SPANISH BOXING IN THE LOS ANGELES GAMES-1984: THE GRAPHIC SOURCE IN ITS HISTORICAL RECOVERY

Abstract

In the historical recovery of Spanish boxing at the Olympic Games of Los Angeles 1984, the graphic sources from the personal archives of the protagonists have played an essential role. A documentary analysis of the photographs of three of the Spanish boxers who took part in those Games was carried out, contrasting the data obtained with the testimonies gathered in three interviews. All the information was triangulated with data from other primary sources: the official reports of the Olympic Games of Los Angeles 1984 and the publications of the International Boxing Association. The methodological triangulation was completed with information obtained from numerous secondary sources of different kinds. The historical recovery of the result has led to the recovery of multiple unpublished historical aspects such as the changes and novelties introduced in Olympic boxing in that edition. Thus, we have been able to document that for the first time: the head box, the digital scales, a new weight category, two different sizes of gloves, a substitute jury system, an Olympic diploma for the first eight finalists, etc., were used for the first time. The qualitative aspects from the interviews with the primary sources have allowed the reconstruction of a period of Spanish sport that includes the human aspects of the perception of that event, the affective conditioning factors of that experience, etc. It can be concluded that this research represents a historical rescue that offers a photograph of Spanish boxing in that Olympic event from the point of view of its protagonists.