1980 Summer Olympics
The Games of the XXII Olympiad were held in Moscow, Soviet Union. Another candidate in the bid to organise the Olympics was Los Angeles. The choice between them was made on October 23, 1974 on the 75th IOC session. Moscow defeated Los Angeles 39 votes to 20.
The yachting events were held in Tallinn; preliminary matches and the quarter-finals of the football tournament were held, besides Moscow, at the stadiums of Leningrad, Kiev, Minsk.
* Although approximately half of the countries which boycotted
1976 Summer Olympics participated in these, the Games were disrupted by another, even larger,
boycott led by the United States followed by 60 countries in protest at the
1979 Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. Eighty nations did participate - the lowest number since
1956.
* Major broadcasters of the Games were
USSR State TV and Radio,
Eurovision and
Intervision.
NBC, which was thought to be another major one, canceled its coverage in response to the U.S.-boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics, and became a minor broadcaster - the network did air highlights and recaps of the games on a regular basis.
* According to the Official Report, submitted to the
IOC by the
NOC of the
USSR, total expenditures for the preparations for and staging of the Games were 862.7 million
roubles, total revenues being 744.8 million roubles.
*
Soviet gymnast
Aleksandr Dityatin won a medal in each of the eight
gymnastics events, including three titles.
*
Vladimir Salnikov (
USSR) won three gold medals in the
swimming pool. His time in the 1500 m freestyle was the first below 15 minutes.
*
Belarusian Uladzimir Parfianovich of the
USSR won 3 gold medals in
canoeing.
*
Ethiopian
Muruse Yefter won the 5000 m and 10000 m double, emulating
Lasse Viren's 1976 performance.
*
Waldemar Cierpinski of
East Germany won his second consecutive
marathon gold.
* Women's
field hockey was an Olympic sport for the first time. Six countries competed in it:
Austria,
India,
Poland,
Czechoslovakia,
USSR,
Zimbabwe. The gold medal was won by the team of
Zimbabwe.
*
East Germany dominated
rowing: they won eleven of the fourteen available titles.
*
Teófilo Stevenson of
Cuba became the first
boxer to win three consecutive Olympic titles.
 |
Closing Ceremony. Bear Cub Misha, the mascot, flying into the sky. |
See the medal winners, ordered by sport:
Top medal-collecting nations:(for the full table, see 1980 Summer Olympics medal count)
(host nation in bold.)
Articles about Moscow Summer Olympics by nation:*
1980 Summer Paralympics*
International Olympic Committee*
American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics*
WikiProject Sports Olympics*
IOC country codes*
IOC Site on 1980 Summer Olympics*
Official Report from the Organizing Committee (3 volumes) on the AAFLA website
*
Bear Cub Misha Lover's Association, 1980 Summer Olympics mascot Misha's fan page (in
Japanese)
