CURIOSOTIES FROM BCN 92'

• Designed by artist Javier Mariscal, the friendly mascot of the Barcelona Games was a dog nicknamed Cobi.

• 

  American "Dream Team" in basketball.

  After accepting basketball as a professional sport, NBA stars as Michael Jordan, "Magic" Johnson and Larry Bird, among others, formed the first and unique "Dream Team" of history. In this way they won a gold medal, labeled a "easier" to obtain, in the history of the United States.

• These Games were a relief for Barcelona. The city tried to organize the Games in 1924 and1936. However, the conflicts caused by the Spanish Civil War impeded the organization of those Games.

• After 36 years of absence, South Africa returned to participate in the Games, making a total of 169 countries playing in BCN Olympics.

• The Barcelona Olympics are considered the best Games ever due to two main facts: all the countries in the world that ever participated returned to form part of the Olympic community and the organization was perfect.

• The Olympic effective security foreces were formed by 18,445 National Police officers, 12,115 “guardias civiles”, 6,000 soldiers, 4,000 municipal police, 3,500 security guards and 1,500 regional police formed the Olympic effective security forces.

• The Olympic torch was designed by André Ricard. 9500 different athletes carried it during the travel of 6,000 kilometres along the seventeen Spanish autonomic communities in the way to the Montjuic, in Barcelona.

• 

  Censer with the flame.

  The archer Antonio Rebollo threw a burning arrow to the censer of the Olympic Stadium of Montjuic in the opening ceremony of the Games, but it actually never got into it. Although the shot was very precise, the arrow passed away: it seems that everything was ready for that, graze the pebetero fire, it be lit. Everyone thought that the arrow went into it when it did not.

• Monserrat Caballé and Freddie Mercury recorded a song for the Olympic Games in 1988; “Barcelona”. Freddy died in 1991, so he wasn’t in the inauguration, but during this ceremony it was put a video with the recording of the song, from 1988.

Montserrat Caballé and Freddie Mercury singing "Barcelona"

• This was the Olympic Games where Spanish athletes won more medals ever: 22 medals from which 13 were of gold, 7 of silver and 2 of bronze. This meant a new record for Spain above the 6 medals achieved in the previous games.

PARTICIPATION		SPAIN
Sports:	28	25
Events:	257	184
Athletes:	9.356	430
Men:	6.652	302
Women:	2704	128

Spanish prince Philip, now king Philip VI, in the opening ceremony.

Resources: 
https://20aniversariobcn92.wordpress.com/2011/11/14/curiosidades-de-barcelona-92/
http://www.coe.es/web/EVENTOSHOME.nsf/MONOGRAFICO2012?OpenForm&Query=Consulta=evento=Barcelona+1992@-@366=_=