1980 Moscow Olympics

Also called: Games of the XXII Olympiad, Moscow 1980, 1980 Olympic boycott

The first Olympics held in a socialist country. Some sixty nations led by the United States stayed away in protest at the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, among them South Korea, Japan, West Germany and China.

When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in December 1979, US President Carter announced that America would not go to the Olympics unless Soviet troops withdrew. Some sixty nations followed the US, including South Korea, Japan, West Germany, Canada and China. Some Western countries, among them Britain, France, Italy and Australia, sent athletes despite their governments’ opposition, competing under the Olympic flag rather than their national flags.

Brezhnev opened the Games at the Central Lenin Stadium on 19 July 1980, and they ran until 3 August. Only 80 nations took part, and the Soviet Union and East Germany swept the medals. The mascot bear Misha shedding a tear at the closing ceremony became a famous image. Four years later the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc retaliated by boycotting Los Angeles.