Chapter 154 Los Angeles Olympics
The Los Angeles Olympics was a special one because all the previous Olympics had lost money. By 1978, no other city applied except Los Angeles because they couldn't afford the losses.
Los Angeles did not apply for the Games in the name of the country, but a private organization formed a preparatory committee. The chairman of the preparatory committee, Euberos, was a capable man. Under his plan, the Olympic Games could be held with a budget of $500 million.
In the absence of government subsidies and the inability to increase the burden on taxpayers, and the fact that US law prohibits the issuance of lotteries, all funds had to be raised by himself. He adopted measures such as signing a funding agreement with corporate groups; selling television broadcasting rights and game tickets; cutting down on various expenses, making full use of existing facilities, and trying not to build sports stadiums; not building a new Olympic Village, but renting dormitories from two California universities for athletes and officials; and recruiting volunteers to work for the conference.
His actions have also been criticized for the strong commercial nature of this Olympics, especially the torch relay in the United States, where participants have to pay $1 for every mile they run. This has caused dissatisfaction among people in the sports industry, who believe that it seriously violates Olympic principles.
Thanks to the efforts of Euberos and the IOC, only 159 of the 19 IOC member states boycotted or did not participate in this Olympics, and 140 countries and regions still participated, far exceeding previous years. There were as many as 6829 athletes, 9190 media personnel, and 28742 volunteers participating in the competition, with a total of 21 major events and 221 minor events.
We have 225 athletes participating in this Olympics, competing in 16 major events except football, hockey, boxing, equestrianism and modern pentathlon.
July 7, at the Prado. Liu Hongmin sat in the audience early, accompanied by a representative from Random House.
"Detective Conan" continuously brought Random House a lot of money, at least millions of dollars every month. Liu Hongmin is now in the United States, and as the host, Random House naturally has to do a good job of receiving him.
"Liu, there are many Japanese animation companies that want to adapt Detective Conan and have offered a hefty copyright fee."
Liu Hongmin shook his head. "Don't bother with them. I've already had people start producing the Detective Conan cartoon. When the time comes, we'll sign a profit-sharing contract, and then I'll hand it over to you, Random House, to put it on the Japanese market."
The Random House representative laughed. “Liu, it’s so easy to work with you. You always think of everything before us.”
Liu Hongmin laughed. "Randolph, have you learned to be humble? Random House's approach to book sales is very mature. I don't believe you haven't thought about making Detective Conan into an animated series."
Randolph laughed, "I learned this from you Chinese."
Who says foreigners can't be humble and flatter? When they need something from you, they will be able to put down their attitude to some extent.
Liu Hongmin said: "In addition to cartoons, we are also preparing animated feature films. We will produce one every year and then release it in East Asia and Southeast Asia, which should be able to make a lot of money at the box office."
Randolph was stunned for a moment. This Random House had never thought of this. It was common to adapt comics into animations at that time, but it was rare to adapt them into animated movies. It was not that people at that time could not think of it, but that the benefits were not great. Animated movies were works for fans, which was equivalent to selling peripherals. Often, these movies were made to gain fans and were poorly made.
"Liu, this may not be sustainable in the long run. If it affects the reputation of Detective Conan, it will affect our long-term interests."
Liu Hongmin: "As long as the animation movie is well-made, it will not only not affect the reputation, but also may condense the brand effect. By then, fans of "Detective Conan" will be proud to watch the animation movie, which will bring us huge benefits."
Randolph's eyes sparkled. If the quality could be guaranteed, "Detective Conan" would become a cash cow for Random House in the next decade or even dozens of years.
"Liu, animated films must ensure quality." "Of course!"
While the two were talking, the competition began.
Liu Hongmin's eyes were fixed on the Chinese shooting athlete on the field. He was Xu Haifeng.
The sound of gunfire echoed in the Prado stadium. After several rounds of shooting, Xu Haifeng won the first gold medal of the Chinese delegation. Liu Hongmin stood up excitedly. He witnessed history today.
Randolph smiled. He could understand Liu Hongmin's excitement. If the United States won the first gold medal in history, he would also be excited.
But then, Randolph was a little puzzled. When the award ceremony was held and the flag was raised, the Chinese national anthem was played. Liu Hongmin actually sang along loudly, with a serious expression and red eyes. It was obvious that Liu Hongmin was a staunch patriot.
At this time, he didn't feel anything was wrong. It was not until many years later, when Liu Hongmin made a decision that he could never make, that he recalled what happened today.
Next, Liu Hongmin began to focus on the women's volleyball game.
Last year, because of the "Lies" incident, the Japanese threatened to defeat China in all aspects, and the women's volleyball team became one of the victims. In the Asian Championships, the women's volleyball team was defeated by the Japanese in the final and only won the silver medal.
After the game, the Japanese team made rude remarks, which made the women's volleyball team confused. After learning what happened, the women's volleyball team was very angry.
Liu Hongmin's character has been verified by the two meetings. His three proposals were all backfiring, and this was witnessed by the people of the whole country. The Japanese took their anger out on the women's volleyball team because of Liu Hongmin's novel, which made the women's volleyball team very angry. However, the game was over, and they could only keep it to themselves.
分小组的时候，女排众人很遗憾没有和鬼子分配到一个小组，于是她们就将怒气洒在了同组的球队之中。7月30日，女排3：0战胜巴西队；8月1日，女排3：0战胜联德队。
Just when they were about to defeat the American team in one fell swoop, they suddenly discovered that the Japanese team in another group had won all three games and advanced to the semi-finals as the first in the group.
Therefore, if the women's volleyball team wants to play against the Japanese team in the semi-finals, they can only advance as the second in the group. If they rank first in the group, the Japanese team will play against the American team. The American team is also a strong team. If they defeat the Japanese team, the women's volleyball team will have no chance to play against the Japanese team.
With such a burden, the morale of the women's volleyball team dropped a lot, and they ended up losing to the United States 1:3, and finally faced the Japanese team as they wished.
Liu Hongmin didn't know the process of the women's volleyball team winning the championship in 84. When he saw that the women's volleyball team could not beat the American team, he began to worry about the women's volleyball team's prospects of winning the championship.
(End of this chapter)
