Charles Lee is a UVA Law grad, former Latham & Watkins-ite , soon-to-be-retired judge in L.A. Superior Court, and “Chef de Mission” for the 2008 Olympics. But back in 1984, he was the lawyer who saved the Olympic Games.

Beijing has its hands full this year with pollution, rioting migrant workers, and sea-blanketing algae blooms in the Olympics sailing venue. Back in 1984, Los Angeles faced a challenge of a different sort. The Soviet Union was using the Olympics to strike a blow in the ongoing Cold War, calling for a boycott of the summer games. China was one of the countries on the boycott list.

The New York Times reports that Mandarin-speaking Lee helped bring China into the good old Olympics-loving fold:

When the 1984 Games were first being organized, [Olympics organizing committee leader Peter] Ueberroth became aware of Lee when Lee’s law firm worked on the organizing committee’s bylaws. When he needed someone fluent in Mandarin as an envoy, Ueberroth remembered Lee…

On his trip in May 1984, Lee said, he and his group were welcomed enthusiastically by the Chinese sports ministers in Beijing. After a series of meetings, the ministers told him China would come to the Games. Lee pressed them to give him a letter he could take back to Ueberroth.

“Initially when they said, ‘We’re coming,’ they believed since they said it, there’s no need for anything in writing,” Lee said. “I just kept asking and asking. Finally they very graciously gave me the letter, which was a fantastic thing.”

Not the most dramatic play by play, but negotiations don’t really tend to be terribly exciting. Except for the letter at the end — woo-hoo! We heart written contracts.

[Ed. note: As noted over at her personal blog, Kash is currently in Hong Kong. She’s interning at the International Herald Tribune, where she will be working on coverage of the 2008 Olympics (among other things). Look for similar Asia- or Olympics-themed posts from her in the future.]

Phone Call From China Transformed ‘84 Games [New York Times]