedented resignation of President Robert H. Helmick.
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S. Africa's Olympic bid complicated
Nov. 7, 1991
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South Africa, banned from the Olympics after 1960 because of apartheid, has decided to send an integrated team to the 1992 Barcelona Games.
But will South Africa be able to compete in track and field, the Olympics' showcase and a strong sport for the country? South Africa must be recognized by the International Amateur Athletic Federation, the sport's international body.
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Former USOC president Helmick quits IOC seat
Dec. 4, 1991
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Robert Helmick, former president of the U.S. Olympic Committee, resigned his seat on the International Olympic Committee early today, according to Mike Moran, USOC publicity director.
Helmick delivered his letter of resignation to IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch before the IOC formally opened its meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, and returned to the USA.
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Champaign bubbles over Blair's gold
Feb. 11, 1992
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The people in Champaign, Ill., couldn't wait for CBS' tape delay. They got the news from Albertville via radio. WDWS-AM reported Monday morning hometown hero and speedskater Bonnie Blair won her second consecutive Olympic gold medal in the 500 meters.
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For Wylie, silver enough luster for now
Feb. 17, 1992
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ALBERTVILLE - Paul Wylie and his Olympic figure skating silver medal are going places.
"I'm going to run around to as many (Winter Games) events as I can," Wylie said Sunday, the morning after he finished second to the Unified Team's Viktor Petrenko in the men's final. "I also want to ski the fabulous French Alps."
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Underdog speedskaters win silver
Feb. 21, 1992
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ALBERTVILLE - The USA's Olympic short-track speedskating women's relay team, which has been together only since last December, won a silver medal Thursday.
Cathy Turner of Rochester, N.Y., who skated the first and last legs of the relay, has a chance to win another one Saturday in the 500 meters. She is one of the favorites, which the relay team was not. It is the eighth medal for the USA, already two ahead of total in the 1988 Winter Games.
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USA's women strike gold; World's 'finest athletes' win 9 of 11 total
Feb. 22, 1992
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ALBERTVILLE - Alaska's female legislators are looking for a way to honor the state's newest star: Olympic silver medalist Hilary Lindh.
"We need a new T-shirt," said state Rep. Fran Ulmer at a welcome home party for Lindh in Juneau Saturday. The slogan?
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Recounting USA's 11 gold, silver, bronze medals
Feb. 24, 1992
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The USA finished the 1992 Winter Olympic Games with 11 medals, equaling its best performance in a Winter Olympics on foreign soil. The USA had 11 medals at the 1952 Winter Games in Oslo, Norway.
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Going for gold and glory! A day-by-day account of the Games of Albertville
Feb. 24, 1992
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DAY 1: Saturday, Feb. 8
Event opens with new-wave look.
The XVI Winter Games officially open in a colorful ceremony that reminds many Americans of the Cirque de Soleil that has toured North America.
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Devers never gave up her dream
Aug. 3, 1992
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BARCELONA - Inspiration is the theme of Gail Devers' "sermon" - and few people have a more inspiring story to tell.
Her victory Saturday in the 100 meters came only a year after both swollen, bleeding feet were almost amputated.
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One final Magic moment; Dream Team crowned with gold
Aug. 10, 1992
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BARCELONA - It was Magic's team from start to finish.
When Earvin Johnson finally was on the victory stand with the gold medal around his neck, the flag draped over his shoulders, tears in his eyes and a smile on his face, his dream was complete.
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U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM
Aug. 10, 1992
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ARCHERY
MEN
Jay Barrs, 30, Mesa, Ariz. Lost to Simon Terry, Britain, 108-108, in a one-arrow shootoff in quarterfinals. Barrs was leading Terry by four points with three shots to go.
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U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM
Aug. 10, 1992
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ROWING
MEN
Malcolm Baker, 22, Washington, D.C., eight with coxswain. Medal final: 4th (with Michael Teti, Chris Sahs, Scott Munn, Jeff Klepacki, Robert Shepherd, Richard Kennelly, John Parker, Mike Moore), 5:33.18.
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Only 1,440 days to go and so much to do
Aug. 10, 1992
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BARCELONA - Atlanta, it's all yours.
Barcelona Mayor Pasqual Maragall relinquished the Olympic flag Sunday night, transferring it into the anxious grasp of Maynard Jackson, mayor of Atlanta, around 5 ET.
