Men's Gymnastics

This original artwork by Robert Peak was used for the design of the men's gymnastics stamp from the 40¢ international airmail block of four honoring the 1984 Summer Olympics. This stamp was issued at Los Angeles, California 33 years ago on April 8, 1983.

Update: the card was later sent to Belarus as US-3975285.

1984 Summer Olympics Torch Station

Outgoing postcard US-3373220 to China was a stamped postal postcard for the 1984 Summer Olympics with an Olympic Torch Station postmark in Los Angeles, California on July 28, 1984.

The torch was lighted at 9:30 a.m. on May 8, 1984 on the lawn in front of the United Nations building, with the energy from the Olympic flame in Athens, Greece via a "heat reading" device and underwater cables. It then traveled 33 states in a 9,000-mile or 15,000-kilometer marathon relay from New York to Los Angeles in 82 days, passing through the hands of thousands of runners from all walks of life.

Since I had a layover at LAX airport in Los Angeles earlier today en route to San Francisco, I thought it would be neat if I could mail it from LAX. To my disappointment, I found out that there was no US Mail drop box in the airport. The closest U.S. post office was at 9029 Airport Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90009.

So the postcard will have to be mailed from San Francisco.

1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles

Postcard US-2776584 to Belarus was a 13-cent stamped postal postcard issued by USPS, featuring a runner with an Olympics torch, for the 23rd Summer Olympic Games which opened in Los Angeles, CA 30 years ago on July 28, 1984.

In retaliation to the U.S.-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, 14 countries including the Soviet Union, Cuba and East Germany boycotted the 1984 Summer Games. Iran and Libya also boycotted for different reasons.

The Olympic Committee led by Peter Ueberroth imposed financial constraints on the games budget by using existing facilities as much as possible. As a result, the 1984 Summer Olympics became the first financially successful modern Olympic Games. Some of the profits were used to endow a foundation to promote youth sports in Southern California, educate coaches, and maintain a sports library.

Los Angeles hosted the Olympic Games previously in 1932.

Dawn Over Moscow

Postcard RU-2410688 from Russia shows a beautiful dawn over the Khoroshevsky District, part of the North-Western Administrative Okrug in Moscow where many historical and cultural monuments are located. In the middle of the picture on the card is the Triumph Palace Building, a 57-story 1,000-unit luxury apartment building that was once the tallest building in all of Europe at 264.1 m or 866 ft until 2007.

With a stamp featuring one of the three 2014 Olympic Winter Games mascots "the Polar Bear", the postcard's arrival coincides the closing of the Games in Sochi.

2014 Winter Olympics Starts at Sochi

Postcard RU-2282790 from Russia shows the 2014 Winter Olympics that starts today at Sochi, Russia with opening rounds in Figure Skating (Team – Men Short), Freestyle Skiing (Ladies' Moguls – Qualification), and Snowboard (Men's Slopestyle – Qualification). The Opening Ceremony will be held at 8 pm local time (8 am PST or 11 am EST) tomorrow on February 7. There are 98 events to compete in 15 winter sports through February 23, 2014.

The High Dive: Stars in Danger

TouchNote Card Featuring 2012 London Olympics Diving Events

It reminded me that I had received this TouchNote card featuring a diver during their 2012 London Olympics promotion when I was watching the finale of Jiangsu TV's show "The High Dive: Stars in Danger" on YouTube. It turns out that it has a Fox counterpart that "puts celebrities from widely different backgrounds in peril as they take the plunge into a whole new discipline... DIVING". Similarly, the contestants in this Chinese version show have received coaching by world class divers and Olympic medalists in a short period of time. They compete in a variety of different dives for an expert judging panel and in front of a live TV audience. I like the fact that the winner was once ousted but managed a come back. And it was a challenge to turn impossibles into a reality.