The Olympics: 1980

THE OLYMPICS: 1980

The Winter Games

The XIII Winter Olympics were held in Lake Placid, New York, from 12 to 24 February and included athletes from thirty-seven nations. It was the second time the Winter Games were held in the tiny upstate New York town, the first time being in 1932. Despite horrendous transportation problems the 1980 Winter Games were, as described by one observer, "a glistening festival in which superb athletes performed their feats in superb surroundings." Fortunately, the United States-led movement to boycott the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow because of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan had virtually no effect on the competition. Instead, the most noteworthy political controversy of the games was the absence of the Taiwanese team, who petitioned the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to be excused from the games due to the presence of a team from the People's Republic of China. Politics aside, the 150-member U.S. team enjoyed the advantage of hosting the games and did well, finishing third in the final medal standings, behind East Germany (23 total medals) and the Soviet Union (22), with a total of 12 medals (6 gold, 4 silver, 2 bronze). Moreover, American athletes provided the Winter Games with two of its most extraordinary, memorable, and historic performances.

America's Golden Boy

Over the course of eight days American speed skater Eric Heiden turned in an epic performance. The twenty-one-year-old Heiden won gold medals and set Olympic records in all five of the events in which he participated: the 500-, 1,000-, 1,500-, 5,000-, and 10,000-meter races. In so doing he became the first athlete ever to win five gold medals in individual events in one Olympics. He alone won more gold medals than any American team had in the Winter Games since 1932. By the end of the Winter Games he had become a speed-skating immortal. It should not lessen his accomplishments to note that Heiden's victories were expected. Before the competition began, Heiden was already considered the best speed skater in history. One commentator argued that "Heiden outstrips human comparison: he is [like] Secretariat, stronger, faster, possessed of a greater racing heart than has ever been known." A near-perfect combination of speed, power, stamina, technique, discipline, and competitive desire, Heiden was described by Thomas Boswell as a "young man whose name will go down with the greats of Olympic history." In recognition of his tremendous Olympic performance, Heiden was awarded the 1980 Sullivan Award as the nation's outstanding amateur athlete.

Miracle on Ice

The U.S. hockey team's improbable 4-3 victory over the Soviets on 22 February ranks as one of the greatest upsets in the history of American sport and the Olympic Games. "For millions of people, their single, lasting image of the Lake Placid Games will be the infectious joy displayed by the U.S. hockey team following its 4—3 win over the Soviet Union," wrote E. M. Swift. The surprising victory led to euphoric, patriotic celebrations all over the country. Two days later, the inspired American team beat Finland 4—2 to win the Olympic gold medal, again prompting a national outpouring of pride and joy. Going into the Games the U.S. club was ranked seventh among the twelve teams competing in the Olympics. Coached by Herb Brooks, the U.S. team was composed of overachieving, "fuzzy-cheeked" collegians who were given little chance of competing with the powerful Soviets, the reigning Olympic and world champions. The unheralded U.S. team, led by goaltender Jim Craig, captain Mike Eruzione, and center Mark Johnson, played aggressive, fearless hockey throughout the seven-game tournament. Though the game with the Soviets meant little to the players politically, many others saw the victory in geopolitical terms. "At a time when international tension and domestic frustration had dampened traditional American optimism," wrote Sports Illustrated, "the underdog U.S. Olympic hockey team gave the entire nation a lift by defeating the world's top team, the Soviets, and ultimately winning the gold medal. Those youngsters did so by means of the old-fashioned American work ethic, which some people feared was disappearing from the land." For their performance the U.S. hockey team was named Sportsmen of the Year for 1980 by Sports Illustrated.

The Games Went On

The XXII Summer Olympics began 19 July 1980 in Moscow and were the first Games ever held in a communist nation. While eighty-one countries participated the United States, led by embattled President Jimmy Carter, and sixty-four other countries boycotted the competition to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance had articulated the Carter administration's position before the IOC in February: "We will oppose the participation of an American team in any Olympic Games in the capital of an invading nation. This position is firm. It reflects the deep convictions of the United States Congress and the American people." Though many Olympic purists argued that the Olympics should be divorced from politics, others pointed out that politics had always been present in the Games. Conservative political columnist Lance Morrow noted that the Olympics were "an immense and garish parade of nationalism." Although President Carter's decision understandably embittered many American athletes, he steadfastly defended the Olympic boycott and asserted that it was "the only correct course for our country." The competition, opened by Soviet president Leonid Brezhnev, did not encounter any serious disruptions. There were, however, a few minor protests throughout the Games, such as when New Zealand athletes carried a black flag with the Olympic symbol of five interlocking rings and an olive branch of peace during the opening ceremonies. The Soviet team won 197 medals (80 gold, 70 silver, and 47 bronze), far outdistancing its nearest rival. East Germany ended up with 126 total medals, followed by Bulgaria (40), Hungary (32), and Poland (31). "No Games, of course, could be representative of world sport without the Americans," wrote one observer. "The 1980 Olympics were always going to be a makeshift affair from the time the American government decided on a boycott. To the Olympic medal winners, though, a medal is a medal, whoever happened to be or not to be competing. The Games is already history, and the boycott will be a progressively smaller detail of that history as time passes." Unfortunately, the 1980 boycott would have a tremendous impact on the 1984 Summer Olympiad in Los Angeles.

Sources:

Peter Arnold, The Olympic Games: Athens 1896 to Los Angeles 1984 (London: Optimum, 1983);

Allen Guttmann, The Olympics: A History of the Modern Games (Urbana 6c Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1992);

John Hoberman, The Olympic Crisis: Sporty Politics and the Moral Order (New York: Caratzas, 1986);

Ben Olan, ed., The Olympic Story 1980: Pursuit of Excellence (Danbury, Conn.: Grolier Enterprises, 1980);

Martin Vinokur, More Than A Game: Sports and Politics (New York: Greenwood Press, 1988);

Tim Wendel, Going For The Gold (Westport, Conn.: Lawrence Hill, 1980).