With the 2024 Olympic Summer Games underway in the City of Light, the city of Los Angeles is already looking forward to taking the torch in four years for the next Olympic Summer Games. In anticipation, the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, will present the Mayor of L.A. Karen Bass, with the official Olympic flag at this year’s closing ceremony. But while many Angelenos are anticipating what lies ahead, others are reminiscing about the last time the city played host to the Olympic Games, 40 years ago. Many Beverly Hills residents remember the Games, but others only know it as history. For Dr. Sandra Aronberg, a Beverly Hills physician executive, the 1984 Olympics are an important part of her late husband’s legacy.
In the summer of 1984, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was filled with excited fans from all over the world as they awaited the start of the Olympic Games. But before the torch made it to the stadium, Americans across the country took part in a relay that would send the torch from the East Coast all the way to Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and, finally, the Coliseum. As the opening ceremony aired on national television, videos were broadcast of the torch traveling across the United States. Sandra’s husband, Dr. Charles “Chuck” Aronberg, was filmed running with the torch from Century City to Beverly Hills. He then passed the torch to Sandra, who carried it to Santa Monica.
“It was just an amazing experience with large crowds and cheering people and American flags, and I get goosebumps thinking about it now,” she told the Courier.
Chuck Aronberg was mayor of Beverly Hills from 1974-1975 and again from 1979-1980. He was chosen, as Sandra believes, because of his lifelong contributions to the Olympics. Having graduated medical school at San Francisco State University, he served on three Olympic medical teams, where he helped the American hockey team by providing on-site support.
“The U.S. won their first hockey gold medal in Squaw Valley [now Olympic Valley, California],” said Sandra. “Chuck was assigned to the hockey bench, and our guys were totally exhausted. And he went to the rules official to see if giving oxygen violated any rules. It turned out it didn’t, and the players perked up and went on to win the gold medal.”
Chuck’s legacy continued when he was again chosen to carry the torch in the same leg of the relay for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. In later years, he supported the Beverly Hills community by working with the school district and fire department. In 2022, he was awarded the Key to the City for his outstanding contributions. He passed away in November 2023, but his impact on the city of Los Angeles continues through the Clean Air and Water acts, both of which he developed with Congressman Henry Waxman. Sandra continues to share his story with their daughter and two granddaughters, as well as members of the Beverly Hills community whenever she gets the chance. She also looks forward to the Olympics’ return to Los Angeles.
She recalls a feeling of togetherness that she and her husband witnessed in the past and she hopes that same feeling will return along with the Games in 2028. “It’s hard to describe the camaraderie and wonderful feeling,” she said. “It’s just a terrific vibe, being able to participate in a situation where people were all getting along like the good old days.”
