• Moscow 1980

Moscow 1980 - Key Moments

ESPN staff
October 12, 2011
Moscow 1980: Key Moments | Quick Hits | Key Facts | Medal Table | Gallery | Olympics Histories Home

The Olympic flame burned in front of the ancient Novodevici Russian Orthodox monastery © PA Photos
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Another Games overshadowed by a boycott. The USA led the protest against the invasion of Afghanistan and only 80 nations took part - the lowest since 1956. Britian supported the boycott, but allowed athletes to compete if they so wished.

British runners hogged the headlines on the track, with the battle between Steve Ovett and Seb Coe one of the major talking points. Ovett sprung a surprise by beating Coe in his favoured event, the 800m, but Coe got his revenge when bringing Ovett's long unbeaten run in the 1500m to an end.

Daley Thompson announced himself on the Olympic stage by winning the decathlon, while Scotland's Alan Wells won out in a three-way photo to take gold in the 100m.

The boycott hit some events hard, with the women's hockey descending into farce as Russia were left as the only entrants. A call went out to Zimbabwe to field a team, which they duly did and made off with the gold medal.

Russian gymnast Aleksandr Dityatin earned medals in every men's gymnastics event to become the first athlete to win eight medals in one Olympics.

Both gold (Jorg Landvoigt and Bernd Landvoigt) and silver medal (Nikolay Pimenov, Yuri Pimenov) winners in the men's coxless pairs in the Olympics were identical twins.

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