Experiencing The : An interview with on the 1984 Summer Olympics

Interviewer: Mike O’Shaughnessy Instructor: Amanda Freeman Final Due Date: February 10th 2016

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Table of Contents:

Statement of Purpose: 3

Interviewee Release Form: 4

Interviewer Release Form: 5

Biography: 6

Historical Context paper: 8

Interview Transcription: 16

Interview Analysis: 36

Works Consulted: 41

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Statement of purpose:

The Purpose of this Oral History Project and interview with Alonzo Babers is to create a primary source document on the 1984 L.A. Olympic Games.

By reading this Oral History project, an individual will develop a greater understanding of the 1984 L.A. Olympic Games and Alonzo Babers’ impact on the team.

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Interviewee Release Form

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Interviewer Release Form

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Alonzo Babers

Alonzo Babers was born in Montgomery, Alabama on October 31st 1961. This is where he completed his early schooling up until his junior year of high school. Also where he began his track career. His father was in the Air Force. Due to his father being in the Air

Force his family was stationed in what was then . He graduated from

Kaiserslautern High School in Germany. He attended the Air Force Academy from 1979-

1983 and graduated with a major in Aerospace engineering. During his time at the Air

Force Academy the young athlete competed in Track and Field and Football for only half of a season before stopping due to an injury. Alonzo’s athletic carrier consisted of a spectacular rise to fame, followed by a blunt and decisive ending. In 1982, Babers best time for the 400m was a 45.9 seconds. In 1983 Alonzo improved this time by running a best of 45.07 seconds. After he graduated he went on to compete in the 1984

Summer Olympic games. During the ’84 games, Alonzo won two Gold medals in the

400m and the 4x400m race. He continued his improvement in 1984 at the ’84 L.A. O’Shaughnessy 7 games by running a personal best of 44.95 seconds in the semi-final Olympic Trials. He continued to lower his time at the L.A. Olympic games by running a new personal record of 44.75 seconds when he won his quarter- final. In the Olympic final Alonzo ran a 44.27 seconds to win the gold medal. Alonzo credited his incredible improvements to hard work and confidence. One month after his spectacular performance in the ’84 games,

Alonzo reported to pilot training in Arizona to begin his career as a pilot, thus concluding his athletic career. He served as an active duty officer in the Air Force from 1983 to 1991 and continues to serve as a member of the Air Force Reserve. He now lives in Potomac,

MD, and he has a wife and three very successful children, two of which are in college. He is now working as a commercial 777 pilot for United Airlines.

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1984 L.A. Olympic Games

“The important thing in the Olympic games is not winning but taking part. The essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.” Pierre de Coubertin said that at the 1948

Olympic games. The Olympics have been traced back to 776 B.C. and have united the world ever since. (History.com) But during the Cold war the Olympics were used as a political stage for the

U.S.S.R. and the United States. The Olympics in 1984 were held in Los Angeles, California. My neighbor Alonzo Babers took part in these Olympic games by running two races for America, the

400m and the 4x400m races, winning a gold medal in both. Therefore, in order to understand the perspective of someone who participated in 1984 Olympics it is important to first examine the events that occurred both leading up to the 1984 Olympics, and the events proceeding.

The Olympics have been traced back very long, the first games were held every four years in Olympia, and located in the western Peloponnese peninsula, to honor the god of Zeus.

(History.com) In the , married women were not permitted to watch or to participate. However, women who were unmarried could attend the competition. Male Greek citizens that were free, regardless of their social status, were entitled to participate in the ancient

Olympic games. In ancient times, there were limited sporting events at the Olympics. Some of them included Pentathlon, Running, Jumping, Discus Throw, Wrestling, and Boxing. Now in modern Olympics there are 28 sports and over 300 events. After World War II, the Olympics grew due to the newly founded states in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Many countries regardless of economic status, political system, or age, saw the Olympics as a showcase to display their political cultural and economic institutions. As this movement became more politicized, the chance for political gain increased, as this happened more and more states joined. The Olympics have changed since the original games in 776 B.C. The IOC (International Olympic Committee) tries to maintain the Olympic ideals, but modern Olympics are often driven by politics and O’Shaughnessy 9 economics. Over the course of almost 3000 years, the Olympics has brought together many countries with the intent to find the most physically fit men and women and have them compete on a global stage. It is hard to believe that the Olympics have been under threat on several occasions despite the prominence of the games. The two World Wars forced the cancellation of three Games, but since then, the biggest threat to the Olympics has come from the refusal of attendance from a large number of nations in 1976, 1980 and 1984 for political reasons. (Gifford)

These boycotts undermined the status of the Olympics as a truly world-wide event. Since the

Seoul Games in 1988, these politically motivated boycotts have been minimal, and the Olympics can truly be said to offer the best global sporting competition.

The history of the world leading up to the 1984 LA games was very important to the political and social aspects of the games. It was almost half a decade into the Cold War, but it would only be five years until the wall fell down. In December of 1979 the had invaded which proved to politicize the 1980 Olympics. In 1980 held the summer Olympics. United States president set a deadline of February 20, 1980 for the Soviet Union to pull their troops out of Afghanistan. (History.com) The Soviet Union did not comply with this deadline and thus caused Jimmy Carter to announce a boycott of the 1980

Olympics. This caused a mixed reaction between many Americans, some sympathized with the athletes that had trained for the 1980 Olympics. Because they would not be participating, they might not qualify for the 1984 games. At the same time, this boycott symbolized the commitment many U.S. citizens felt to fighting the oppressive, anti-democratic Soviet regime. Between the

1980 Olympic games and the 1984 Olympics the Cold War continued. On March 23rd, 1983,

President Reagan announced a new plan for the defense of Democratic countries. This plan was referred to as Stars Wars. Leading up to the 1984 L.A. games, on May 8th, 1984 the Soviet Union announced their ban of the games in response to the U.S. ban of the 1980 games. Ronald Reagan said, “It ought to be remembered by all [that] the Games more than 2,000 years ago started as a means of bringing peace between the Greek city-states. And in those days, even if a war was O’Shaughnessy 10 going on, they called off the war in order to hold the Games. I wish we were still as civilized.”

This contest between the U.S. and the Soviet Union posed a threat to the Olympic movement, as both of these countries used the Olympics as a chance to validate their economic and political systems. In spite of these political difficulties, the 1984 Olympics still proceeded as planned without the Communist states.

“I want my MTV.” The 1980’s were a time of fundamental changes in the lives of many

Americans. One of the many changes was the new introduction to Cable Television; this was introduced in the 1970’s but became popular in most American households in the 1980’s. This change allowed for a new wave of programming. The committee sold the television rights to the broadcast to ABC for $225 million, raising a large amount of money far in advance of the games.(Walker) In 1981 Ronald Reagan became the 40th president of the United States. Being the only movie actor ever to become president he was given the nickname “The Great

Communicator.” Ronald was credited with contributing to the demise of Soviet

Communism.(Ronald Reagan) Ronald Reagan had a rhetoric for anti-communism. In the first few months of his presidency he said in a memorable speech in Florida, he denounced the Soviet

Union as “an evil empire” and “the focus of evil in the modern world.”(Ronald Reagan)

In 1984 the Olympics were imminent, and only two cities had actually bid to host the games, Los Angeles and New York City. The U.S. could only submit one city for an international bid of the IOC. Los Angeles officials began serious preparation to bid for the 1984

Olympics in 1976, with two major clouds hanging above their heads. First, the cost and billion dollar debt of the 1976 Montreal Olympics had convinced most American cities that the games were too costly to hold. Second, a rising anti-tax sentiment had developed in California. Tax protestors were already sending around petitions to lower state and local taxes, which restricted the LAOOC financially. The L.A. games won by default in the Olympic Bid being the only city that bid. Leave it up to the entertainment capital of the world to strike such a smart deal. The L.A.

1984 Olympics were the first privately financed Games ever. After the games were over a profit O’Shaughnessy 11 of $215 million dollars was earned. This was the first Summer Olympics that had made a profit since 1932. Time Magazine was so impressed with Peter Ueberroth’s work; they named him Man of the Year in 1984. (Infoplease) The fame and success that is often associated with when thinking of the 1984 Olympic games in Los Angeles did not come by accident. It was the result of hard work and difficult negotiations between the host city and the United States Olympic

Committee (USOC), between the city and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and ultimately the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee (LAOOC). Los Angeles is reportedly planning to bid for the 2024 Olympic games to celebrate the 40-year anniversary; the bidding begins in 2015 (Walker).

The Funding for the Olympic games has traditionally come from three major sources: state sponsored lotteries, government appropriations, and the sale of the official Olympic Coin.

Other less major revenue came from other things like ticket sales, donations and television contracts. In order to reinforce this agreement with Los Angeles taxpayers, the city council placed a Charter Amendment on the municipal ballot to prohibit the expenditure of any city funds on the games, this prohibited all expenditure accepting funds made by a 6% Olympic ticket tax, and a one and a half cent surcharge on the hotel occupancy tax. (Lawson)

Peter Ueberroth was assigned as the organizer of the 1984 Olympic games. He was a salient member in the games; after they were over he was awarded the Olympic Order in gold due to the success of the games. Peter Ueberroth was responsible for building the architectural strategy that would not be put up at an extreme cost just to be abandoned post-Olympics. (Walker)The

Olympics are famous for causing cities to build elaborate stadiums and transit systems and Peter

Ueberroth was determined to not allow this to happen to L.A.. The most famous city that fell for this trap was , ; where not only are their 2004 Olympics venues are rundown and vacant, but it has been speculated that the massive expenses may have contributed to Greece's continual financial crux. The Olympic committee came to the agreement that it would use the O’Shaughnessy 12 sporting structures already in place and not build any new stadiums; instead they enhanced and modified the existing structures.

The city implemented a Traffic Control Center (TCC) to coordinate traffic between different jurisdictions, and to reroute cars and busses as necessary. They also were allowed access to the computerized traffic signal control system. So they could modify green and red light timing to keep traffic moving smoothly. In 1984 Olympic committees had only five years from the awarding of the hosting of the games until the opening ceremonies. Now the host cities get about ten years to strategize.

As part of the design to be a well-spirited games, LAOOC designed a specific "look" for the Games by using bright aqua-pastel colors. These colors gave the games a specific international flavor to the event. The branding of LA84, which was repeated in elements across the landscape, helped to knit together an incredibly large area and create an identifiable sense of place. The graphic artist from L.A. Robert Miles Runyan was picked to create the "Stars in

Motion" logo. The logo consisted of five stars that looked as if they were racing forward.

(Walker)

After the main five-star logo was created, team rest of the branding team looked west. A palette of colors from the Pacific Rim countries, colors and shapes from countries like ,

Indonesia, and culture. The colors featured a signature magenta-like shade, and other bright colors such as aqua, red, yellow and purple. (Walker) Which was somewhat of a shocker from the boldly expected red white and blue. After the color scheme was formed and the coliseum was prepared L.A. was on its way to being ready for the Olympic games.

As planned by Peter Ueberroth, the torch would leave New York on May 8, 1984. Which was the day the Soviet Union announced their boycott. The torch was passed from runner to runner, making its way through thirty-three states. Millions of people gathered throughout the journey to see the torch. By the time the torch had gotten to California, the Olympic spirit was at its peak and the games were ready to begin. The opening ceremonies and track and field events O’Shaughnessy 13 were held in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which was built in 1932. The LAOOC accepted primary responsibilities for the housing needs of the athletes, media, and officials; however they declined to help tourists find hotel rooms. Instead they provided housing for the

Olympic athletes and officials. They did this through hotels, dormitories in the University of

Southern California and seventy-three "official" Olympic hotels with approximately 20,000 rooms.

Historiography is the way in which historians choose to record history, the facts they choose and the facts they leave out. Historians differ on how they interpret the Olympics; in the article written by John Hoberman called Think Again: The Olympics, he is interpreting the

Olympics as a political opportunity for the hosting country. The author says, “The 1936 Berlin

Games, which were promoted by a network of Nazi agents working both inside and outside the

IOC.” Hoberman believes that the 1936 Olympic games were modified to prove the power of

Hitler’s army. He later went on to state how the 1936 Olympics were Hitler's fulfillment of his life's work. The Nazi Foreign Office awarded him, “The Nazi Foreign Office nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize.” Throughout this article Hoberman’s opinion that the Olympics are a political event is reinforced. This author’s biases seem clear. One would need to read other material on the 1936 Olympics in order to compare and see a broader story. In a different article called Intergovernmental Challenges of the 1984 Olympic Games, written by Craig Lawson, the author analyzes what was required to make the 1984 Olympic games a reality and the economics around it. Lawson does not state his opinion on the intergovernmental challenges of the ‘84 games but instead mostly the facts. Lawson mentions that the 1984 Olympics were a success due to the economic gain and public interest in the games, “It can therefore be said that the City of

Los Angeles lived up to the challenge of the Games and developed an historic public/private partnership to plan and manage them.” Having written the economic facts about these Olympics

Lawson makes this conclusion. Because Lawson stays to the facts his perspective is more reliable O’Shaughnessy 14 compared to Hoberman who is much more opinionated which makes it harder to determine what is the facts and what is not.

While Alonzo Babers was at the Olympics he participated in the 400 meter and the 4x400 meter race. In 1982 his best 400m time was 45.9 seconds. Babers improved that time in 1983 running a best of 45.07. In 1984 he continued this improvement, at the U.S. Olympic Final Trials, he won his semi-final with a time of 44.95. Later to qualify for the Olympic team he ran a 44.86.

In the Olympic final, Alonzo ran a 44.27 to win a gold medal. During the 4x400 race, Babers ran the third leg and won the gold medal with ease with a 2:57.91. (Hyman)Much like the 1980

Olympic games, the U.S.S.R. introduced the “” or “Friendship 84”, for the boycott of the 1984 Olympic games. These games were not intended to compete with the

Olympics, starting before LA84 and ending after, but taking a break in between. The friendship games consisted of mostly the countries that did not participate in the 1984 Olympic games, or failed to qualify. After Alonzo Babers finished the 84 Olympic games, he traveled to the Soviet

Union to compete in these games.

The Olympic Trials are the largest track and field event in the world. (Hyman) The quality of the athletes is unequaled in any other meet. The Americans undergo a more rigorous trial process than athletes from other countries. (Hyman) Other countries combine a season record with the trial times but the United States does not. Because of this there are many track and field athletes who hold world records but never competed in the Olympics. One “off” day at the trials and they can be out. (Hyman) The trials can be, in fact, more of a challenge than the Olympic race themselves. The trials for the 1984 Olympics took place from June 16th to June 24th, 1984.

There were 143, 826 spectators for these trials. (Hyman) The qualifying standards for the 400 meter was 46.34 - 46.2.

“The idea that big sporting events are good for growth is relatively new.” Says

New York Times writer Binyamin Appelbaum. These claims are based on the idea that O’Shaughnessy 15 the games can serve as a tourist attraction, an opportunity to catch the eye of business owners and to rally political support. When thinking of this the 1984 Los Angeles

Olympics is often discussed and envied. The 84 games are a perfect example of the

Olympics being a world stage for economic and political ideas. LA made a large profit and earned prestige from other countries that have attempted to duplicate this model.

“Guts and wisdom yield 400 fast meters”

By: Frank Litsky

“The United States has more good quarter-milers than any other nation. Among those who may be factors in the trials are , Walter McCoy, , , ,

Alonzo Babers.”

“Lewis sets the pace for a speedy day at the Olympic track and field trials”

By: Robert Fachet

Washington Post Writer

“The semi finals of the men’s 400m maintained the night’s emphasis on speed, as both heat winners went under 45 seconds, clocking 44.93 and Alonzo Babers 44.95. Michael

Franks, the silver medalist in the World Championships, was a non qualifying sixth in 45.38, followed by Oliver Bridges of Howard in 45.69.”

The Olympics have been enjoyed and participated in for centuries. The effect of politics and economics has changed the way we experience these games. Politics in particular affected the

1984 games because of the Soviet boycott. Mr. Babers was a two-time gold medal winner in track and field, and today he is a commercial airplane pilot.

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Interview Transcription

Interviewee/Narrator: Alonzo Babers Interviewer: Mike O’Shaughnessy Date: December 27th 2015 Location: Interviewee’s house, Potomac, MD

Mike O’Shaughnessy: Hi, This is Mike O'Shaughnessy and I am interviewing Alonzo Babers on the topic of the 1984 L.A. Olympics as part of the American Century Oral History Project. This interview took place on December 27th at 1:00 and this interview was recorded using an IPhone.

Mike O’Shaughnessy: So Mr. Babers tell me about your growing up in West Germany during the Cold War.

Alonzo Babers: Well, my Dad was in the military so after my sophomore year of high school he got stationed in, we were in Montgomery, Alabama prior to that, then he got stationed in West

Germany in Kaiserslautern, Germany which he was stationed at Ramstein Air Force Base at the time, and so we moved over there promptly I started my junior year of high school in a little town called Saarbrücken, Germany. And we lived at the time, because they didn't have housing for us on base, We lived in a little tiny village that was about 800 years old, matter of fact, they celebrated their 800 year anniversary when I was there.

MO: Wow.

AB: In the little town of I don't know maybe 700 or 800 people and after that first semester, the

Christmas season of my junior year we moved from that little village to the base housing in what they called Vogelweh, Germany right across the street from the big American high school. I mean it was in Germany they have a lot of people. O’Shaughnessy 17

MO: Right.

AB: We had about 400 people in our graduating high school class.

MO: And.

AB: And I graduated there.

MO: Sorry I did not mean to interrupt you.

AB: It's fine.

MO: And how long did you live there?

AB: Uh two years, from beginning of my junior year until I graduated 1977-79.

MO: And when did you start your athletic career? Was that in high school?

AB: That was before I left, at least my track career, before I left Montgomery, Alabama in 9th grade we took track and field as one of our P.E. classes and the track coach grabbed me after one of the P.E. classes and said “Hey wanna come out for the track team?”

MO: (Chuckle).

AB: And I said ok. Never considered running track before but one thing I noticed is that people want to be liked to you know? So when he suggested that I come out, I was all for it, so I ran every year after that. Started with the 400 and kept with the 400.

MO: And was it just track and field or did you participate in other sports?

AB: I played basketball as well in high school, which I probably enjoyed a little more.

MO: Oh really? O’Shaughnessy 18

AB: Yea I was a pretty good basketball player in high school, if I do say so myself at least.

MO: (Chuckles).

AB: Yea so I played basketball, ran track, and played little league football when I was about 11-

12-13 years old.

MO: So what drew you to the Air Force?

AB: To joining the Air Force? It was my desire to be a pilot; I decided I wanted to fly. You know living on an Air Force base and you know you see those airplanes flying over and you’re just kind of naturally drawn to that I think. I consulted with one of the counselors at my high school and she suggested applying to the Air Force Academy so that's what I did.

MO: So at the Air Force you ran track correct?

AB: I did.

MO: And how was that experience? Did you like running there?

AB: It was great! It was very competitive, I actually was pretty successful in high school in track ran some decent times so when I arrived at the Academy, the football coach at the time, a guy by the name of Ken Hatfield heard that I was coming and heard that I might have speed so during my freshman year at the Academy, the summer prior to starting Academics you are required to do basic training and he called me to his office during basic training and he asked if I would play football.

MO: [5:00] Right.

AB: And I had never played varsity in high school but I played in little league, but again somebody suggests that you might be good at something and wants you to come out you know I O’Shaughnessy 19 said sure! And that lasted about three games into the season I guess. A game against Wisconsin, running a little shallow crossing pattern a big linebacker popped me right here on the side of my arm and broke my arm, I was in a cast for three months. Then I just never went back to play basketball, oh I mean football.

MO: Understandable I mean I think I would too.

AB: Yea you know.

MO: And so when you were running track at the Air Force did they have a good coaching staff?

AB: They did! My head coach was Ernie Cunliffe, Steve Miles was my coach for the 400 sprinters and they had a good staff. Coach Cunliffe was mostly a coach for the distance runners so he didn't really coach directly but he was the head coach of the team but he was very inspiring he held the world record in the 800-meter for a little while when he was running in his youth. And

Coach Miles gave us some of the toughest workouts I had ever done, in fact even after I had graduated from the Air Force academy that's where I trained so I would still run with those guys and do some of the workouts they did.

MO: So after you, you graduated in 83 correct?

AB: That is correct.

MO: So that summer after you went to the Olympics?

AB: That would be, I graduated so that summer was the summer of 83.

MO: Right so you graduated and then one more year until.

AB: Right, that summer of 83 when I graduated.

MO: Yea. O’Shaughnessy 20

AB: I graduated, then a couple weeks after graduation I was supposed to go start pilot training and so my coach said you know why don't you take a year off and try and make the Olympic team. I said, “Wow do you think I really got a shot?” and he goes well look who you beat and who you run against so why don't you take a year off and so I talked to my parents about it and my main concern was in the military, we tend to, when you graduate you do things at the same time so we all go to pilot training at the same time.

MO: Mhmm.

AB: And my dad said hey in five years they will be a captain, you will be a captain, they'll be a year difference and they will have been pilots for a year longer than you, maybe. But this is an opportunity you are never going to get again.

MO: Exactly.

AB: So I thought about it and I decided ok! So I stayed at the Academy as a second lieutenant.

You become a lieutenant when you graduate. I was the assistant sports information director for the Academy Athletic Department.

MO: So you were the assistant sports director and you were training during that year after you graduated?

AB: Now when I graduated we ran the NCAA Finals, and you know tracks in the spring so all the big meets are right around graduation so I ran the NCAA Finals and I got fifth place then I ran our conference championship and got second in my conference championship but I always got second in my conference championship because there was a guy from Texas, El Paso, he was a

Jamaican kid who was the number one quarter miler in the world for four years in a row.

MO: Wow. O’Shaughnessy 21

AB: [10:00] And he won the world Championships and everything pretty much every year. So I got second to him all the time, Burt Cameron was his name. He was favored to win the gold in 84 as well, he got hurt and that’s a different story. So by virtue of placing fifth I ran in the national championships for everyone that summer, and then by virtue of running in that I got fourth place, no, what did I get? No, I got fifth place, I got fifth place in that meet as well because they had the first world championships of track and field in , that year. That was the first year they had world championships, and so I made that team as an alternate for the four hundred meters.

MO: Oh wow.

AB: As a fifth place guy. So I also made the , I ran a relay leg in that meet then I went to Europe and also ran some races and every time I ran I was running faster and faster.

MO: Yea I actually saw that on your stats that is incredible.

AB: You know school was out, I didn't have to study, I was just training.

MO: Yea you must have just been feeling good and running hard.

AB: Yea it was a big difference and plus I was experienced I was running against big time 400 hundred meter runners every race. I was feeling pretty confident after that summer ended, I think

I ended the summer running in the pan American games. I came back home and started training again for the next year.

MO: So do you think it was your confidence that helped your times during that period?

AB: Oh absolutely, you know you run faster and you get more confidence. That confidence helps you train better and run better. O’Shaughnessy 22

MO: Ok, so after all that is that when you entered the Olympic Trial process?

AB: Right, to make the Olympic Trials it's a matter of time. In a sanctioned meet you have to meet a certain qualifying time and I qualified, I made the qualifying time so it was kind of a matter if I was going to run. And I'll tell you one thing going back to Burt Cameron who I had never beat right? I told you I ran a series of meets in Europe. In Europe in the summer they have these big track meets it’s like golf where they have majors and the big tournaments, that's kind of how the sport works in Europe so there's a big meet in Berlin. There's a big meet in . They changed it now it's called the Golden… The Golden Shoe or something like that but anyway one of these big meets in the last of the season in Zurich meet they have this big meet in Zurich called the Weltklasse. I was able to get in that meet and run that in the 400 in that meet, and in that meet

Burt Cameron was in the race and I beat him.

MO: Not uh.

AB: I won which was one of the first of these big meets that I had one and I beat Burt Cameron and needless to say and again first time I had every beat him and it was by a little bit but I beat him. So needless to say I got on a flight and few to Curacao, for the Pan American games and that was it for the 83 season. So I went into the next year just really confident about my prospects so I trained hard over the winter and relished the fact that I was training at 5-6,000 feet at the Air Force Academy with the altitude and I started running races that next year. Kind of strange because I was by myself so I had to find races to run I wasn't a school anymore so I kind of had to coach myself that year but you know I figured it out I knew what I needed to do.

MO: So you didn't have any coaching for the beginning of that year?

AB: No.

O’Shaughnessy 23

MO: Wow.

AB: [15:00] No I pretty much self coached and set my own meets up. Air Force gave me the time off to go run you know I was the assistant sport director I had a great boss and he gave me the time to do what I needed to do. So the Olympic trials were that June, and in the Olympic trials I got second place to a guy named Antonio McKay. And Antonio was a kid from Tech, which he happened to be in the same class as my little sister and in the race I was out front and he came up behind me and came up from behind me and passed me at the finish line so I got second at the Olympic trials. He was kind of the favorite, him and Burt Cameron were kind of the favorites for the Olympics in L.A. Needless to say after that Olympic trial phase my focus was on not being passed at the finish line.

MO: Right, so that was a little boost of I had to do this.

AB: It was, it was.

AB: And sure enough in the Olympic final, I came off the curb with about a 3-4 meter lead and I was thinking nobody's going to catch me this time.

MO: So after the trial process you said, I can't remember, you said you beat them? Or?

AB: The Olympic trials? It was second place.

AB: And the way they do the trials is that the top three guys run in the open 400m and then they take another two guys as, and those three guys and a relay team you need 4 guys but we actually took 6 quarter milers because in the Olympic games you run the quarter finals, the preliminaries, the quarter finals, the semi finals, and the finals so it's four races so you just need more people to run some of the earlier races.

MO: And you knew your team well? Were you guy’s friends? O’Shaughnessy 24

AB: Yea you know a lot of the guys I had run against before. was a kid from

S.I.U. (Southern Illinois University) and he probably became my closest friend on the team because this was both of our first year running big time track and you know were just like two kids running around in a candy store just walking around the Olympic village. Hey there is

Michael Jordan! Hey that's…!

MO: Wow that is interesting, so what was that like living in the Olympic village?

AB: It was really cool, I mean the facilities there, they took the U.S.C. (University of Southern

California) campus and kind of enclosed it and we used the dorms, we stayed in our dorms. They set up a big indoor and outdoor cafeteria, well cafeteria isn’t the right word because of the scope of this thing, it was huge you know you could go down there and get a gourmet meal at anytime of the day. A steak grilled to perfection by Wolfgang Puck was one of the big chefs and I mean they had everything, game rooms, TV rooms, plus you could go see any event you wanted to.

MO: Yea!

AB: All you would have to do is show our credentials and walk right in it was nice.

MO: And so when you were in the village, was your diet monitored by anybody or were you responsible for your own diet?

AB: [20:00] No, um track is a little different from most of those other sports because of each individual person. Most guys had coaches and most of the coaches were with them, they were staying in the village but they were around so when they trained they went out with their coach. It was always kind of weird because when I went out for a workout, because I had two weeks in the village before I actually started running my race, so I was still doing some training and I’d go out to the track and train and I was really the only one out there without a coach. I would do my own O’Shaughnessy 25 stuff and I would kind of tag on to and say hey what are you doing today mind if I join you? But those guys with coaches monitored their nutrition. But this again was 30, 31 years ago, so the nutrition aspect of training wasn't as developed. Not even close, you know for me before I got to the village I justified a square meal as a whopper with cheese, because I had my bread group, I had my meat group, you know my cheese that was the dairy pickles, lettuce, and tomatoes were my vegetables. I mean I was really in shape so you burn a lot of calories. These days it is completely different, they help people take care of their bodies now especially athletes.

MO: So you said Ray Armstead you became great friends with him, but was there anyone else on the team you became great friends with?

AB: Antonio, we were ok he was a little standoff-ish sometimes; he was younger, a little younger too. And then Sunder Nix was a good friend. And then there were a lot of good guys who ran track you know because I ran in Europe the year before on the World Championship team I had some good friends you know. So we had a good time in our rooms. They were set up like suites so I think we had four rooms with six of us in there, in this whole suite area with the living area and two to a room. We use to joke that our, now we had people that were assigned to and people who came and stayed sometimes but a lot of the guys had places that they were staying in the city. There was a kid named Ron Brown who played running back for the Rams after the

Olympics he won a gold medal. We won a lot of gold medals that year. So Ron won a gold medal in the 4x100 relay, I won two gold medals one in the 400 and one in the 4x400 relay, who was Jackie Joyner's brother, if you have heard of Jackie Joyner. Al won a gold medal in the triple jump and was also assigned to our room and of course he won four gold medals.

So we had like everybody, I think we at some point, and I got a picture of it when we all put our medals on a table and took a picture.

MO: Ha! Oh wow and are you still connected with these guys? O’Shaughnessy 26

AB: Facebook friends, you know they have some reunions and stuff from time to time but I don't know how well attended they are I have never been to one.

MO: Oh wow.

AB: Yea I kind of moved on from it.

MO: Yea I can understand.

AB: And plus my experience was a little unique because I ran that one year and then I was gone you know most guys kept competing you know all the way through to another Olympic games and maybe another Olympic games and I was done that year and I moved on to my flying career.

MO: And I’m just curious how you felt once you won the first gold?

AB: It was awesome, I remember crossing the finish line and I threw my hands up in the air and the environment of the stadium was just...

MO: Yea because it was a huge stadium right?

AB: [25:00] Yea the coliseum in L.A. and it was 105-110,000 people. I'll never forget the first race I came out, you know we run four races in the 400 so in the first one, most countries they allow them an entry even if they don't make the qualifying time.

MO: Mhmm.

AB: So that first preliminary round that we run they seed you based on time, so it's not real competitive for the Americans normally so I go out it's about 11:00 in the morning I think, and there's this tunnel that we come out of that they walk us out of. And I’m not thinking much about it and I look up and I’m thinking “holy crap!” I’m thinking there's not going to be a lot of people there for this preliminary round, there's some other field event stuff going on and I'm thinking to O’Shaughnessy 27 myself “ man there are a lot of people here!” This thing [coliseum] was virtually full at like 11:00 in the morning even though there were no real races only preliminary stuff. As I start walking out

I start hearing this cheering (cheering imitation) and it is getting louder and louder, and I’m looking around because there is some field event stuff going on, I turn around and look up at the big screen and it's me! There's a camera on me and the reason the stadium is going crazy is because these people have been here for a few hours and I’m the first American to walk through the tunnel to compete that day. You know we are in the U.S. and when I made the Olympic team

I’m thinking ok it's in L.A. I don’t get to get in a boat and compete overseas like in Chariots of

Fire or any of that stuff because when you think of running in the Olympics you think of somewhere else.

MO: Mhmm.

AB: But having a home crowd was absolutely amazing. My adrenaline level was so high I really had to tone it down for that race.

MO: And then after the second one, the second gold medal in the relay, was that any different than the first one or was it still just as amazing?

AB: It was nice because it was a team effort.

MO: Yea I'm sure that was nice.

AB: Yea you're running with the team and it was special. But we kind of always win that race.

And the consciousness with that is that you want to break the world record but you don’t want to drop the baton.

MO: Right.

O’Shaughnessy 28

AB: Well not in that order I guess. You don’t want to drop the baton and you want to break the world record. And we were close to breaking the world record, really, really close but we missed it by a few hundredths of a second.

MO: Yea.

AB: But we didn’t drop the baton and I had a pretty good race that was the fastest 400 I ran in my life to this day.

MO: And so after you won both of them, they weren't both in the same day correct?

AB: No they were not.

MO: And was it spaced out by a few days or how much?

AB: I think it was maybe a week apart because the 400 relay was on the last day; it’s always on the last day in track and field.

MO: And so after the 4x400 was the award ceremony soon to come?

AB: For that they kind of spaced them out I think they had the award ceremony, for the relay I think it was the same day. For the 400 I think it was the next day, you know what no, it was the same day. And that was really nice because you're on top of the stand and they are playing the

National Anthem and 100,000 people are singing along and it's because you won. And my parents are in the audience and it was really nice. It was a great feeling.

MO: Did you go home after the Olympics?

AB: I was living in Colorado Springs at the time so yes I spent the night and I flew back to

Colorado Springs the next day.

MO: The next day? O’Shaughnessy 29

AB: [30:00] Yea the next day. The morning after the 400 I did like a few interviews on the Today show and that kind of stuff. But after the relay was over I flew back because I was having my stuff in my apartment packed up to be sent to Arizona where I was going to pilot training because

I started pilot training two weeks after the Olympics.

MO: Wow.

AB: And then between that, let's see, we went to the White House as an Olympic team. When I was in town there, and because I was in the Military I went to the Pentagon. We walked with this guy who was escorting me around the pentagon and he walked me into some kind of leadership meeting they were having and I’ve never seen so many stars in my life. You know I’m a brand new lieutenant and all these generals. This whole auditorium was full of Generals, was full of

Generals and they all stand up and start clapping and I was like “thank you, thank you.”

MO: (laughter) Wow.

AB: Then we went to New York and had a ticker tape parade. Do you know what a ticker tape parade is?

MO: No I do not.

AB: I don’t even know if they do them anymore, unless the Yankees win the World Series or something. Parade up New York City where people stand on high buildings and throw this paper down. So we did that as an Olympic team and then I went to Europe and ran like seven races.

MO: And that was the Friendship Games Right? Or no?

AB: Friendship games?

MO: With the Soviets? No? O’Shaughnessy 30

AB: Did I mention that earlier?

MO: I don’t think so.

AB: The Friendship Games… I ran a race in Berlin but I talked about the summer of ‘83 going to

Europe and this was the summer of ‘84. So ‘84 the seven races this is when we saw the Russian and all the Eastern-Europe athletes. So the Berlin meet, and I don't know the name of it some of them had names like the Friendship games and stuff like that.

MO: Ok sorry to confuse you.

AB: But I don’t know what the names of them are. This was our opportunity because they boycotted the L.A. Olympics so this is our opportunity to compete against their top folks. I ran against and won, I won all those races I competed in over there, all seven. I can't remember all the places I ran. Then after that week was over, so this is like the second week, I went to Montgomery where my parents are from, we did the key to the city. I think I spent overnight, maybe two days. Went back to Colorado Springs, key to the city, parade. Next day got in my car drove to Phoenix where I went to pilot training and then the next day, I’m in pilot training.

MO: Wow, so that was it for you?

AB: Yea.

MO: Wow.

AB: But by then I was ready.

MO: Which is understandable.

O’Shaughnessy 31

AB: Yea by then I was tired of the autograph signing, and interviews, and taking pictures. It was only because the Olympics had just happened, and you are a gold medalist so even if the people didn't know who you were it was kind of a big deal. Except in Europe it was a different story, people knew who you were. In Europe we had security details, it was just a big, big deal over there. We couldn't go down to the lobby entrance, we had to use back entrances and stuff like that.

MO: Mhmm so how was this whole experience? Was it just great?

AB: [35:00] Yea it was just fantastic. It’s the kind of thing that's really hard to describe, that feeling of winning, it’s the kind of thing that defines, well it doesn't define who you are but the change in your life, but for me I kind of thought it’s one more thing you check it off your list. But

I was wrong, 30…. 31 years later it is still something that is apart of my life like at least weekly.

MO: Wow that’s crazy.

AB: There is a phone call, somebody wants you to do something and your “oh yea he was in the

Olympics oh yeah.” There's other stuff that I’ve done you know, no one cares that in high school, no one cares that we won a basketball championship. It’s just one of those things that creates opportunity, works both ways it was a great, great part of my life and it has been since.

MO: And how do you think your experience both as a runner and as a member of the Air Force had been affected by your race?

AB: Maybe more visible in my career as, when I was in the Air Force probably created some opportunity I could have taken but I probably didn’t. I've never really been one to seek out the limelight and because of it, for instance for 10-15 years after I ran I mean I had a lot of requests to come and speak you know do speaking engagements, the kind of thing I probably wouldn't have done normally I would never think, because I don't like getting up and speaking in front of people O’Shaughnessy 32 but it's something that especially when it's like kids you kind of feel obligated and for a while I got really good at it. Now I got to a point where I said I’m not going to do it anymore because I don’t feel like I’m relevant anymore, you know you get to a certain age you know this kid doesn’t want to hear me get somebody younger who is closer to their age that they can relate to you know. So I kind of pulled myself away from that but it’s made an impact in my career. I hope that

I’ve been able to stay fit. Sometimes I think about what my body used to be able to do but here in my mid 50’s I can’t do anymore. Its funny.

MO: And what does this image mean to you?

O’Shaughnessy 33

AB: (Chuckles) a-ha! Ok when I see this, this kind of sums it up for me as one of the biggest things for me. I mean this was right after I graduated from the Academy so some of the closest relationships I have to this day matter of fact most of my best friends are guys and gals that I spent four years with at this place. And it was hard! The Academy was challenging.

MO: Yea.

AB: I was very proud of myself for going there and graduating so it meant a lot to me to do well as a representative of the Academy. So this with the medals, somebody came up with this idea, let's go up here and get the Academy in the background and when I saw it I said yea that kind of sums it up. I still do a lot of work with the Academy I go out there quite frequently actually.

MO: [40:00] Well that's awesome that you’re still involved.

AB: But it kind of sums it up, it’s like “Yes!”

MO: Yea that’s a great way to put it. And I have a quote here, it’s by Jeff Fenech who is an

Australian boxer who also competed in the ‘84 Olympics and he said, “ And Olympic medal is the greatest achievement and honor that can be received by an athlete. I would swap any world title to have won gold at the Olympics.” And I was wondering what that means to you?

AB: I agree with the quote I think; now I have never been in a position to win a super bowl championship or something I'm sure those guys would think about it differently. I’ll tell you something that I get asked a lot, I’ll show somebody the medal and, have you seen it? You’ve probably seen it. [Gets up to search for medal]

MO: I have not seen it.

AB: Let me see if I can find it. And you'll notice I don’t keep it up or anything like that on the wall, because for me it’s not a lot about the medal it’s about what it represents I guess, hard work, O’Shaughnessy 34 and representing your country. You know it’s pretty simple, you see a lot of scrapes and stuff on it, that’s because of this. I tell folks all the time the people who have just one theirs don’t have all those marks on it.

MO: (Laughter) That’s funny.

AB: And then on the edge you can see they inscribed the actual event and the name I believe. I should probably clean that up a little bit. People ask me what’s that gold medal worth? And I’m like I have no idea. I think it’s gold plated sterling silver, I’m sure it’s not pure gold I don’t know

I’ve never asked the question because to me it's just about the fact that I won.

MO: Right.

AB: And I was very proud of myself, I competed and then I won. And on that day, I was the best in the world.

MO: Yea that’s what it comes down to.

AB: Best person on planet earth, how many people ever get to say that.

MO: Thank you for getting that out. Now to conclude the interview I’m curious if there is anything that I missed that would help me or whoever is reading this project understand the subject better?

AB: I think you were pretty thorough Mike, Let me see.

MO: Any more incredible fun facts?

AB: I don’t think so.

MO: No?

O’Shaughnessy 35

AB: I don’t think so.

MO: Well guess that means I covered at least most of it.

AB: Yea I think you did! If I do come up with something, I’ll let you know.

MO: Yes please do, well thank you for sharing all of your experiences with me.

AB: You’re welcome! If you have some more questions you need to fill out just text me or something.

MO: Will do

O’Shaughnessy 36

Interview Analysis

Historian Barbara Tuchman said, History is the past events that exist independently, whether we examined them or not. History can be recorded in many ways. Most history is usually gathered by a historian who researches a topic, gathers all the information they can, and then decides what is the important information and writes it down in textbooks or other historical sources. This can be biased because the information recorded is determined by what the historian believes is important enough to be recorded. They also may have an opinion that they want to express and so they could find information to prove their point instead of just the “facts.” We can also read several sources to decide what we think. The facts gathered can be very extensive.

Historian Ritchie Donald believes, “Oral History collects memories and personal commentaries of historical significance through recorded interviews.” Oral History is the personal experiences and opinions from people who have lived history. People who have experienced various moments in history or were part of historical events have an inside view. Through interviewing them, we uncover the information that they can remember from the event. Oral history can also give a depth of knowledge that traditional sources cannot. We learn sights, sounds, feelings etc. that cannot be gained in other ways. Oral History is beneficial to many historians because it is personal opinions and experiences from the interviewee. However like most historical sources,

Oral Histories have their own weaknesses. Sometimes the information the interviewee remembers is information that either never happened, or is not 100% factual. In this instance we need to recognize that Oral History can be unreliable as the interviewee may forget or make up some information. However, Oral History can sometimes be non-credible due to the interviewee remembering information that is not true because they cannot remember the event exactly. Oral

Histories can be prejudiced by the historians who are conducting the interview due to the questions they ask, and do not ask. The interviewee can have their own biases because of who they are and their own life experiences. In order to learn about an event in history it is important O’Shaughnessy 37 to consider oral history as well as the more traditional sources. Through my interview with

Alonzo Babers I was able to learn about the 1984 Olympics from someone who experienced it.

My interview has historical value and the information can be added to what was learned through research to give a more complete picture of the event.

My oral history interview was with Alonzo Babers, Air Force Veteran, two-time Olympic

Gold medalist, and commercial airline pilot. During the interview Alonzo stated some key events of his experience from the 1984 Olympics. One of the events he emphasized was how difficult the Air Force Academy was. In my interview, shortly after the 5:00 mark, Mr. Babers began talking about his track experience at the Academy. He went on to say, “And Coach Miles gave us some of the toughest workouts I had ever done, in fact even after I had graduated from the Air

Force academy that's where I trained so I would still run with those guys and do some of the workouts they did.” Mr. Babers credits the Air Force Academy with helping him learn a productive training regimen so that once he had left the Academy he was able to continue training without the immediate presence of his coaches. He mentioned the physical aspect of the Academy being challenging but he also highlighted how the academic work was also very demanding,

“And it was hard! The Academy was challenging.” Mr. Babers was also proud that he withstood the challenges the Academy presented him with. “I was very proud of myself for going there and graduating so it meant a lot to me to do well as a representative of the Academy.” Mr. Babers later went on to depict how after the Games were over they made him feel a great sense of joy and fulfillment. He stated, “And I was very proud of myself, I competed and then I won. And on that day, I was the best in the world.” To Mr. Babers, winning was not about the medals,

“because for me it’s not a lot about the medal it’s about what it represents I guess, hard work, and representing your country.” He was proud to have served his country in a positive way as well as demonstrate his hard work as a representative of the Air Force Academy. When talking about the award ceremonies Alonzo discussed how rewarding it was, “And that was really nice because you're on top of the stand and they are playing the National Anthem and 100,000 people are O’Shaughnessy 38 singing along and it's because you won. And my parents are in the audience and it was really nice. It was a great feeling.” These quotes from the interview demonstrate the advantage to an oral history interview as opposed to a different historical source.

Alonzo said many things that came as a surprise to me. However not one of these things was anything but the truth. When asked about his diet leading up to the ‘84 Olympics and during, he told me that the dietary aspect of Track & Field had not been developed at this point. This really surprised me because of how important a healthy diet is believed to be these days, “The nutrition aspect of training wasn't as developed. Not even close, you know for me before I got to the village I justified a square meal as a whopper with cheese, because I had my bread group, I had my meat group, you know my cheese that was the dairy pickles, lettuce, and tomatoes were my vegetables.” I was also surprised to learn that he played for the Air Force Football team for

“about three games into the season.” Yet he quit due to an injury “A game against Wisconsin, running a little shallow crossing pattern a big linebacker popped me right here on the side of my arm and broke my arm, I was in a cast for three months.” In oral history interviews not all answers are anticipated, there can be many surprises.

In our textbook, A Brief Narrative History, the author defines the Cold War as the

“almost fifty years of constant tension between the United States and the Soviet Union after

WW2.” In my Oral History, when asked about his growing up in Germany, Mr. Babers stated,

“He got stationed in West Germany in Kaiserslautern, Germany which he was stationed at

Ramstein Air Force Base at the time.” Alonzo Babers was growing up in Germany in the time when the Cold War was in full effect but it was not the topic of the interview. The interview was about the 1984 Olympics, which was not covered in the textbook. The textbook is an edited book written by historians about a brief history of the U.S. However, my Oral History is a recorded interview about Alonzo Babers experience of the 1984 Olympics.

When comparing my contextualization paper to my interview there were times where the information agreed. One of the examples is when Mr. Babers said, “I mean the facilities there, O’Shaughnessy 39 they took the U.S.C. (University of Southern California) campus and kind of enclosed it and we used the dorms, we stayed in our dorms.” In my context paper I stated, “The LAOOC accepted primary responsibilities for the housing needs of the athletes, media, and officials; however they declined to help tourists find hotel rooms. Instead they provided housing for the Olympic athletes and officials. They did this through hotels, dormitories in the University of Southern California and seventy-three "official" Olympic hotels with approximately 20,000 rooms.” My Interview with Alonzo Babers has historical value. When writing my context paper I came across information that I heard again when I conducted my interview. All of the things I had previously researched had corresponded with what Alonzo said. When analyzing an Oral History, one of the most important factors is how reliable an interviewee is and if it agrees with the previous research you have done. Because my interviewee is a reliable historical source I know that the information he added on can be interpreted as the truth so it is historically valuable.

When comparing my transcription to the transcription of Mallory Harney on Tate

Armstrong and his experience in the 1976 Montréal Summer Olympics there were many similarities and differences. In my interview Alonzo discussed how he originally did not have an interest in Track but more just sports in general. In Mallory’s interview her interviewee stated something very similar. Both interviews were of Air Force children so they had both moved around a decent amount as children. Alonzo grew up mostly in Montgomery, Alabama and in two towns called Kaiserslautern, and Saarbrücken in then West Germany. In the interview with

Tate Armstrong he stated how he moved 36 times before he moved off to college one of them being Germany. Alonzo Babers continued his Air Force legacy by enrolling in the Air Force

Academy for college while Tate Armstrong went on to Duke University. Unlike Alonzo, Tate described his academic struggle through high school and partially in college. Also Tate

Armstrong stated how when he was a kid it was not as easy as it is today to follow the Olympics, without the television networks we have now. Tate Armstrong grew up in a time before Alonzo did and so their experiences were different in these ways. Tate Armstrong also described how his O’Shaughnessy 40 experience of the Olympics was more of a team goal unlike Alonzo, because his Olympic experience was more individual. Even though both interviews are about the Olympics, there are two different stories told.

I have learned many things from the Oral History process. I learned how challenging it is to properly prepare and analyze an interview. I had all of my questions and curiosities about his experience and the 1984 Olympics answered. I learned more than I had previously known about

Mr. Babers. My interview was more interesting to me than other historical sources because it was from someone who was there and involved in the event. I learned Mr. Babers personal take on the event. The interview is more fun than compared to than some of the historical sources we analyze which are usually dry. It was incredible to see someone so willing and passionate to share their story with me.

O’Shaughnessy 41

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