For many people attending a single Olympic Games would be the opportunity of a lifetime. For veteran journalist Dave Lubeski, it’s a nearly 35-year tradition. Now GW’s sports information director, Mr. Lubeski recently came to the university from the Associated Press, for which he covered every Olympics since the 1976 Summer Games—a record for an AP reporter.
Q: Which were the first Olympics you covered?
A: The 1976 Montreal Olympics. Those were the games where a tiny 14-year-old gymnast named Nadia Comeneci amazed everyone with the first perfect 10 in Olympic gymnastics. I mention her size because we ended up in an elevator together at the Olympic Radio-TV building, and she looked so young and frail and frightened. The Montreal games were a financial disaster. Construction on the main stadium was not finished for the games and was never completed as planned, even afterward.
Q: Do you have a favorite Olympic moment?
A: Oh, yes. I was in the field house in Lake Placid for the USA-USSR “Miracle on Ice” hockey game. And it was by accident. I decided to tag along with our reporter assigned to cover the game even though we were all pretty sure the U.S. team was going to get trounced. By the end of the game I was standing on my seat trying to scream over the crowd noise as I described the mayhem into my tape recorder.
Q: A favorite Olympic sport?
A: No, but I do have favorite athletes. For the most part, Olympic athletes are very appreciative of the attention and easy to deal with. Wrestler Rulon Gardner of the U.S. made history in the Sydney Olympics in 2000 when he won the gold medal in Roman-Greco wrestling by handing Russian Alexander Karelin his first loss in 13 years of international competition.
Four years later in Athens, Rulon won a bronze medal and retired from the sport. His final news conference was scheduled for midnight. I had a few minutes to spare when I arrived, only to find the news conference in progress. As I began frantically setting up my recording equipment, the news conference was declared over. I ran up to the podium as he was stepping down and asked if I could have a few minutes of his time. He was very gracious and stood there patiently as I asked question after question for about 10 minutes. When we were done he thanked me, shook my hand and patted me on the back!
Q: When you're at the Olympics, how many events do you typically attend?
A: In my early years I would cover one or two events a day. Everything including swimming, diving, water polo, baseball, basketball, track and field, boxing, tennis, hockey, bobsled, biathlon, ski jumping and figure skating.
Whatever needed to be covered. The night before the assignment I would read everything I could find on the sport I was covering and often would tap into the knowledge of the AP beat reporters.
Q: What might surprise viewers at home about being at the Olympics in person?
A: I would say how much goes into the planning and executing of the games. The logistics and behind the scenes maneuvering are incredible.
Q: What was your favorite venue?
A: I liked the 1984 Sarajevo games in Yugoslavia. It seemed to be constantly snowing. A real winter feel. Our staff had a favorite hangout, a pizza place. We would end almost every day there, and when we arrived after work they always had our table ready. Those games included the debut of the incredible ice dancing team of Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean. The British duo became the highest scoring figure skaters of all time with 12 perfect 6.0s. It was also the Olympics where American skier Billy Johnson boasted he would win the gold. And he did, becoming the first American ever to win a gold medal in Alpine skiing. On the final day, the American Mahre brothers stole the show when they won gold and silver in the slalom.
Q: Most unusual Olympics?
A: The Moscow Olympics in 1980. No U.S. athletes participated because of the boycott. As American reporters we felt the eyes of the KGB upon us everywhere we went.
Q: Which games have been the best organized?
A: I would have to give credit to the Norwegians for the Lillehammer games in 1994. I thought they would be overwhelmed in their little town, but they were on top of everything. Great food, great accommodations, great times. They would hold daily meetings with the media leaders, and if there was a suggestion that a pedestrian tunnel needed better lighting, for example, it would be in place by nightfall. And they had it all together with the buses and transportation system. Practically every other Olympics has had transportation disasters.
Q: Do you have a preference for summer versus winter?
A: I've always thought that because the Winter Games were smaller than the summer, they were easier to handle and more enjoyable, especially in the smaller quaint towns like Sarajevo, Lillehammer and Lake Placid. The local high school in Lake Placid was turned into the main press center, and Eric Heiden won his five gold speed skating medals on the school’s converted track right outside our window. In today’s world it’s the massive cities, like Salt Lake City, Nagano, Turin and now Vancouver hosting Winter Games. Not to slight the Summer Games -- Seoul and Sydney were also enjoyable experiences. And the Chinese were very well organized in Beijing. They instituted a security system that saved a lot of time getting into venues. If they only could have done something about that smog.
Q: How have the Olympics changed over the years you've covered them?
A: More than anything, it’s the growth. They've always been big -- but each year they get bigger! In addition, the winter Olympics have brought in sports like snowboarding to attract younger viewers.