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
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.
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
+919410900051
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