Opened by President Mika Spiljak of the Republic of Yugosalvia, Bosnia-Herzogovina of which Sarajevo, the capital, later seceded from the Federated States.
With the award of the 1984 Olympic Winter Games to Sarajevo in 1978, the IOC was bringing the Winter festival to the Eastern Bloc for the first time. Sarajevo seemed a surprising choice but the other two candidates had problems; Göteburg planned events to be spread so widely that air transport would be necessary, while Sapporo had hosted the Winter Olympics in 1972, only six years prior to the bid for the 1984 Olympic Winter Games.
Events: 39 in 10 sports
Participants: 1,273 (996 men and 277 women) from 49 countries
Events for British Virgin Islands: 2 in 1 sport
Participants for British Virgin Islands: 1 (1 man and 0 women)
Sole participant for British Virgin Islands: Erroll Fraser (33 years, 195 days)
