THE PUGILISTS WHO REPRESENTED SPAIN AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN LOS ANGELES-1984

Abstract

This research of historiographic type exposes a study of History of the Present Time. The objective is to collect the testimony of three of the four Spanish boxers who went to the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984, in order to know the sporting, family and economic circumstances in that four-year preparatory period of the Olympic Games. The techniques used were documentary analysis and semi-structured open-ended interviews. The results show that the aforementioned fighters came from working class neighbourhoods and economically humble family environments. The gyms where they began to train, although in many cases in precarious circumstances, already had specific boxing facilities and even changing rooms with showers. The economic compensation they received in the first bouts they fought as amateur boxers was an incentive for them, although it did not mean an economic livelihood and they could not leave their jobs. Once they were part of the national team, they attended numerous bouts in different countries as a form of preparation and attended training camps in Torrelodones, at the Blume Residence in Madrid and at the Palacio de los Deportes, until months before the Olympic Games in Los Angeles they were able to prepare in Tenerife for their training as Olympic boxers, which was a milestone in their lives. It is concluded that boxing was a platform for social relations for young people from very poor neighbourhoods. However, it was necessary to be a permanent member of the National Team in order to receive an economic counterpart with which to support themselves without the need to maintain a job to help their families of origin in the family economy. Moreover, boxing in the eighties underwent a certain evolution with respect to previous decades in terms of facilities and resources used in training.