USA initierade en bojkott av spelen. Den officiella orsaken till bojkotten var Sovjetunionens invasion i Afghanistan i december1979. Bojkotten medförde att spelen blev de minsta i antal deltagare och deltagande nationer sedan 1956. Totalt 65 nationer bojkottade spelen, men de flesta var små idrottsnationer i Asien, Afrika och Sydamerika. Av de större idrottsnationerna bojkottade USA, Kanada och Japan. Västtyskland, Liechtenstein, Monaco och Norge var de enda europeiska länderna som valde att bojkotta.
Gymnasten Aleksandr Ditiatin från Sovjetunionen erövrade en medalj i varje gren han deltog i. Han tog guld i ringar och lagtävlingen, silver i hopp, barr, räck och bygelhäst samt brons i fristående.
Supertungviktaren Teofilo Stevenson, Kuba, erövrade sin tredje raka titel i boxningens supertungvikt. Han blev den förste med tre guld i samma viktklass.
Gerd Wessig, DDR, blev den förste höjdhopparen som satte världsrekord i en OS-final.
Vladimir Salnikov, Sovjetunionen, blev den förste simmaren som klarade 1 500 m frisim på mindre än 15 minuter. Han erövrade tre guldmedaljer.
De brittiska löparna Steve Ovett och Sebastian Coe vann 800 m respektive 1 500 m och tog dessutom var sin medalj ytterligare, (Coe silver och Ovett brons).
DDR dominerade roddtävlingarna och tog hem 11 av de 14 titlarna. Samtliga 54 roddare som tävlade tog medalj.
DDR dominerade stort damernas simgrenar och erövrade 11 av de 13 titlarna och missade endast 9 av 35 möjliga medaljer.
Landhockey för damer hade olympisk premiär. Zimbabwe (som Sydrhodesia var man utslutna ur OS), tillbaka efter att man inför svart majoritetsstyre, vann överraskande. Alla spelarna i laget var vita.
Boxaren Shadrach Odhiambo skulle deltagit för Uganda i Montréal fyra år tidigare men eftersom Uganda bojkottade dessa spel fick han åka hem igen. I Moskva var han tillbaka, nu tävlande för Sverige.
Totalt deltog 81 länder i spelen 1980, men Liberia drog sig ur efter att endast deltagit i invigningsceremonin och därmed var det endast 80 länder som tävlade. Angola, Botswana, Cypern (de debuterade vid vinterspelen i Lake Placid tidigare samma år), Jordanien, Laos, Moçambique och Seychellerna debuterade vid dessa spel. Tre länder återkom till spelen under nya namn, Benin (tidigare Dahomey), Sri Lanka (tidigare Ceylon) och Zimbabwe (tidigare Rhodesia).
Ett flertal länder som deltog i spelen visade ändå sina sympatier med de bojkottande länderna genom att inte tävla under sina egna flaggor utan istället under den olympiska flaggan, undantaget Nya Zeeland som tävlade under den nationella olympiska kommitténs flagga.
På grund av Sovjetunionens invasion av Afghanistan 1979 ledde USA en bojkott av spelen i Moskva. Hela 65 länder som var inbjudna till spelen ställde inte upp, men några av dessa ställde inte upp av andra orsaker än bojkotten.[1]
Varken Folkrepubliken Kina eller Republiken Kina (Taiwan) ställde upp vid spelen på grund av konflikten rörande under vilket namn som Republiken Kina skulle tävla under. I november 1976 erkände IOK Folkrepubliken Kina som legitim representant för Kina och 1979 började IOK referera till Republiken Kina som Kina-Taipei i enlighet med Nagoyaresolutionen. Det fick till följd att båda länderna bojkottade spelen 1976 och 1980.
Basketball pictogram.svg Pictograms of Olympic sports - Basketball. This is unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.
Boxing pictogram.svg Pictograms of Olympic sports - Boxing. This is unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.
Wrestling pictogram.svg Pictograms of Olympic sports - Wrestling. This is unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.
Archery pictogram.svg Pictograms of Olympic sports - Archery. This is unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.
Cycling pictogram.svg Pictograms of Olympic sports - Cycling (road). This is unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.
Cycling (road) pictogram.svg Pictograms of Olympic sports - Cycling (road). This is unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.
Football pictogram.svg Pictograms of Olympic sports - Football. This is unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.
Athletics pictogram.svg Pictograms of Olympic sports – . This is an unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.
Fencing pictogram.svg Pictograms of Olympic sports - Fencing. This is unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.
Gymnastics (artistic) pictogram.svg Pictograms of Olympic sports - Gymnastics (artistic). This is unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.
Handball pictogram.svg Pictograms of Olympic sports - Handball. This is unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.
Judo pictogram.svg Pictograms of Olympic sports - Judo. This is unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for the 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.
Canoeing (flatwater) pictogram.svg Pictograms of Olympic sports - Canoeing (flatwater). This is unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.
Field hockey pictogram.svg Pictograms of Olympic sports - Field hockey. This is unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.
Modern pentathlon pictogram (pre-2025).svg Pictograms of Olympic sports - Modern pentathlon. This is unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.
Rowing pictogram.svg Pictograms of Olympic sports - Rowing. This is unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.
Sailing pictogram.svg Pictograms of Olympic sports - Sailing. This is unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.
Diving pictogram.svg Pictograms of Olympic sports - Diving. This is unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.
Swimming pictogram.svg Pictograms of Olympic sports - Swimming. This is unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.
Shooting pictogram.svg Pictograms of Olympic sports - Shooting. This is unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.
Weightlifting pictogram.svg Pictograms of Olympic sports - Weightlifting. This is unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.
Water polo pictogram.svg Pictograms of Olympic sports - Water polo. This is unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.
Volleyball (indoor) pictogram.svg Pictograms of Olympic sports - Volleyball (indoor). This is unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.
Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg Den Dominikanska republikens flagga består av ett vitt centrerat kors som sträcker sig hela vägen ut till flaggans kant. I mitten på korset sitter ett emblem med en bibel, ett gyllene kors och sex dominikanska flaggor. Emblemet är omgivet av olivkvistar och palmblad. Under emblemet står ”Republica Dominicana” och ovanför ett band med landets mottot ”Dios, Patria, Libertad” (”Gud, Landet, Frihet”).
Flag of Jamaica.svg Flag of Jamaica. “The sunshine, the land is green, and the people are strong and bold” is the symbolism of the colours of the flag. GOLD represents the natural wealth and beauty of sunlight; GREEN represents hope and agricultural resources; BLACK represents the strength and creativity of the people. The original symbolism, however, was "Hardships there are, but the land is green, and the sun shineth", where BLACK represented the hardships being faced.
Flag of Israel.svg Flag of Israel. Shows a Magen David (“Shield of David”) between two stripes. The Shield of David is a traditional Jewish symbol. The stripes symbolize a Jewish prayer shawl (tallit).
Flag of Chinese Taipei for Olympic games.svg Chinese Taipei Olympic Flag. According to the official website of Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee, Blue Sky(circle) & White Sun(triangles) above the Olympic rings is neither the National Emblem of the Republic of China, nor the Party Emblem of Kuomintang (KMT), but a design in between, where the triangles do not extend to the edge of the blue circle, as registered at International Olympic Committee in 1981 and digitally rendered in 2013. Besides, the blue outline of the five-petaled plum blossom is broader than the red one. Moreover, the CMYK code of the blue one and the Blue Sky & White Sun is "C100-M100-Y0-K0", and different from the Olympic rings (C100-M25-Y0-K0). Note that it's the only version recognized by IOC.
Olympic rings.svg Olympic Rings without "rims" (gaps between the rings), As used, eg. in the logos of the 2008 and 2016 Olympics. The colour scheme applied here was specified in 2023 guidelines.
Olympic rings without rims.svg Olympic Rings without "rims" (gaps between the rings), As used, eg. in the logos of the 2008 and 2016 Olympics. The colour scheme applied here was specified in 2023 guidelines.
Flag of Egypt (1972-1984).svg The Egyptian flag (1972-1984). Also the flag of Libya (1972-1977) and Syria (1972-1980), when the three countries formed the nominal “Federation of Arab Republics”. (For a map of the federation, see Image:Esl.PNG.)
The Arab text in the scroll held by the “Golden Hawk of Qureish” reads Arabic اتحاد الجمهوريات العربية, ittiħād al-jumhūriyyāt al-`arabiyya, i.e. the Federation (literally “Union”) of Arab Republics — in a quasi-Kufic script (in its original form, with a very ornamental letter dal د).
Volleyball pictogram.svg Pictograms of Olympic sports - Volleyball (indoor). This is unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.
Canoeing pictogram.svg Pictograms of Olympic sports - Canoeing (flatwater). This is unofficial sample picture. Images of official Olympic pictograms for 1948 Summer Olympics and all Summer Olympics since 1964 can be found in corresponding Official Reports.
Sovjetunionen
Östtyskland
Bulgarien
Kuba
Italien
Ungern
Rumänien
Polen
_pictogram.svg)
_pictogram.svg)
_pictogram.svg)
.svg)
_pictogram.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
_(construction).png)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
%2c_Flag_of_Syria_(1980%e2%80%932024).svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
,
Licens: CC BY-SA 3.0
,
Licens: CC BY-SA 3.0