Moscow 1980 Olympic Games

Moscow 1980 Olympic Games, athletic festival held in Moscow that took place July 19–August 3, 1980. The Moscow Games were the 19th occurrence of the modern Olympic Games.

The Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979 led to the largest boycott in the history of the Olympic movement. U.S. Pres. Jimmy Carter took the lead in the call for a boycott of the 1980 Olympics, and approximately 60 other countries joined the United States in staying away from Moscow. A number of Western countries did not observe the boycott, notably Great Britain, France, Italy, and Sweden. In all, about 5,000 athletes representing 81 countries did attend the Games. Protests against the Soviet presence in Afghanistan continued, however. Several of the participating countries refused to attend the opening ceremony, and the Olympic hymn was played at several medal ceremonies, rather than the appropriate national anthem. The Games were also hurt by rowdy behaviour from spectators, cheating by officials, and security so intrusive that winners in track events were physically prevented from taking victory laps.

The level of competition clearly suffered from the boycott. The Soviet team won 80 gold medals, and 195 medals in all, in the most lopsided final tally since the U.S. domination of the 1904 Games.

The track-and-field competition produced several disappointing winning times. The 800- and 1,500-metre runs boasted the world’s two best performers: Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe, both of Great Britain. Although Ovett won the 800-metre run and Coe the 1,500-metre, both races were characterized by overly cautious running and unimpressive times. The 5,000- and 10,000-metre runs were won by Miruts Yifter of Ethiopia. See Sidebar: Miruts Yifter: Yifter the Shifter.

The East German women dominated the swimming as they had in 1976, capturing 11 of the 13 gold medals. The Soviet men, led by Vladimir Salnikov, won seven events.