Olympic Wednesday moves forward to South Korea today for the 1988 olympiad contested there in September and October. With the boycotts of 1980 and 1984 behind everyone, almost 8,500 athletes from 159 nations came to Asia to compete in 237 medals events across 30 different disciplines. That is not to say these Games were without drama, of course, as the usual shenanigans ensued, along with some corruption.

The Eastern Bloc duo of the Soviet Union (132 total medals) and East Germany (102) won the most medals, followed by the United States (94). The host nation acquitted itself just fine with 33 medals, too, which is pretty impressive all things considered. The list of countries to win at least a single medal is very long, as this olympiad really may have been the start of the modern era in terms of profiteering and scandal. Amen.

Most Outstanding Male Athlete: Matt Biondi, United States

We’re honored to have grown up in the same town as the winner of this hardware, and we also broke some of his age-14 swimming records. Alas, we never grew to be 6-foot-6 or whatever. But we digress: while American swimmer Matt Biondi fell short of matching Mark Spitz, he still won seven medals at Seoul: five golds, a silver, and a bronze. The silver should have been a gold, in truth, as well. But Biondi messed up.

One note to modern hyperbolists: Spitz and Biondi were amateurs with short windows of opportunity. If they had been able to “get paid” for their efforts, they’d have won 20 medals, too, just like Michael Phelps.

Most Outstanding Female Athlete: Daniela Silivaș, Romania

Well, one East German woman won 6 gold medals in swimming, but we all knew something was wrong then—and that’s been confirmed now. So we must find an honest winner here: gymnast Daniela Silivaș of Romania. She won silver medals in both the individual and team all-around events, while taking individual golds in the floor exercise, the uneven bars, and the balance beam. She also took a bronze in the horse vault.

Most Outstanding Male Team: Soviet Gymnastics

The USSR gymnastics team did well in Seoul, winning 12 medals overall, including a sweep of the individual all-around event by Vladimir Artyomov (G), Valery Lyukin (S), and Dmitry Bilozerchev (B). The full roster won the team all around, too, obviously, and each of those three individual stars above also won individual gold in individual disciplines. It was a pretty impressive showing all things considered.

Most Outstanding Female Team: Chinese Diving

Controversy would eventually surround China’s women athletes in subsequent Games, but it’s hard to see how that impacted this group in Seoul: Gao Min won the gold in the springboard, while Li Qing took the silver. In the platform event, Xu Yanmei won the gold. The other three medals were won by American women, so it was a close battle here. The Chinese women just happened to come out on top this time.