Low-key commemoration of Sarajevo 1984 Games (News Feature)

By John Bagratuni and Hans-Hermann Maedler Feb 6, 2009, 12:00 GMT

Hamburg - Popular Bosnian singer/songwriter Jadranka Stojakovic returns to her native city for a concert Sunday as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) remembers the 25th anniversary of the Sarajevo Winter Olympics.

Stojakovic, who sang the theme song for the February 8-19, 1984, Games, will perform together with musicians from her adopted country of Japan at the Skenderija sports and cultural centre in Sarajevo, a Games venue which was rebuilt after the Balkan War.

IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in a statement on Friday: 'The Olympic Games in Sarajevo 25 years ago are a clear demonstration of how sport can convey a message of peace and bring hope in the middle of the turmoil of the war.

'Just as athletes strive to achieve the best performances at the Games, the IOC and the Olympic Movement strive to contribute to a better and peaceful world through sport.'

No big event is planned, but even Stojakovic's concert would have been unthinkable little more than a decade ago as the Olympic facilities and venues were destroyed during the 1992-1995 siege of Sarajevo.

The Olympic anniversary in fact comes just three days after the 15th anniversary of the Sarajevo Market Massacre in which 67 people died in a mortar attack on the city's Markale market on February 5, 1994.

The Zetra sports hall, where British ice dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean scored 12 perfect 6.0 marks for their interpretation of Maurice Ravel's Bolero, was in ruins, the copper roof structure molten from missile impacts.

The basement was a morgue and the wooden seats used to make coffins.

The Skenderija complex, which hosted ice hockey matches and accommodated the 8,000-strong media contingent, was damaged as well, with one snow crystal at the entry an almost mocking survivor of the Balkan War bloodshed and destruction.

Back in 1984 and then still part of Yugoslavia, Sarajevo offered widely-acclaimed hospitality, a charming old town and splendid venues to visitors, officials and the 1,272 athletes from 49 countries who competed for 39 gold medals.

Torvill and Dean are the most-remembered sports act, but there was also the rise to fame of East German figure skater Katarina Witt, who got the first of two golds and was later named 'the most beautiful face of socialism' by Time Magazine.

Finnish cross-country skier Marja-Liisa Hamalainen was the most decorated athlete, winning all three individual races and a bronze with the relay.

Witt contributed to East Germany's medal haul for first place in the final tally with nine gold, nine silver and six bronze medals.

The US team delighted in Bill Johnson's run to downhill gold and compatriot Phil Mahre beat his brother Steve for slalom gold.

The host nation could only celebrate a giant slalom silver from Jure Franko, but organizers and volunteers outdid themselves as snowstorms and arctic winds played havoc with the competition schedule.

Then IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch named the Games 'the best ever' winter edition in his final verdict at the closing ceremony.

Little did Samaranch know at the time that he would require United Nations protection a decade later when he made a much publicised visit from the Lillehammer Games to Sarajevo - less than a fortnight after the market place incident - to promote the Olympic Truce.

Samaranch's visit and a solidarity athletics meet in 1996 showed the destruction of the Olympic facilities to a global audience.

The IOC donated more than one third of the estimated 32 million dollars for which the Zetra Hall was rebuilt 1997-1997. The Skenderija centre was rebuilt 2000-2006 with private funds.

These visible wounds may have healed but others remain as for instance regular winter sports activities separate the various groups.

Muslim Bosnians chose to ski at Mount Bjelasnica where Johnson lived up to his bold pre-race prediction. The Serbian part of the population chose Mount Jahorina where the women's alpine events were staged.