Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index See also: 1980 Summer Paralympics The Games of the XXII Olympiad were held in 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union. Moscow won the bid to organise the Games by defeating Los Angeles, which would host the next Olympics. Games of the XXII Olympiad Nations participating 80 Athletes participating 5,217 (4,093 men, 1,124 women) Events 203 in 21 sports Opening ceremonies July 19, 1980 Closing ceremonies August 3, 1980 Officially opened by Leonid Brezhnev Athlete's Oath Nikolay Andrianov Judge's Oath: Aleksandr Medved Olympic Torch Sergey Belov Table of contents 1 Highlights 2 Medals awarded 3 Medal count 4 References 4.1 Internal links 4.2 External links 4.3 Bibliography Highlights On March 21, 1980, following the 1979 Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, American president Jimmy Carter announced a boycott of the Moscow Olympics. The United States are joined by some 50 other countries - including Japan, West Germany and Canada - and many individual athletes from participating nations. Absence of a further 15 nations leads to only 80 nations competing, the lowest number since 1956. The boycott severely affects a great number of events, and even in events where the top athletes are present, the fields are small. Soviet gymnast Aleksandr Dityatin wins a medal in each of the eight gymnastics events, including three titles. Vladimir Salnikov (USSR) wins three gold medals in the swimming pool. His time in the 1500 m freestyle was the first below 15 minutes. Ethiopian Muruse Yefter wins the 5000 m and 10000 m double, emulating Lasse Virén's 1976 performance Waldemar Cierpinski of East Germany wins his second consecutive marathon gold. Women's field hockey is Olympic for the first time, but all major nations boycott the tournament. The team of Zimbabwe is invited just a week before the start of the Games, but it wins the nation's first gold medal. East Germany dominates rowing, as they bring home eleven of the available fourteen titles. Téofilo Stevenson of Cuba becomes the first boxer to win three consecutive Olympic titles. Medals awarded See the medal winners, ordered by sport: Archery Athletics Basketball Boxing Canoeing Cycling Diving Equestrianism Fencing Football Gymnastics Handball Hockey Judo Modern Pentathlon Rowing Shooting Swimming Volleyball Water Polo Weightlifting Wrestling Yachting Medal count Pos Country Gold Silver Bronze Total References Internal links Olympic Games Summer Olympic Games International Olympic Committee WikiProject Sports Olympics IOC country codes External links IOC Site on 1980 Summer Olympics Bibliography Summer Olympics 1896 | 1900 | 1904 | 1906 | 1908 | 1912 | 1920 | 1924 | 1928 | 1932 | 1936 | 1948 | 1952 | 1956 | 1960 | 1964 | 1968 | 1972 | 1976 | 1980 | 1984 | 1988 | 1992 | 1996 | 2000 | 2004 | 2008 | 2012 Winter Olympics 1924 | 1928 | 1932 | 1936 | 1948 | 1952 | 1956 | 1960 | 1964 | 1968 | 1972 | 1976 | 1980 | 1984 | 1988 | 1992 | 1994 | 1998 | 2002 | 2006 | 2010 This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.