The Liberty Bell Classic was a

track and field athletics Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

event organized by

the Athletics Congress USA Track & Field (USATF) is a United States national governing body for the sports of track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jum ...

as part of the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott and held at Franklin Field at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

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 ...

on July 16 and 17, 1980. It was named after Philadelphia's

Liberty Bell The Liberty Bell, previously called the State House Bell or Old State House Bell, is an iconic symbol of American Revolution, American independence located in Philadelphia. Originally placed in the steeple of Pennsylvania State House, now know ...

. The

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...

voted to approve $10 million in funding to alternative tournaments in several

Olympic sports Olympic sports are sports that are contested in the Summer Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games. The 2024 Summer Olympics included 32 sports; the 2022 Winter Olympics included seven sports. Each Olympic sport is represented at the Internation ...

, to which athletes from boycotting countries would be invited. In addition to the Liberty Bell Classic, the U.S. Gymnastics Federation held an International Invitational tournament in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

. Earlier in the year, the United States had considered holding other games in

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, or

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.Secret US plot to steal Moscow's Olympic flame, Daily Telegraph
/ref> The

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 ...

prohibited any official track and field meet that would clash with the Olympic meet, so the Liberty Bell began three days before the Moscow Games opened (and ten days before the Olympic athletics events began). The Liberty Bell came the day after the prestigious

Bislett Games The Bislett Games is an annual track and field meeting at the Bislett Stadium in Oslo, Norway. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League. History The first international athletics meeting at Bislett ...

in Oslo, and many eligible athletes declined to compete, including 17 of the 34 champions at the US Olympic Trials. The winning performances in the men's 110 m hurdles and 400 m hurdles were better than those in Moscow.

Participants

Athletes from 29 countries participated in the event, many of which had taken part in the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics, including: Countries marked with an asterisk (*) went on to be represented in the 1980 Summer Olympics under the Olympic flag.

Medal table

List of Medalists

Men's events

Women's events

References

Sources

Olympic Boycott Games

Citations

{{Olympic Games controversies 1980 in athletics (track and field) Boycott Games International sports boycotts Penn Quakers track and field Sports competitions in Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania 1980 in sports in Pennsylvania Track and field competitions in Pennsylvania July 1980 sports events in the United States 1980s in Philadelphia