On May 18, 1978, the 80th session of the International Olympic Committee in Athens chose Sarajevo as a host city for the XIV Winter Olympics in 1984. The Olympic Games attracted worldwide attention to Sarajevo, then often referred to as the Jerusalem of Europe. In less than a decade, the same city would again draw much attention; this time, however, not because of its multiethnic fabric and Olympic harmony, but due to the horror and devastation caused by military conflict.

Only a few years after the Olympic Games, the infrastructure built for that occasion would begin to collapse, prophesying Yugoslavia's dissolution. During the war and the siege of Sarajevo, the bobsleigh track, among other Olympic facilties on the surrounding hills, was used as an artillery position by Bosnian Serb forces. Today the only attention it receives comes from graffiti painters, local skateboarders and dark tourism enthusiasts.