Boxing at the 1980 Summer Olympics
Boxing at the 1980 Summer Olympics | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Light flyweight | men |
Flyweight | men |
Bantamweight | men |
Featherweight | men |
Lightweight | men |
Light welterweight | men |
Welterweight | men |
Light middleweight | men |
Middleweight | men |
Light heavyweight | men |
Heavyweight | men |
Boxing at the 1980 Summer Olympics took place at the Indoor Stadium of the Olympiyski Sports Complex in Moscow from 20 July to 2 August. Eleven boxing events (all men's individual) were contested with the participation of 271 fighters from 51 countries.[1]
Non-participating teams
Had the United States and West Germany participated in the Olympics, their teams would have encompassed the following athletes:
Weight class | ![]() |
![]() |
---|---|---|
48 kg | Robert Shannon | Heinrich Boell |
51 kg | Richard Sandoval | Stefan Gertel |
54 kg | Jackie Beard | Peter Suckrow |
57 kg | Bernard Taylor | Klaus-Dieter Ott |
60 kg | Joe Manley | René Weller |
63 kg | Johnny Bumphus | Michael Kopzog |
67 kg | Don Curry | Ernst Müller |
71 kg | James Shuler | Markus Intlekofer |
75 kg | Charles Carter | Reinhard Jassmann |
81 kg | Lee Roy Murphy | Kurt Seiler |
+81 kg | James Broad | Peter Hussing |
The only meeting of American and Cuban boxers (who eventually took 6 gold, 2 silver, and 2 bronze medals at the Olympics) that year took place in Charlotte, North Carolina, February 1980, prior to the boycott, the United States were represented by the different team, while the Cuban team was almost identic to their Olympic team.[2] The absence of the U.S. boxing team at the Olympics was used by Soviet and IOC propaganda outlining how the U.S. absence constituted a defeat for the United States.[3] Anthony Austin of The New York Times noted the absence of the U.S., West German, Japanese, and other teams as painfully obvious in the opening procession of the 1980 Games. Nonetheless, the quality of the competition was high. Austin argued that the White House misplaced their hope if officials expected the boycott to reduce the Moscow games to a second-class sporting event. He also added that the games ended on a colorful note even with the sparse attendance of countries at the closing ceremony.[4] Taking away the Olympic tickets from eleven U.S. boxers not only deprived them of chance to prove their superiority, but also stripped them from million-dollar contracts in the future, as the Olympics serve a positive push necessary for a succesful professional career, which almost none of them had.[5] Nonetheless, the absence of American boxers, as well as track athletes, swimmers, and basketball players, who have traditionally been dominant in the events in which they excel, accounted for the huge numbers of medals picked off by the Socialist countries.[6]
Although the U.S. 1980 Boxing team was not as impressive as its 1976 Olympic team that featured Sugar Ray Leonard, Howard Davis and the Spinks brothers, the U.S. team would have been competing for gold in several weight classes, namely: Richard Sandoval (light flyweight), Jackie Beard (bantamweight) and Bernard Taylor (featherweight). Without the U.S. and Western European teams, the competition was sure to be decided among the boxers of socialist countries.[7]
Medalists
Medal table
* Host nation (Soviet Union)
Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() | 6 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
2 | ![]() | 1 | 6 | 1 | 8 |
3 | ![]() | 1 | 0 | 5 | 6 |
4 | ![]() | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
5 | ![]() | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
![]() | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
7 | ![]() | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
8 | ![]() | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
![]() | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
10 | ![]() | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
![]() | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
12 | ![]() | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
![]() | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
![]() | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
![]() | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
![]() | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Totals (16 entries) | 11 | 11 | 22 | 44 |
Participation
NOC | 48 kg | 51 kg | 54 kg | 57 kg | 60 kg | 63.5 kg | 67 kg | 71 kg | 75 kg | 81 kg | +81 kg | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
X | X | X | 3 | ||||||||
![]() |
X | X | 2 | |||||||||
![]() |
X | X | X | 3 | ||||||||
![]() |
X | X | 2 | |||||||||
![]() |
X | 1 | ||||||||||
![]() |
X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 7 | ||||
![]() |
X | X | X | X | 4 | |||||||
![]() |
X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 11 |
![]() |
X | X | X | X | 4 | |||||||
![]() |
X | X | X | 3 | ||||||||
![]() |
X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 11 |
![]() |
X | X | X | 3 | ||||||||
![]() |
X | X | X | 3 | ||||||||
![]() |
X | 1 | ||||||||||
![]() |
X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 10 | |
![]() |
X | X | X | 3 | ||||||||
![]() |
X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 8 | |||
![]() |
X | X | X | X | X | 5 | ||||||
![]() |
X | X | 2 | |||||||||
![]() |
X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 9 | ||
![]() |
X | X | X | 3 | ||||||||
![]() |
X | X | X | X | 4 | |||||||
![]() |
X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 9 | ||
![]() |
X | X | X | 3 | ||||||||
![]() |
X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 7 | ||||
![]() |
X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 7 | ||||
![]() |
X | X | X | X | 4 | |||||||
![]() |
X | X | X | X | X | X | 6 | |||||
![]() |
X | X | 2 | |||||||||
![]() |
X | X | X | 3 | ||||||||
![]() |
X | 1 | ||||||||||
![]() |
X | X | X | X | 4 | |||||||
![]() |
X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 7 | ||||
![]() |
X | X | X | 3 | ||||||||
![]() |
X | X | 2 | |||||||||
![]() |
X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 8 | |||
![]() |
X | X | X | X | X | X | 6 | |||||
![]() |
X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 11 |
![]() |
X | 1 | ||||||||||
![]() |
X | X | X | 3 | ||||||||
![]() |
X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 11 |
![]() |
X | X | 2 | |||||||||
![]() |
X | X | 2 | |||||||||
![]() |
X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 11 |
![]() |
X | X | X | X | X | X | 6 | |||||
![]() |
X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 8 | |||
![]() |
X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 9 | ||
![]() |
X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 7 | ||||
![]() |
X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 9 | ||
![]() |
X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 9 | ||
![]() |
X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 8 | |||
51 NOCs | 22 | 22 | 33 | 35 | 29 | 30 | 29 | 23 | 19 | 15 | 14 | 271 |
References
- ^ "Boxing at the 1980 Moscow Summer Games". Sports Reference. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
- ^ U.S.-Cuba bout grows in importance, The Anniston Star, February 9, 1980, p. 22.
- ^ Why Us, Mr. President?: The US Boxing Team and the Boycott
- ^ Austin, Anthony “Games End on Colorful Note,” The New York Times, August 4, 1980, C1 & 4
- ^ The American Olympic Team that Wasn't by Martin Mulcahey.
- ^ Kirschten, Dick (31 May 1980). "The Olympic Boycott and Sinking Expectations". National Journal. 12 (22): 903. ISSN 0360-4217.
- ^ Caraccioli, Tom; Caraccioli, Jerry (2008). Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. New Chapter Press. p. 177.