The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international
multi-sport event
A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of intern ...
held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
, Soviet Union, in present-day Russia.
The games were the first to be staged in an
Eastern Bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...
country, as well as the first Olympic Games and only Summer Olympics to be held in a
Slavic language
The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the Ear ...
-speaking country. They were also the only Summer
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
to be held in a self-proclaimed
communist country until the
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...
held in China. These were the final Olympic Games under the
IOC Presidency of
Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin
Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin, (30 July 1914 – 25 April 1999) was an Irish journalist, author, sports official, and the sixth president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), seeing from 1972 to 1980. He succeeded Martin Henry Fit ...
before he was succeeded by
Juan Antonio Samaranch shortly afterward.
Eighty nations were represented at the Moscow Games, the smallest number since
1956
Events
January
* January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years.
* January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...
. Led by the United States, 66 countries
boycotted
A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict ...
the games entirely, because of the
Soviet–Afghan War
The Soviet–Afghan War took place in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 46-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic o ...
. Several
alternative events were held outside of the Soviet Union. Some athletes from some of the boycotting countries (not included in the list of 66 countries that boycotted the games entirely) participated in the games under the
Olympic Flag
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) uses icons, flags, and symbols to represent and enhance the Olympic Games. These symbols include those commonly used during Olympic competitions such as the flame, fanfare, and theme as well as those u ...
.
The Soviet Union later
boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. The
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
won the most gold and overall medals, with the USSR and
East Germany
East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
winning 127 out of 203 available golds.
Host city selection
The only two cities to bid for the 1980 Summer Olympics were Moscow and Los Angeles. The choice between them was made at the 75th
IOC Session
This is the list of International Olympic Committee (IOC) meetings.
Olympic Congresses
IOC Sessions
There has been a session during all Olympic Games except the 1900, 1904 and 1908 Summer Olympic Games, Summer Olympics and the 1924, 1928 and ...
in Vienna, Austria on 23 October 1974. Los Angeles would eventually host the
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...
.
Participation and boycott
Eighty nations were represented at the Moscow Olympics, the smallest number since
1956
Events
January
* January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years.
* January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...
. Of the eighty participating nations, seven National Olympic Committees made their first appearance at these Games:
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...
,
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...
,
Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
,
Jordan
Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
,
Laos
Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...
,
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...
and
Seychelles
Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...
. It was also the first time
Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
participated after the end of the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
and the Reunification of Vietnam. None of these nations won a medal.
29 countries boycotted the previous
1976 Summer Olympics
The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...
in protest against the IOC for not expelling New Zealand, which had sanctioned a rugby tour of
apartheid
Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...
South Africa. The 1980 Summer Olympics were disrupted by another, even larger, boycott led by the United States in protest of the 1979
Soviet–Afghan War
The Soviet–Afghan War took place in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 46-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic o ...
. The Soviet invasion spurred President
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
to issue an ultimatum on 20 January 1980, which stated that the U.S. would boycott the Moscow Olympics if Soviet troops did not withdraw from Afghanistan within one month.
66 countries and regions invited did not participate in the 1980 Olympics. Many of these followed the United States' boycott initiative, while others cited economic reasons for not participating.
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
, under
Ayatollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (17 May 1900 or 24 September 19023 June 1989) was an Iranian revolutionary, politician, political theorist, and religious leader. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the main leader of the Iranian ...
hostile to both superpowers, boycotted when the
Islamic Conference condemned the invasion. Neither the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
nor
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
(Republic of China) participated in the games, the former as a consequence of the
Sino-Soviet split
The Sino-Soviet split was the gradual worsening of relations between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) during the Cold War. This was primarily caused by divergences that arose from their ...
.
Many of the boycotting nations participated instead in the
Liberty Bell Classic
The Liberty Bell Classic was a track and field athletics event organized by the Athletics Congress as part of the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott and held at Franklin Field at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia on July 16 and 17, 19 ...
, also known as the "Olympic Boycott Games", in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
. Those that competed had won 71 percent of all medals and gold medals at the
1976 Summer Olympics
The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...
in Montreal. This was in part due to state-run doping programs that had been developed in the Eastern Bloc countries. As a form of protest against the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, fifteen countries marched in the Opening Ceremony with the
Olympic Flag
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) uses icons, flags, and symbols to represent and enhance the Olympic Games. These symbols include those commonly used during Olympic competitions such as the flame, fanfare, and theme as well as those u ...
instead of their national flags, and the Olympic Flag and
Olympic Hymn
The Olympic Hymn (, ), also known as the Olympic Anthem, is a choral cantata by opera composer Spyridon Samaras (1861–1917), with Demotic Greek lyrics by Greek poet Kostis Palamas. Both poet and composer were the choice of the Greek Deme ...
were used at medal ceremonies when athletes from these countries won medals. Competitors from
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
, and
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
competed under the flags of their respective
National Olympic Committee
A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...
s. Some of these teams that marched under flags other than their national flags were depleted by boycotts by individual athletes, while some athletes did not participate in the march.
The boycott impacted the competitiveness of swimming, track and field, boxing, basketball, diving, field hockey and equestrian sports. Whilst competitors from 36 countries became Olympic medalists, the great majority of the medals were taken by the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
and
East Germany
East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
in what was the most skewed medal tally since
1904
Events
January
* January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''.
* January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system.
* ...
.
Events, records and drug tests
There were 203 events – more than at any previous Olympics. 36 world records, 39 European records and 74 Olympic records were set at the games. In total, this was more records than were set at Montreal. New Olympic records were set 241 times over the course of the competitions and world records were beaten 97 times.
Though no athletes were caught doping at the 1980 Summer Olympics, it has been revealed that athletes had begun using
testosterone
Testosterone is the primary male sex hormone and androgen in Male, males. In humans, testosterone plays a key role in the development of Male reproductive system, male reproductive tissues such as testicles and prostate, as well as promoting se ...
and other drugs for which tests had not been yet developed. According to British journalist
Andrew Jennings, a
KGB
The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...
colonel stated that the agency's officers had posed as anti-doping authorities from the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...
(IOC) to undermine
doping tests and that Soviet athletes were "rescued with
hesetremendous efforts". A 1989 report by a committee of the
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives.
The powers, role and composition of the Senate are set out in Chap ...
claimed that "there is hardly a medal winner at the Moscow Games, certainly not a gold medal winner...who is not on one sort of drug or another: usually several kinds. The Moscow Games might well have been called the Chemists' Games".
A member of the IOC Medical Commission, Manfred Donike, privately ran additional tests with a new technique for identifying abnormal levels of testosterone by measuring its ratio to
epitestosterone in
urine
Urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in humans and many other animals. In placental mammals, urine flows from the Kidney (vertebrates), kidneys through the ureters to the urinary bladder and exits the urethra through the penile meatus (mal ...
. Twenty percent of the specimens he tested, including those from sixteen gold medalists would have resulted in disciplinary proceedings had the tests been official.
The results of Donike's unofficial tests later convinced the IOC to add his new technique to their testing protocols.
The first documented case of "
blood doping
Blood doping is a form of Doping in sport, doping in which the number of red blood cells in the bloodstream is boosted in order to enhance athletic performance. Because such blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the muscles, a higher concentr ...
" occurred at the 1980 Summer Olympics as a runner was transfused with two pints of blood before winning medals in the 5000 m and 10,000 m.
Media and broadcasting
Major broadcasters of the 1980 Games were
USSR State TV and Radio (1,370 accreditation cards),
Eurovision (31 countries, 818 cards) and
Intervision (11 countries, 342 cards).
[1980 Summer Olympics Official Report from the Organizing Committee](_blank)
, vol. 2, p. 379 TV Asahi
JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as , and better known as , is a Japanese television station serving the Kanto region as the flagship station of the All-Nippon News Network. It is owned-and-operated by the a subsidiary of , itself controlled by ...
with 68 cards provided coverage for Japan, while
OTI, representing Latin America, received 59 cards, and the
Seven Network
Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...
provided coverage for Australia (48 cards).
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
, which had intended to be another major broadcaster, canceled its coverage in response to the U.S. boycott of the 1980 Games, and became a minor broadcaster with 56 accreditation cards,
although they did air highlights and recaps of the Games on a regular basis.
ABC aired scenes of the opening ceremony during its ''
Nightline
''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News (United States), ABC News' Late night television in the United States, late-night television news program broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC in the United States with a franchis ...
'' program, and promised highlights each night, but later announced that they could not air any highlights as NBC still had exclusive broadcast rights in the US. The
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...
(CBC) almost canceled their plans for coverage after Canada took part in the boycott, and was represented by nine cards.
The television center used 20 television channels, compared to 16 for the Montreal Games, 12 for the
Munich Games, and seven for the
Mexico City Games. This was also the first time North Korea was watching, as KCTV (Korea Central Television) broadcast it as their first satellite program.
Commemoration

A
series of commemorative coins was released in the
USSR
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
in 1977–1980 to commemorate the event. It consisted of five
platinum coins, six
gold coin
A gold coin is a coin that is made mostly or entirely of gold. Most gold coins minted since 1800 are 90–92% gold (22fineness#Karat, karat), while most of today's gold bullion coins are pure gold, such as the Britannia (coin), Britannia, Canad ...
s, 28
silver coin
Silver coins are one of the oldest mass-produced form of coinage. Silver has been used as a coinage metal since the times of the Greeks; their silver drachmas were popular trade coins. The ancient Persians used silver coins between 612–330 B ...
s and six
copper-nickel coins.
Budget
According to the Official Report, submitted to the
IOC by the
NOC of the
USSR
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, total expenditures for the preparations for and staging of the 1980 Games were
US$
The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...
1,350,000,000,
total revenues being
US$
The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...
231,000,000.
To obtain additional funds for the competition, the Organizing Committee organized Olympic lotteries. The proceeds from the lotteries covered 25% of the cost of holding the competition.
Cost
''The Oxford Olympics Study'' established the outturn cost of the Moscow 1980 Summer Olympics at US$6.3 billion in 2015 dollars. This includes sports-related costs only, that is, (i) ''operational costs'' incurred by the organizing committee for the purpose of staging the Games, e.g., expenditures for technology, transportation, workforce, administration, security, catering, ceremonies, and medical services, and (ii) ''direct capital costs'' incurred by the host city and country or private investors to build, e.g., the competition venues, the Olympic village, international broadcast center, and media and press center, which are required to host the Games. Indirect capital costs are ''not'' included, such as for road, rail, or airport infrastructure, or for hotel upgrades or other business investment incurred in preparation for the Games but not directly related to staging the Games. The cost for Moscow 1980 compares with costs of US$4.6 billion for Rio 2016 (projected), US$40–44 billion for Beijing 2008 and US$51 billion for Sochi 2014, the most expensive Olympics in history. Average cost for the Summer Games since 1960 is US$5.2 billion.
Opening ceremony
Event highlights
Archery
*
Tomi Poikolainen of Finland, who had not finished any of the previous three days' shooting higher than fourth, came from fourth on the last day to win the men's archery competition, scoring 2455 points. He won gold just three points ahead of a Soviet athlete.
* The women's archery gold was won by Ketevan Losaberidze (USSR), who was also the European, Soviet and world champion.
* The women's archery silver was won by Natalia Butuzova (USSR), who had set nine national records and three world records in 1979.
* The U.S. archery team was one of the strongest ever fielded, but due to the boycott, the team never had a chance to prove itself. This team held every record and featured 1976 Olympic champion Darrell O. Pace, who was averaging 100 points more than the winning score in Moscow at the time.
Athletics
* Ethiopian
Miruts Yifter
Miruts Yifter (, affectionately known as "Yifter the Shifter", 15 May 1944 – 22 December 2016) was an Ethiopian long-distance runner and winner of two gold medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics. His date of birth is often given as 15 May 1944, th ...
won the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres athletics double, emulating
Lasse Virén's 1972 and 1976 performances.
* "I have a 90% chance of winning the 1,500 metres," wrote
Steve Ovett
Stephen Michael James Ovett, (; born 9 October 1955) is a retired British track athlete. A middle-distance runner, he was the gold medalist in the 800 metres at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. Ovett set five world records for 1500 metre ...
in an article for one of Britain's Sunday papers just before the start of the Olympics. After he won the 800 metres Olympic gold, beating world-record holder
Sebastian Coe
Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, (born 29 September 1956), often referred to as Seb Coe, is a British sports administrator, former politician and retired track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, incl ...
, Ovett stated he would not only win the 1,500 metres race, but would beat the world record by as much as four seconds. Ovett had won 45 straight 1,500 metres races since May 1977. In contrast, Coe had competed in only eight 1,500 metres races between 1976 and 1980. Coe won the race, holding off Ovett in the final lap, who finished third.
* Aided by the absence of American opposition,
Allan Wells beat Cuban
Silvio Leonard to become the first Briton since 1924 to win the Olympic 100 metres race.
*
Gerd Wessig, who had made the East German team only two weeks before the Games, easily won the gold medal with a high jump. This was 9 cm higher than he had ever jumped before.
* In the 1980 Olympic women's long jump competition, Soviet jumper
Tatiana Kolpakova bested her compatriots and other competitors by setting a new Olympic record of .
* Poland's
Władysław Kozakiewicz won the pole vault with a jump of – only the second pole vaulting world record to be established during an Olympics. The previous time had been at the
Antwerp Olympics 1920.
* In the long jump competition, three women beat for the first time ever in one competition.
*
Waldemar Cierpinski of the
German Democratic Republic
East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
(
East Germany
East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
) won his second consecutive
marathon
The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...
gold.
*
Bärbel Wöckel, also of the GDR, winner of the 200 metres in
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, became the first woman to retain the title.
*
Tatiana Kazankina (USSR) retained the 1,500m title that she had won in Montreal.
* In the women's pentathlon,
Nadiya Tkachenko
Nadiya Volodymyrivna Tkachenko () or Nadezhda Vladimirovna Tkachenko () (born 19 September 1948) is a Ukrainian former pentathlete who won gold at the 1980 Olympics. She was born in Kremenchuk, then in the Ukrainian SSR in the Soviet Union, and t ...
(USSR) scored 5,083 points to become the first athlete to exceed 5,000 points in the event during Olympic competition, winning gold.
* For the first time in Olympic history, all eight male participants in the long jump final beat the mark of .
*
Lutz Dombrowski
Lutz Dombrowski (born 25 June 1959) is a former German people, German track and field athlete and Olympic champion.
Early life
Dombrowski was born in 1959 in Zwickau. Wilhelm Pieck, who at the time of Dombrowski's birth was Leadership of ...
(GDR) won the long jump gold. His was the longest jump recorded at sea level and he became only the second ever to jump further than .
* In the triple jump final,
Viktor Saneyev (USSR; present day-
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
), who won gold at Mexico, Munich and Montreal, won silver behind
Jaak Uudmäe (USSR; present day-
Estonia
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
) and ahead of Brazil's world record holder João Carlos de Oliveira. Both de Oliveira and Australia's Ian Campbell produced long jumps, but they were declared fouls by the officials and not measured; in Campbell's case, his longest jump was ruled a "scrape foul", with his trailing leg touching the track during the jump. Campbell insisted that he had not scraped, and it was alleged the officials intentionally threw out his and de Oliveira's best jumps to favor the Soviets, similarly to a number of other events.
*
Yuriy Sedykh (USSR) won gold in the hammer throw event. Four of his six throws broke the world record of 80m. No hammer thrower in the world had ever achieved this before. As in Montreal, the USSR won gold, silver and bronze in this event.
*
Evelin Jahl (GDR), the 1976 Olympic champion, won discus gold again. She won with a new Olympic record – – having been undefeated since Montreal.
* Cuba's
María Caridad Colón won the women's javelin, setting a new Olympic record.
*
Sara Simeoni
Sara Simeoni (born 19 April 1953) is an Italian former high jumper, who won a gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics and twice set a world record in the women's high jump.
Biography
Sara Simeoni was born in Rivoli Veronese, in the province of ...
of Italy won the women's high jump, setting a new Olympic record. She had won a silver in the 1976 Games and would go on to win a silver in the 1984 Games.
* In track-and-field, six world records, eighteen Olympic records and nine best results of the year were registered.
* In women's track and field, events alone either a world or Olympic record was broken in almost every event.
*
Daley Thompson
Francis Morgan Ayodélé Thompson, (born 30 July 1958) is an English former decathlete. He won the decathlon gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984, and broke the world record for the event four times. He was unbeaten in competit ...
of
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
won the gold in the Decathlon. He won gold again at the Los Angeles Olympics.
* Soviet
Dainis Kula won gold in the men's javelin. He also had the best sum total of throws, showing his consistency. He finished ahead of his teammate Alexander Makarov.
* Polish gold medallist
pole vault
Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a #bar, bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ...
er
Władysław Kozakiewicz showed an obscene
bras d'honneur gesture in all four directions to the jeering Soviet public, causing an international scandal and almost losing his medal as a result. There were numerous incidents and accusations of Soviet officials using their authority to negate marks by opponents to the point that
IAAF
World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...
officials found the need to look over the officials' shoulders to try to keep the events fair. There were also accusations of opening stadium gates to give Soviet athletes advantage, and causing other disturbances to opposing athletes.
Basketball
* Basketball was one of the hardest hit sports due to the boycott. Though replacements were found, five men's teams including the defending Olympic Champion United States withdrew from the competition in addition to the US Women's team.
* In the women's competition, the host Soviet Union won the competition beating Bulgaria for gold, Yugoslavia won bronze.
* The men's competition featured only the second instance of the US Men's Basketball team not winning gold with the first one being in
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
. Yugoslavia took home the gold beating Italy in the final. The hosts, Soviet Union, winners in 1972, won the bronze.
Boxing
*
Teófilo Stevenson of Cuba became the first
boxer to win three consecutive Olympic titles in heavyweight, and indeed the only boxer to win the same event in three Games. (
László Papp from Hungary was the first boxer to win three titles). In boxing, Cuba won six gold, two silvers and two bronzes.
* The
Val Barker Trophy is presented by the AIBA to the competitor adjudged to be the best stylist at the Games. The winner was
Patrizio Oliva
Patrizio Oliva (born 28 January 1959) is an Italian former professional boxer, who won the gold medal in the light welterweight division at the 1980 Moscow Olympics as an amateur and the WBA light welterweight title as a professional.
Early li ...
of Italy, who won gold at light-welterweight.
Canoeing

*
Uladzimir Parfianovich of the
USSR
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
won three gold medals in
canoeing
Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. In some parts of Europe, canoeing refers to both canoeing and kayaking, with a canoe being called an 'open canoe' or Canadian.
A few of the recreational ...
.
* Apart from the boycotted Los Angeles Olympics,
Birgit Fischer of
East Germany
East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
won medals in each Olympics from 1980 to 2004. In the 500 metres kayak singles, she won gold in Moscow, silver in
Seoul
Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
, gold in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
.
Cycling

* Lothar Thoms of
East Germany
East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
won the 1,000-metre individual pursuit cycling gold, breaking the world record by nearly four seconds.
* The winner of the bronze in that race was Jamaica's
David Weller who also broke the sixteen-year-old world record.
* In the 4,000-metre team pursuit qualifying heats, new world indoor records were set eight times.
* The 189-kilometer individual road race gold was won by
Sergei Sukhoruchenkov (
USSR
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
).
* The cycling team road race was won by the Soviet team as they had done in
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
and
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
.
* In cycling, world records were toppled 21 times.
Diving
* As Aleksandr Portnov waited to do a 2 and 1/2 reverse somersault in the springboard final, cheers broke out in the adjoining swimming pool during the closing stages of
Vladimir Salnikov's world record breaking 1,500m swim. The diver delayed his start until the noise had subsided but, as he took his first steps along the board, even greater cheers broke out as Salnikov touched in under 15 minutes. Under the rules, Portnov, having started, could not stop before take-off. On protest to the Swedish referee G.Olander, he was allowed to repeat the dive, and went ahead again of Mexico's
Carlos Girón. Later protests by Mexico against the re-dive and by
East Germany
East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
that their
Falk Hoffmann wanted to re-dive after allegedly being disturbed by photographic flashlights were both turned down by
FINA
World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA (; ), is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competitions in List of water sports, water sports. It is one of several interna ...
. FINA President Javier Ostas stated that the decision taken by the Swedish referee was the "correct one". FINA assessed all the Olympic diving events and considers the judging to have been objective. Portnov remained the winner, with Giron taking silver and Cagnatto of Italy bronze.
* Martina Jaschke (
East Germany
East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
) was fourth after the preliminary high dives, but came back to win gold on the second day of competition.
* Irina Kalinina (
USSR
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
) won gold in the springboard final. As a result of her ten dives in the preliminaries, she amassed a unique number of points: 478.86. In the previous four years, no diver had scored so many.
* In this final, the Mexican judge A. Marsikal allowed
Karin Guthke (
East Germany
East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
) to re-take a dive.
Equestrian
* In the individual show jumping event, Poland's
Jan Kowalczyk and the USSR's
Nikolai Korolkov
Nikolay Pavlovich Korolkov (; 28 November 1946 – 5 July 2024) was an equestrian and Olympic champion from Russia. He was born in Rostov-on-Don. He won a gold medal in show jumping with the Soviet team and an individual silver medal at the ...
each had 8 faults, but Kowalczyk won gold as his horse completed the course the quicker. Poland won the last of the 203 gold medals contested.
* The oldest medalist at the Moscow Olympics was
Petre Rosca (Romania) in the dressage at 57 years 283 days.
Fencing
* France took four gold medals in fencing.
* In the team sabre fencing final, for the fifth Olympics in a row, Italy and the USSR met. The USSR won as they did in Tokyo, Mexico and Montreal, while Italy's silver was its only medal in fencing.
Football

* The USSR won bronze.
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
won the gold medal beating German Democratic Republic (East Germany) 1:0 in the final.
* The matches were played in Moscow and Leningrad (Russian SFSR), and some preliminary games were hosted by Kiev and Minsk, in the
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...
and
Byelorussian SSR
The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 1922 as an independent state, and ...
respectively.
Gymnastics
* Soviet gymnast
Alexander Dityatin won a medal in each of the eight gymnastics events, including three titles. He was the first athlete to win eight medals at an Olympics. He scored several 10s, the first perfect scores in men's gymnastics since
1924.
*
Nikolai Andrianov
Nikolai Yefimovich Andrianov (; 14 October 1952 – 21 March 2011) was a Soviet and Russian gymnast.
He held the record for men for the most Olympic medals at 15 (7 gold medals, 5 silver medals, 3 bronze medals) until Michael Phelps surpass ...
, who had won gold on floor at both Munich and Montreal, was pipped this time by Roland Bruckner of East Germany. Andrianov retained the vault title he had won in Montreal.
*
Zoltán Magyar
Zoltán Magyar (born 13 December 1953) is a Hungarian former gymnast who was the world's leading pommel horse gymnast in the 1970s. In this event he won two Olympic, three world, three European and two World Cup titles. Magyar had two moves n ...
(Hungary) retained the Olympic title on pommel horse that he had won in Montreal. He was also a three-time world champion and three-time European champion on this piece of apparatus.
* In the team competition, the USSR won the gold medal for the eighth consecutive time, continuing the "gold" series that started in 1952.
* In the women's gymnastics event finals, a Romanian gymnast medals on each piece of apparatus for the first time:
** Balance Beam –
Nadia Comăneci (gold)
** Floor –
Nadia Comăneci (gold)
** Uneven Bar –
Emilia Eberle (silver) &
Melita Ruhn
Melita Ruhn (later Fleischer, born 19 April 1965) is a retired Romanian artistic gymnast who represented Romania at the 1980 Summer Olympics. She belongs to the German minority in Romania.
She won three Olympic medals (team, vault, uneven bars) ...
(bronze)
** Vault –
Melita Ruhn
Melita Ruhn (later Fleischer, born 19 April 1965) is a retired Romanian artistic gymnast who represented Romania at the 1980 Summer Olympics. She belongs to the German minority in Romania.
She won three Olympic medals (team, vault, uneven bars) ...
(bronze)
* Before the Los Angeles Olympics, the United States gymnastics federation proposed a change in the rules so that a head judge cannot interfere and meddle in the scoring of competitors.
Handball

* In the men's event, East Germany beat the USSR 23–22 in the handball final.
* In the women's tournament, the USSR won all its matches and retained the Olympic handball title. Yugoslavia and East Germany gained silver and bronze medal respectively.
Field hockey
* Six countries competed in the women's field hockey:
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
, India,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
,
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
,
USSR
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
, and
Zimbabwe
file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map
Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
. The gold medal was won by the team of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe did not learn it would get a place in the tournament until 35 days before the Games began, and chose its team only the weekend before the opening ceremony. None of their players had prior playing experience on an artificial surface. Soviet Union won bronze.
* India won a record eighth title in men's field hockey. The Soviet Union won bronze.
Judo
* The USSR topped judo with five medals (two gold, one silver and two bronze). France came second (two gold, one silver and a bronze) and East Germany came third (one gold and four bronze).
Modern pentathlon
* In the modern pentathlon,
George Horvath (Sweden) recorded a perfect score in the pistol shoot. It had been achieved only once before in
1936
Events January–February
* January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House.
* January 28 – Death and state funer ...
.
Rowing
*
East Germany
East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
dominated
rowing
Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...
, winning eleven of the fourteen titles. The East German men won seven out of eight events, foiled from achieving a clean sweep by
Pertti Karppinen of Finland (who defended his Olympic title from
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
). East German women won four of their six events.
* In the rowing eights with coxswain, the British team won silver just 0.74 seconds behind East Germany.
Sailing
* The sailing event was held in
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...
,
Soviet-occupied Estonia
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
.
* Soviet sailor
Valentyn Mankin won a gold medal in "Star" class. He won Olympic champion titles in "
Finn" and "
Tempest" classes before, and remains the only sailor in Olympic history to win gold medals in three different classes .
Shooting
* The three-day skeet shooting marathon was won by
Hans Kjeld Rasmussen of Denmark.
* In the smallbore rifle, prone event, Hungarian
Károly Varga captured the gold and equalled the world record.
Swimming
*
Vladimir Salnikov (USSR) won three gold medals in swimming. He became the first man in history to break the 15-minute barrier in the 1500 metre freestyle, swimming's equivalent of breaking the four-minute mile. He missed the 1984 Games because of the boycott but won gold again in this event at Seoul 1988.
* Salnikov also won gold in the 4 × 200 m relay and the 400m freestyle. In the 400m freestyle, he set a new Olympic record which was just eleven-hundredths of a second outside his own world record.
* In the Montreal final of the 400m freestyle, the seventh and eighth place finalists finished in over four minutes. In Moscow sixteen swimmers finished in under four minutes and eight of them did not make the final.
*
Duncan Goodhew of Great Britain won the 100 metres breaststroke.
* Sweden's
Bengt Baron won gold in the 100 meter backstroke.
* In the men's 4 × 100 metres medley relay, each of the eight teams taking part in the final broke its country's national record.
* The first Australian gold since 1972 came in the 4 × 100 men's medley relay,
with
Neil Brooks
Neil Brooks (born 27 July 1962) is an Australian former sprint freestyle swimming, freestyle swimmer best known for winning the 4 × 100 m medley relay at the 1980 Summer Olympics, 1980 Olympics in Moscow as part of the ''Quiet ...
swimming the final leg, the Australians swam the second-fastest time in history.
* East German women dominated the swimming events, winning nine of eleven individual titles, both the relays and setting 6 world records. They also won all three medals in six different races. In total they won 26 of the available 35 medals. As it was revealed later, their results were aided by the
state-sponsored doping system.
*
Barbara Krause (East Germany) became the first woman to go under 55 seconds for the 100 m freestyle.
* Backstroker
Rica Reinisch
Rica Reinisch (later Assmann then Neumann; born 6 April 1965) is a retired swimmer from East Germany. She was a specialist in backstroke, setting four world records in the 1980 Summer Olympics, Moscow Games (three in 100 m backstroke: 1:01.51, 1 ...
(East Germany) was 20th in the world rankings for 100m in 1979 and not in the top 100 for the 200 m. At the Olympics she broke the world records in both distances winning golds.
* In the 100m butterfly,
Caren Metschuck (East Germany) beats her more experienced teammate
Andrea Pollack to win gold.
*
Petra Schneider (East Germany) shaved three seconds off the world record in the 400m medley.
* As in Montreal, the Soviet women made a clean sweep of the medals in the 200m breaststroke. The title in this event was won by
Lina Kačiušytė.
*
Michelle Ford
Michelle Jan Ford (born 15 July 1962) is an Australian former long-distance freestyle and butterfly swimmer of the 1970s and 1980s, who won a gold medal in the 800-metre freestyle, bronze in the 200-metre butterfly, and 4th in the 400-metres ...
(Australia) won the 800m freestyle more than four seconds ahead of her East German rivals.
* In swimming, 230 national, 22 Olympic and ten World records were set.
* The youngest male gold medallist of these Olympics was Hungarian backstroke swimmer
Sándor Wladár at 17 years old.
Volleyball
* The prominent nation in both volleyball competitions was the USSR; its teams won both golds.
Water polo
* Hungary won a bronze medal in water polo. This continued their run of always winning a medal in this event since 1928.
Weightlifting
* The standard of weightlifting was the highest in the history of the Olympics. There were eighteen senior world records, two junior world records, more than 100 Olympic records and 108 national records set.
* The oldest of weightlifting's Olympic records – the snatch in the lightweight class set in 1964 – was bettered thirteen times.
*
Yurik Vardanyan (USSR) became the first middleweight to total more than 400 kg, he won gold.
* In the super heavyweight class,
Vasily Alexeyev (USSR) Olympic champion at Munich and Montreal, eight-time world champion, who in his career set 80 world records, failed to medal.
* Soviet weightlifters won 5 golds.
* The new category in weightlifting – up to 100 kg – was won by
Ota Zaremba of Czechoslovakia.
Wrestling
* In Greco-Roman wrestling,
Ferenc Kocsis of Hungary was declared the winner of the 163 pound class when the defending champion Anatoly Bykov was disqualified for passivity.
* Soviet wrestlers won 12 golds.
Closing ceremony

Because of the U.S. boycott, changes were made to
the traditional elements of the closing ceremony that represent the handover to the host city of
the next Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Among them, the
flag of the city of Los Angeles instead of
the United States flag was raised, and the
Olympic Anthem
The Olympic Hymn (, ), also known as the Olympic Anthem, is a choral cantata by opera composer Spyridon Samaras (1861–1917), with Demotic Greek lyrics by Greek poet Kostis Palamas. Both poet and composer were the choice of the Greek Deme ...
instead of the
national anthem of the United States was played. There was also no "Antwerp Ceremony", where the ceremonial Olympic flag was transferred from the Mayor of Moscow to the Mayor of Los Angeles; instead the flag was kept by the Moscow city authorities until 1984. Furthermore, there was no next host city presentation.
Both the opening and closing ceremonies were shown in
Yuri Ozerov's 1981 film ''Oh, Sport – You Are The World!'' ().
Venues
* Central Lenin Stadium area
**
Grand Arena2 – opening/closing ceremonies, athletics, football (final), equestrian (jumping individual)
**
Minor Arena
The Luzhniki Small Sports Arena (formerly, the Minor Arena of the Luzhniki Stadium, Central Lenin Stadium; ) is an 8,700-seat indoor arena that is part of the Luzhniki Sports Complex in Moscow, Russia. The arena was built in 1956 in the Soviet Un ...
2 – volleyball
**
Swimming Pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...
2 – water polo
**
Sports Palace2 – gymnastics, judo
**
Druzhba Multipurpose Arena1 – volleyball
** Streets of Moscow – Athletics (20 & 50 km walk, marathon)
* Olympiysky Sports Complex
**
Indoor Stadium1 – basketball (final), boxing
**
Swimming Pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...
1 – swimming, diving, modern pentathlon (swimming), water polo (final)
* CSKA (
Central Sports Club of the Army) Sports Complex
**
CSKA Athletics Fieldhouse, Central Sports Club of the Army
1 – wrestling
**
CSKA Football Fieldhouse, Central Sports Club of the Army
1 – fencing, modern pentathlon (fencing)
**
CSKA Palace of Sports1 – basketball
* Venues in metropolitan Moscow
**
Dynamo Central Stadium, Grand Arena2 – football preliminaries
**
Dynamo Central Stadium, Minor Arena2 – field hockey
**
Young Pioneers Stadium2 – field hockey (final)
**
Dynamo Palace of Sports1, Khimki-Khovrino – handball
**
Trade Unions' Equestrian Complex1 – equestrian, modern pentathlon (riding, running)
**
Izmailovo Sports Palace1 – weightlifting
**
Sokolniki Sports Palace2 – handball (final)
**
Dynamo Shooting Range2, Mytishchi – shooting, modern pentathlon (shooting)
* Krylatskoye Sports Complex
**
Krylatskoye Sports Complex Canoeing and Rowing Basin2, Krylatskoye – canoeing, rowing
**
Krylatskoye Sports Complex Velodrome
The Krylatskoye Sports Complex Velodrome is an indoor velodrome in the Krylatskoye district of Moscow, Russia. It was built in 1979 according to a design from a team of architects for the 1980 Summer Olympics and hosted the track cycling event ...
1, Krylatskoye – cycling (track)
**
Krylatskoye Sports Complex Cycling Circuit
The Krylatskoye Sports Complex Cycling Circuit is a cycle sport, cycling circuit constructed next to the Krylatskoye Sports Complex Velodrome, velodrome used for the track cycling events for the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. The venue, long, ...
– cycling (individual road race)
**
Krylatskoye Sports Complex Archery Field1, Krylatskoye – archery
* Venues outside Moscow
**
Moscow-Minsk Highway – cycling (road team time trial)
**
Kirov Stadium2,
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
,
Russian SFSR
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...
– football preliminaries
**
Dinamo Stadium2,
Minsk
Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...
,
Byelorussian SSR
The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 1922 as an independent state, and ...
– football preliminaries
**
Republican Stadium2,
Kiev
Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
,
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...
– football preliminaries
**
Tallinn Olympic Yachting Centre1,
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...
,
Estonian SSR
The Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, (abbreviated Estonian SSR, Soviet Estonia, or simply Estonia ) was an administrative subunit ( union republic) of the former Soviet Union (USSR), covering the occupied and annexed territory of Estonia ...
– sailing
1 New facilities constructed in preparation for the Olympic Games.
2 Existing facilities modified or refurbished in preparation for the Olympic Games.
Sports
The 1980 Summer Olympic programme featured 203 events in the following 21 sports:
*Aquatics
**
**
**
*
*
*
*
*
*
**Road
(2)
**Track
(4)
*
**Dressage
(2)
**Eventing
(2)
**Show jumping
(2)
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
**Freestyle
(10)
**Greco-Roman
(10)
Calendar
:''All times are in
Moscow Time
Moscow Time (MSK; ) is the time zone for the city of Moscow, Russia, and most of western Russia, including Saint Petersburg. It is the second-westernmost of the eleven time zones of Russia, after the non-continguous Kaliningrad enclave. It h ...
(
UTC+3)''
Medal count
This is a list of all nations that won medals at the 1980 Games.
List of participating countries and regions
In the following list, the number in parentheses indicates the number of athletes from each nation that competed in Moscow. Nations in italics competed under the Olympic flag (or, in the cases of New Zealand, Portugal and Spain, under the flags of their respective National Olympic Committees):
Number of athletes by National Olympic Committees
See also
*
Use of performance-enhancing drugs in the Olympic Games – 1980 Moscow
Notes
References
Further reading
* John Goodbody, ''The Illustrated History of Gymnastics'', 1982, .
*
Bill Henry, ''An Approved History of the Olympic Games'', .
* ''The Olympic Games'', 1984, Lord Killanin and John Rodda, .
* Stan Greenberg, Whitakers Olympic Almanack, 2004 .
* ''Olympics 1984'', produced by Philips International B.V.
* ''Chronicle of the Olympics'', .
* Peter Arnold, ''The Olympic Games'',
* ''Official British Olympic Association Report of the 1980 Games'', published 1981, ISSN 0143-4799
Boycott
*
* Evelyn Mertin, ''The Soviet Union and the Olympic Games of 1980 and 1984: Explaining Boycotts to their Own People''. In: S. Wagg/D. Andrews (Eds.) East plays West. Sport and the Cold War, 2007, Oxon: Routledge, pp. 235–252, .
External links
*
Official Report from the Organizing Committee (3 volumes)The 1980 Summer Olympics Newsreels– Net-Film Newsreels and Documentary Films Archive (in Russian)
*
– lyrics and links to MP3 files
{{DEFAULTSORT:Summer Olympics, 1980
Olympics
The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...
Olympics
The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...
Olympics
The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...
1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...
1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...
Olympics
The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...
Olympics
The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...
Olympics
The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...
Olympics
The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...