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The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union from 19 July to 3 August. A total of 5,179 athletes representing 80 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in 203 events from 22 different sports and disciplines. They were the first Games to be staged in a communist nation.
64 countries participated in a boycott against these Games as a protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Athletes from fifteen of those countries still competed, albeit without official support or against opposition from their governments. In the opening ceremony, they marched under the Olympic flag, which was also used with the Olympic Hymn at medal ceremonies to replace the respective national flags and anthems. One country—New Zealand—competed under the flag of their association, the NZOCGA. Some of the teams who marched under flags other than their national flags were depleted by boycotts by individual athletes, and others did not march at all. The United States in particular did not allow any athletes to compete on pain of having their passports revoked, making this the only Games where they did not win a single medal.
Of the eighty participating nations, the smallest number since 1956, eight nations made their first appearance at this Games – Angola, Botswana, Cyprus, Laos, Mozambique, Nicaragua, and Seychelles. None of these nations won a medal. Whilst competitors from 36 countries became Olympic medalists, the great majority of the medals were taken by the host country and East Germany in what was the most skewed medal tally since 1904. Despite only being invited to compete five weeks prior to the opening ceremony, Zimbabwe won a surprise gold medal in the new Olympic sport of women's field hockey. The Soviet Union's Aleksandr Dityatin became the first athlete to win eight medals at a single Games, with three gold, four silver and a bronze medal. In rowing, the winners of both the gold and silver medals in the coxless pairs were identical twins. Tanzania and Guyana won their first ever Olympic medals.
Medal table
The medal table is based on information provided by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and is consistent with IOC convention in its published medal tables. By default, the table is ordered by the number of gold medals the athletes from a nation have won (in this context, a nation is an entity represented by a National Olympic Committee). The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If nations are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically.
In boxing and judo two bronze medals were awarded in each weight class. Therefore, the total number of bronze medals is greater than the total number of gold or silver medals.
Host country (Soviet Union)
First ever gold medal
First ever medal