The Final Victor

American athletes struck gold at the Summer Olympics, but the real winner was the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, which put together the Games. The L.A.O.O.C. last week proudly announced that stronger than expected ticket sales had helped produce a $150 million surplus, ten times the $15 million profit forecast last fall even before a Soviet-led boycott threatened the success of the Games. Quipped Committee President Peter Ueberroth: "We only missed by a zero."

Near capacity crowds throughout the two-week Games were matched by record television audiences; as a result, ABC paid the full $225 million agreed upon for U.S. broadcast rights. Corporate sponsorship and licensing fees yielded an additional $ 121 million.

The main beneficiaries of the Olympic windfall will be U.S. amateur sports federations and a new Amateur Athletic Foundation established by the L.A.O.O.C., which will get $125 million. A contingency fund of $25 million will pay late bills, and anything left over may go to sports organizations in Third World countries. In keeping with the spirit of the private enterprise Games, 6,500 L.A.O.O.C. employees have received bonuses averaging $1,100.