Olympic Spirit: Sarajevo 1984?

What Happened to Vucko, the cartoon animal, and his girlfriend? Does anyone know his girlfriend’s name?

1984

During the Olympics, Sarajevo and B&H paraded its patchwork of diverse faiths, capricious ethnicities, and real or imagined identities, coexisting peacefully at the crossroads of cultures, religions, markets, and political systems. The Olympic committee recognized and embraced the special character of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia. The 1984 Winter Olympics marked the first games held in a socialist country. Of course, Yugoslavia maintained its neutrality, and both American and Soviet athletes competed. The Cold War was thawing, and tolerant Sarajevo in neutral Yugoslavia seemed the perfect location. The international press portrayed the city as a utopia offering the possibility of a peaceful world.

Sarajevo and B&H became the world’s epicenter. The Olympic slogan: Citius, Altius, Fortius—Communiter! (Faster, Stronger, Higher—Together) rang true. I was there for this exhilarating experience. I remember the opening ceremony of the games. The atmosphere was electrifying, with kiosks greeting visitors in the appropriate language.Crowds waited for athletes to sign autographs. Collectors purchased and traded pins and badges from the corners of the globe. These tokens are a special aspect of the culture of the Olympic games. Sarajevo’s old town center, Baščaršija, was filled with people trading the Olympic pins and badges. At monumental sporting events people want a souvenir so they can tangibly retain the memory of their experience. Initially, my friends and I did not realize the significance of the bartering, but quickly we appreciated that the pins we earned for excellence in elementary school now possessed value. Tourists wanted the pins with communist symbols and Cyrillic letters.