A record 9,356 competitors from 169 countries made the Barcelona Games the largest Summer Games to date. The end of the apartheid policy of racial discrimination in South Africa brought about a change as the country was invited into the Olypmic movement after 32 years. The Soviet Union broke into several separate republics but their athletes maintained a common presence as the Unified Team of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina competed as separate nations for the first time.

The Catalan games were the Games of superlatives in many ways and opened up new chapters in many areas. After major changes in the map of Europe, a number of new nations joined the ranks of athletes in the picturesque Montjuic stadium. These new arrivals gave a new dimension to the extensive media and commercial coverage of the Games.  Clearly, the Games were also a historic event for our country. Slovenia made its first independent appearance at the Barcelona Games and also won its first medals.

Olympic heights

One of the major changes was a revolution in basketball. The stars of the American NBA league competed at the Olympics for the first time. The Dream Team, led by the unforgettable trio of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson thrilled the public with their spectacular skills and literally strolled through the ranks to a gold medal. The Croatian team with European "superstars" Toni Kukoč and Dražen Petrović got the closest to the Americans.

With all the stars and exceptional achievements it is hard to single out just a few. Yet one name does stand out - Vitaly Scherbo. The gymnast represented the Unified Team and held the gymnastics event firmly in his grasp. He took home six gold medals. Other notable athletes included swimmers Yevgeny Sadovyi, Krisztina Egerszegy and Alexander Popov, gymnast Tatjana Gucu, British sprinter Linford Christie, German athlete Heike Drechler, American Jackie Joyner Kersee … Medals were also won by track and field legends American Carl Lewis and Jamaican Merlene Ottey, who ran under the Slovenian flag twelve years later in Athens.