Singles, Men

Since the event was first held at the Olympics in 1964, East German men had won ten of the 15 available medals. But since the Lake Placid Games, the East German men had lost contact with the best in the world. In 1981, Sergey Danilin had become the first Soviet slider to win the World Championships, followed in 1983 by the first Canadian to do so, Miroslav Zajonc. But Zajonc was not present in Sarajevo. A native Czechoslovakian, he had defected to Canada in 1981, but had decided to obtain U.S. citizenship, which rendered him ineligible to compete at the Olympics. He would compete for the United States in the 1988 Olympics. The pre-Olympics held in February 1983 have been won by Paul Hildgartner followed by Danilin.

The first two days of competition were dominated by Ernst Haspinger, who had dramatically lost the 1980 Olympic title, and the surprising East German youngster Torsten Görlitzer. But both sliders faltered on day three, and dropped out of medal contention. The experienced Paul Hildgartner, 1972 Olympic champion in the doubles, and silver medallist in Lake Placid, took the lead, while Danilin moved up with a second place in the run. On the final day, Hildgartner and Danilin again topped the rankings, securing gold and silver medals for them. With another Russian, Dudin, in third, East Germany remained without a medal for the first time in Olympic history. Hildgartner announced his retirement after the title, but he would return to the sport and compete in Calgary.