{"id":104665,"date":"2024-08-14T14:46:11","date_gmt":"2024-08-14T19:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=104665"},"modified":"2024-08-14T14:47:39","modified_gmt":"2024-08-14T19:47:39","slug":"1984-la-olympics-sparks-decadeslong-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/1984-la-olympics-sparks-decadeslong-love\/","title":{"rendered":"1984 LA Olympics sparks decadeslong love"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jonathan Hoffman<\/b><\/p>\n

Medill Reports<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The 2024 Paris Games wrapped up last week, and the next Olympics will be in Los Angeles again after 44 years. Thousands of fans, athletes and volunteers will travel to the city to celebrate the 2028 Olympic Games.<\/span><\/p>\n

While gold balloons, orchestral music and world-class athletic performances filled the eyes and ears of millions across LA during the 1984 Olympic Games, it was budding love and synchronized harmonies that consumed UCLA choir couple Michelle and Steve Hoisch.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou could probably say the Olympics were part of what solidified our relationship,\u201d Michelle Hoisch said.<\/span><\/p>\n

They met in the university choir and started dating in Westwood at the UCLA campus that spring. When choir members were asked to participate in the Olympic honor choir, the couple jumped at the opportunity.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Michelle
Michelle and Steve Hoisch, Olympic honor choir members, pose for a photo while dressed in their white choir uniforms during the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. (Photo courtesy of Michelle Hoisch)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt was the happiest place on the planet \u2013 100,000 people (in the L.A. Memorial Coliseum) who were just totally delighted to be there,\u201d Michelle Hoisch said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Soviet Union boycotted the Olympics that year, so the United States was primed to win big without their longtime international rival there, and won a record 83 gold medals.<\/span><\/p>\n

Steve Hoisch said he felt bad for anyone in Los Angeles who decided to leave town during the Olympics, likening it to Dodgers fans leaving before Kirk Gibson hit his 1988 World Series game-winning home run.<\/span><\/p>\n

MLB 1988 WS Game 1: Kirk Gibson’s dramatic game-winning home run<\/a><\/p>\n

The couple\u2019s engagement party was the night of that home run, and Steve Hoisch joked it was Gibson\u2019s gift to them. The Hoisches celebrated their 35<\/span>th<\/span> anniversary this June, and it was the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics that kickstarted it all.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWestwood was our playground. We would walk through the village, singing and harmonizing together,\u201d Steve Hoisch said. \u201cWe were young kids in love, and life couldn\u2019t have been any better.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jonathan Hoffman is a sports media graduate student at Medill. You can follow him on <\/span><\/i>X<\/span><\/i><\/a> and <\/span><\/i>LinkedIn<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jonathan Hoffman Medill Reports The 2024 Paris Games wrapped up last week, and the next Olympics will be in Los Angeles again after 44 years. Thousands of fans, athletes and volunteers will travel to the city to celebrate the 2028 Olympic Games. While gold balloons, orchestral music and world-class athletic performances filled the eyes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":971,"featured_media":104667,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,5438],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","category-summer-2024"],"yoast_head":"\n1984 LA Olympics sparks decadeslong love - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/1984-la-olympics-sparks-decadeslong-love\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"1984 LA Olympics sparks decadeslong love - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Jonathan Hoffman Medill Reports The 2024 Paris Games wrapped up last week, and the next Olympics will be in Los Angeles again after 44 years. 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