It had to be the least compelling competition in the history of the Olympic movement. The bid to host the Games often becomes a pitched battle, pitting one world capital against another world capital—often with significant capital changing hands.
But the derby to host the 1984 Summer Games came down to two disparate municipalities: Los Angeles and . . . Tehran.
Los Angeles was desperate to host, having submitted bids for the Summer Games in 1948, ’52, ’56, ’76 and ’80. When each of those was unsuccessful, L.A. still volunteered to serve as a “stand-by” if any scheduled host had to cancel unexpectedly.