Athletics at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games:

The world record had been set in July 1984 by Portugal's Fernando Mamede, but he fared poorly in major competition. The favorite was Italy's Alberto Cova, who had won the 1983 World Championships and the 1982 European Championships. At both races, second place was taken by the GDR's Werner Schildhauer but he was not in Los Angeles because of the Soviet-led boycott. At 5K, Britain's Nick Rose took the lead and only Cova and Martti Vainio (FIN), the 1978 European Champion, could stay in touch. Vainio then opened up the pace, dropping Rose and he and Cova battled to the finish. With 200 metres to go, Cova unleashed his finishing sprint and won by almost 25 metres, running that 200 in 27.7. Five days later, Vainio was disqualified for testosterone use. Cova later admitted to blood doping, but that was not a banned practice in that era.