Medal Standings   Gold Silver Bronze Total USSR 80 69 46 195 East Germany 47 37 42 126 Bulgaria 8 16 17 41 Cuba 8 7 5 20 Italy 8 3 4 15 Hungary 7 10 15 32 Romania 6 6 13 25 France 6 5 3 14 Great Britain 5 7 9 21 Poland 3 14 15 32   Canada did not attend

Politics reared its ugly head at the Olympics in 1980. U.S. president Jimmy Carter organized a boycott to protest the December 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Carter threatened to revoke the passport of any athlete who tried to travel to the USSR. Other governments, such as Great Britain and Australia, supported the boycott but allowed the athletes to decide for themselves whether to go to Moscow.

Canada joined the American's, marking the first time since 1904 that it failed to send an official team to the Olympics. While the 211 Canadian athletes selected to the team did not compete, they are still considered Olympians, but that is little consolation for the hard work and sacrifices they endured in pursuit of their Olympic dream.

In the end, 80 nations showed up to take part in the Olympics - the lowest number since 1956.

Aleksandr Dityatin earned medals in every men's gymnastics event to become the only athlete ever to win eight medals in one Olympics. Super-heavyweight Teofilo Stevenson of Cuba became the first boxer to win the same division three times. Both the gold and silver medalists in the men's pairs rowing event were idential twins - Bernd and Jorg Landvoigt of East Germany and Yuri and Nikolai Pimenov of Russia. English runners Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe faced each other in two memorable duels on the track. In the 800 metre, Ovett won the gold medal ahead of his compatriot. Six days later, a determined Coe redeemed himself in the 1,500 metre, taking gold while Ovett managed only a bronze.

Zimbabwe captured the inaugural gold medal in women's field hockey. The boycott had deprived the tournament of all its entrants except Russia. Five weeks before the Olympics, an invitation was sent out to Zimbabwe to field a team. Less than a week before the start of the Games, a team was selected and they surprised everyone by going on to win the tournament.