The 17 Best Photos Of Olympians In The '80s

The shorts were short, the track suits baggy, and the mullets positively ravishing. Things sure looked a lot different a few decades ago at these Games.

1. First, let's talk about the hair.

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Swimmer Kristin Otto of East Germany at the 1988 Seoul games.

2. Big!

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Long jumper Jacqueline Joyner-Kersee of USA at the 1988 Seoul games.

3. Flowy!

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Tennis player Steffi Graf of Germany at the 1988 Seoul games.

4. Big and flowy!

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Long jumper Heike Drechsler of Germany at the 1988 Seoul games.

5. These cyclists competed for speed while their hair competed for lusciousness.

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Erika Salumae (Soviet Union) wins gold, Christa Luding (East Germany) wins silver and Connie Paraskevin-Young (USA) wins bronze.

6. Moving on: the MUSTACHE was big.

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Jurgen Hingsen of West Germany at the 1984 Los Angeles games. Tony Duffy /Allsport.

7.

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Decathlete Daley Thompson of Great Britain at the 1984 Los Angeles games. Allsport UK/Allsport.

8. And the shorts, well, short.

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Brazil v. Yugoslavia at the 1980 Moscow games.

9.

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Brazil team member at the 1988 Seoul games.

10.

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Stefan Edberg of Sweden at the 1984 Los Angeles games.

11.

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Sprinter Carl Lewis of USA at the 1984 Los Angeles games.

12.

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Marathon runner Joan Benoit of USA at the 1984 Los Angeles games.

13.

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Dainis Kula of the Soviet Union at the 1980 Moscow games.

14. The gymnastics leotards were not nearly as sparkly.

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Romanian gymnasts at the 1984 Los Angeles games.

15.

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Nadia Comaneci of Romania at the 1980 Moscow games.

16.

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Mary Lou Retton of USA at the 1984 Los Angeles games.

17. But one thing remains just about the same today...

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The proportions of this style of men's swimming briefs. Here, Stephan Van Den Berg of the Netherlands at the 1984 Los Angeles games.