Olympics Series

Olympics – 1980 Moscow

Faced with an excessive number of absentees from the major events, a highly politicized atmosphere, a few dishonest judges and an overly chauvinistic public (especially in the Lenin Stadium), the Moscow Games were saved only by some outstanding sporting achievement.

“The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan will seriously affect present and future relations between us and the Soviet Union,” declared US President Jimmy Carter in early 1980, and the boycott of the Moscow Olympics became official on 20 January. Until 19 July, the date of the Opening Ceremony of the Games, there was a fierce battle between those who wanted to support the American decision (Japan, South Korea, Canada, West Germany and even China), those who wanted to participate unconditionally (all the socialist bloc countries) and those who wanted to go to Moscow under individual titles without emblems or national anthems (France, Spain, Australia, Great Britain, etc). A campaign was even launched for an Olympic Games with neither national anthems nor flags.

The pressure on the IOC and its Irish president, Lord Killanin, was enormous. The Games had to be saved. Though public opinion was divided, there was a majority among the athletes in favor of participation. On 19 July, eighty – one NOCs were represented. These flawed Games earned unanimous praise for the quality of the organization, but they were tarnished by excessive nationalism on the part of the Moscow public. Despite this, and despite the numerous absences, thirty four world records and sixty – two Olympic were set.

On 3 August during the Closing Ceremony, Misha the bear mascot shed a tear when the words ‘See you at the twenty – third Olympics’ appeared.

A Great Start and a Beautiful Finish for Dityatin: Lord of the Rings

After twenty – four years wait, the USSR finally won the men’s team title. The outstanding gymnast was, unsurprisingly, Aleksandr Dityatin. He had great talent for the rings, where he was awarded a well deserved 9.95. The man known as the playboy of international gymnastics breezed through the events watched by an enthusiastic crowd that supported its men with gusto, although their support made little difference to the outcome: the Soviets were far superior to the rest. On the occasion of his vault event, Dityatin had the remarkable honor of becoming the first male gymnast to be given a score of ten in an Olympic competition, four years after Nadia Comaneci and Nelly Kim did the same in Montreal. Four more perfect scores were given for various events: Stoyan Deltchev (Bulgaria) on the rings, Aleksandr Tkatchyov (USSR) on the horizontal bar and Zoltan Magyar (Hungary) and Michael Nikolay (GDR) on the pommel horse. Dityatin won a total of eight medals, three Gold, four Silver and two Bronze medals.

Stevenson’s Treasure Island

Cuba stole the show and among its six Olympic champions, Teofilo won his third Olympic title.  The highlight of the boxing tournament was the heavyweight final between him and Pyotr Zayev (USSR), in which he consecutively won his third Gold medal in the heavyweight division. By doing this he went down in history with Laszlo Papp of Hungary, who won the middleweight title in 1948, then the light middleweight in 1952 and 1956. Stevenson wielded a powerful right, who jabbed with his left; side stepped and then unleashed his fierce blow, to get a decision. In this Olympics the Cubans won six of the eight finals and gave a magnificent exhibition of the art and science of the pugilistic sport.  The 6 ft 5 inches and 220 lbs Teofilo, refused to become a professional, for the love of his country. For him a million dollars was nothing in comparison to the love of his countrymen and his leader Fidel Castro. Teofilo passed away at the age of 60 years on 12 Jun this year, and is survived by two children.

Salnikov the Czar: Earns a Place in History

No victory was ever more widely predicted than that of the Russian in the 1500 meters freestyle. The piece de resistance- the men’s 1500 meters freestyle, the longest race of the programme was expected to crown the Soviet Vladimir Salnikov. The only questions were how he would decide to win, and who would come second. Salnikov decided on the style of the solo victory. He attacked from the gun and as he touched the pad, the world record was his. By completing the 1500 meters in 14:58.27, he became the first man to break the fifteen minutes barrier. This immortal feat would secure him a place in sporting history. Two days later Vladimir won the 400 meter freestyle in a new Olympic record of 3:51.31. The absence of the Americans was not of much consequence in Salnikov’s victories, because of his distinct superiority and panache.

Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe: All British Duel

Ovett and Coe the best middle distance runners of the times, were locked in a memorable duel in the 1500 and 800 meters. Coe had kept himself busy setting records in the preceding year, while Ovett was out of the spotlight. But this did not let Coe from being fooled, who knew that Steve would be in good shape in Moscow. Coe who was the favorite for the 800 meters was beaten by Steve. This was indeed the most disappointing day of Coe’s athletics career and he was determined to get back. The normally introverted and modest Steve let his hair down after the finals and did his lap of honor, with his joy speaking for him. The 1500 meters would now witness yet another fight between the two, in which Coe would have nothing to lose. Sebastian Coe’s joy overwhelmed his phlegmatic instincts, after winning the 1500 meters. He knelt on the track, kissed the ground and thanked the Gods, looking to the sky as if projecting his joy into eternity. Sebastian used his intelligence to resolve the conundrum of how to beat Steve Ovett. For him it was not a matter of speed but tactics and he pushed himself to the limit, for he would have rather dropped dead than lose.

 Lord Sebastian Coe who was later knighted is the CEO of the LOCOG 2012.

Miruts Yifter of Ethiopia won the double of 5,000 and 10,000 meters and in doing so gave a stunning example of how to win with a final lap sprint. It will endure as the classic image of the Games and will be remembered as the greatest track performance of the Moscow Olympics. Marita Koch of East Germany despite her disrupted preparation gave a fine display of her superiority to win the 400 meters. She won the race by running the fastest 400 meters in history. Daley Thompson of Great Britain won the decathlon with a score of 8,495 points and saw off the competition by the two Soviet Russians Kutsenko and Zhelanov. Despite a hostile stadium, Wladyslaw Kozakiewicz of Poland won the pole vault and created a world record of 5.78 meters.

India won the Gold in men’s field hockey and this was the last time it did so.

The Games In Brief

Opening Date                                        19 July 1980

Closing Date                                        3 August 1980

Host Nation                                         Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Nations Represented                           81

Athletes                                                5,217(1,125 women, 4,092 men)

Sports                                                   21 (12 open to women)

Events                                                  201 (50 open to women)

Games Officially Opened By              Leonid Brezhnev, President of USSR

Olympic Flame Lit By                        Sergei Belov (basketball)

Olympic Oath Taken By                     Nikolai Andrianov (gymnastics)

IOC President                                     Lord Michael Kilanin (IRL)

These were the first Games to be ever held in a Socialist country. Moscow was boycotted by most of the capitalist world. One unusual feature of the Games occurred in rowing, where in the coxless pairs the winners of both the Gold (East Germany) and the Silver (USSR) were actually identical twins.

PS -: Matter researched from the archives in the Olympics Museum in Lausanne.

Brigadier (retd) S D Dangwal

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