Olympic Games in Moscow in 1980: the opening and closing ceremonies. Results of the Olympiad

In 2017, 37 years have passed since the Soviet Union hosted the Olympic Games on its land. In Moscow and around the world, the event caused a wide response. July 19, 1980 at 16 o'clock Moscow time over a brand new stadium "Luzhniki" sounded familiar to Muscovites and other residents of the country sound. The voice of the chiming clock on the Spassky tower was heard. Following him, the "dynamics" revived: the majestic notes of the festive overture by the composer Dmitry Shostakovich stirred the feelings of the people. So signals were sent to the opening ceremony of the XXII summer games.

Chitons, togas, chariots

The tradition of holding large complex sports competitions goes back to ancient Greece. From 776 BC. E. To 394 g. E. 293 of the most important Hellenic national festivals took place in the sanctuary of Olympia. The modern continuation of a good endeavor was made possible by the initiative of a Frenchman, who at the end of XIX distinguished himself by a stormy social activity. His name is Pierre de Coubertin. The first summer games were resumed in April 1896 in Athens. Subsequently, they were held regularly, every four years, excluding the time of global cataclysms. The XXII Olympic Games awaited their time. In Moscow, under the rejoicing of the stands on July 19, 1980, the "ancient Greeks" came out on the huge arena of the "Luzhniki" stadium: ordinary guys and girls in toga and tunics.

They were accompanied by "antique" two-wheeled chariots with four horse-drawn horses each. This was a tribute to the ancient land of Hellas, the eternal spirit of the Olympics. It is worth saying that during the opening ceremony (as well as closing), part of the action was the eastern tribune. Hats, shirtlets, flags in the hands of volunteers formed into thematic pictures, sometimes quite complicated (174 plot).

The process of living "drawing" looked like a moving sea: the waves rolled and retreated, giving birth to the outlines of Athens, the Kremlin, the coat of arms of the USSR, the talismans of the miracle that was happening. Moscow-1980 markedly changed. The opening was an exciting moment, to which the country went for six long years. The fact that the USSR will host the grandiose sports event, it became known in 1974. It is noteworthy that because of the price of the issue for the right of admission, only two cities fought: Moscow and Los Angeles (USA). They say that the city of Montreal (Canada), where the 21st summer games were held, got out of debt for thirty years!

Briefly about the symbolism

The final vote showed: "my dear capital, my golden Moscow, won ...". The head of the country, Leonid Brezhnev, doubted: is it necessary for the Moscow Olympics, is it worth to go for such spending, is it not easier to pay a small penalty fee and move "aside"? We decided not to refuse: sport is a symbol of peace. But the Soviet Union always advocated that the guns were silent, and the ice of the "cold" war between the two leading powers - the Soviet Union and the US - melted. The construction of special facilities began in 1976.

At the same time, it was necessary to take care of the appearance of worthy Olympic talismans. In 1977, the host of the program "In the world of animals", Vasily Peskov, suggested that viewers choose an animal whose image will form the basis of a magical subject that can attract everyone's attention and become a favorite of the public. Eighty percent of respondents voted for the bear cub. To him gave way to laurels such nominees as a horse, a dog, a bison, an elk, a bee, an eagle, a rooster.

The All-Union competition for the best image of a clubfoot was announced. A funny bear cub with a belt from the Olympic rings, created by the artist Victor Chizhikov, broke out ahead. Later, the charming Misha really loved and remembered the whole world. The author of another most important symbol, which was enriched by the Olympics-80 (the silhouette of the Spassky tower of the Kremlin, formed from running tracks, crowned with a five-pointed star) was the student of the Stroganov School Vladimir Arsentiev. All these and many other information can be classed as pleasant moments of preparation. There were enough others, including political ones.

Boycott of sixty-five

Shortly before the summer, when the Moscow Olympics was expected in the USSR, at the request of the Afghan leadership, Soviet troops entered the country of sand and wild rocks (1979). Immediately followed by the following actions (it is believed that they are somewhat similar to the current protests and sanctions): American President Jimmy Carter has sharply advocated the imposition of economic sanctions and the boycott of the Olympic Games. The call to disrupt the event was supported by 65 states, among them - Monaco, Liechtenstein, Somalia, etc.

Twenty-four African countries arrived at the opening of the Olympics, and they accepted the invitation with apprehension. The International Organizing Committee did not invite Iran, where the revolution had just died off. UN Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim (Austria) publicly pronounced the words, which meant something like the following: "My feet will not be in the socialist den." That's not all. There were problems with the pace of infrastructure construction. In March 1980, "counted - tears": 56 of 97 planned objects were ready for reception.

The main stadium "Luzhniki", the Rowing channel in Krylatskoe, the Ostankino TV and radio complex were handed over only a month before the opening! Today, many people think that the airport "Sheremetyevo", the International Trade Center on Krasnopresnenskaya embankment, the hotel "Kosmos" have always been. But they were built only 37 years ago, thanks to the fact that Olympiad-80 was hurrying to us through the storms and obstacles of ill-wishers.

Interesting is the way to Moscow for the famous Greek fire. The relay race of runners, designed to deliver it to its destination, began a month before the opening, June 19, 1980. The torch was lit on Olympus. Many years of "priestess", receiving and transmitting the Olympic flame (1980 was no exception - the main character of the action was the famous actress Maria Moskoliyu), she extracted the shrine with the help of a concave mirror (lens). The heat of the Sun, transformed into an open flame, she presented to a student of Athenian University Atanasis Kozmopolus in the form of a torch.

The baton of runners, called to convey the burning greetings of Hellas, was observed by thousands of people of different countries and nationalities. Hot, and at the same time tamed, he successfully overcame 5 thousand kilometers.

Measures taken

How much accustomed to stir up to the bottom these Olympic Games! In Moscow, the largest city in Europe, empty arena benches are irrelevant. However, not everything is so simple: everyone was not invited, and who was invited - not all responded! Understand this and other situations.

The audience. As you know, the grandstands of the large sports arena "Luzhniki" on the opening day of the games were filled to capacity (capacity 103 thousand people). There is an opinion that it was not easy to do this: many foreigners handed in (or did not buy) a document for admission to the stadium. The organizers decided and sold tickets for 30 cents to the citizens of their native country (of course, bypassing the IOC). Everything turned out as perfectly as possible: the crowded stadium was thundering, "as if an earthquake came!"

"Sponsors". Sometimes it seems that this concept was brought to our lexicon by the Olympics in Moscow. 1980 year promised a rich harvest for "imported" investors. They promised the golden mountains in the form of compensation for part of the costs of organizing games. Because of the boycott, some "went into the fog", others reduced their investments. According to the memoirs of the head of the Organizing Committee Ignatii Novikov, only the firm Adidas (Germany) kept its word completely. It is rumored that the "firmachi" were horrified when they saw the eminent basketball player Sergei Belov, who was entrusted to light the fire of the XXII Olympiad, running to the bowl over the painted shields in his competitors' sneakers. The athlete himself explained this by the slippery surface of the path that made him use his studded shoes.

The shops. How many rumors have spawned the Summer Olympic Games! In Moscow (and almost all over the USSR) in the 1970s, people did not go hungry: the products did not differ in "capitalist diversity", but were natural, simple, useful. Someone lamented that there was not even a chewing gum (it was considered harmful). Deficiencies have been made up. Citizens of parasites, alcoholics, other unreliable persons went for one hundred and first kilometer of Moscow, so as not to spoil the overall picture of the reception.

Weather. Why did the Olympics 80 open in July? The USSR is a huge country through which many climatic belts stretch. In the capital, where precipitation is frequent, most of the sunny days are in the middle of summer. The calculation was justified.

Greetings from space

About forty minutes before Brezhnev's arrival, ignoring President Carter's ban on raising America's flag, American Den Patterson (21) deployed the US flag. They say he and his 88-year-old countryman Nick Paul regretted that there will be no athletes from their country at the games. The holiday from this did not fade. Passage began athletes from the delegation of Greece, completed - from the Soviet Union.

And between them came the messengers of 16 national teams: Australia, Andorra, Belgium, Great Britain, Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Puerto Rico, San Marino, France, Switzerland. You can call the summer international Olympic Games anthem.

In Moscow, in the arena "Luzhniki" during the ceremony, participants simultaneously released into the sky 5 thousand postal pigeons. Use of birds on such discoveries was banned after a monstrous event. In 1988, in Seoul, the birds flew and sat on the edge of the bowl. Poor fellows burned when the fire of the Olympics broke out. Who would have thought that the living Olympic talismans would die so ridiculously?

But back to the topic. In the July days of the universe, the Soyuz-35 spaceship plied with cosmonauts Valery Ryumin and Leonid Popov on board. Their congratulations to the participants and spectators reflected on the huge screen. Lord Michael Killanin, President of the IOC (International Olympic Committee), spoke. Nobody knew that shortly before the Olympics, the veteran resigned. He gave the floor to greet Leonid Brezhnev. The Secretary General of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union declared the Olympic Games in Moscow to be open.

It was after his words that a group of flag-bearers carried an Olympic flag and twenty-two athletes passed by, holding white pigeons in their hands. Birds of the world had to fly to the Moscow sky after raising the flag, on the eve of arrival in the arena of the Olympic flame. He was brought by an athlete Viktor Saneyev. He ran with a torch on the treadmill, making a kind of a circle of honor, and handed over a precious burden to the 1972 Olympic champion, Sergei Belov. An athlete of high stature (190 cm) seemed to "fly" on the deck above the exciting human sea directly to the bowl to solemnly light the fire of the Olympics.

All records your proud names

Dances of the peoples of the Soviet Union, acrobatic numbers - it was a triumph of good and peace, the triumph of beauty and power of the USSR, followed by intense days of competition. The results of the Olympics are as follows. USSR national team won 80 gold, 69 silver and 46 bronze medals, having won in the unofficial team calculation. Here are some of the names of the heroes: Victor Krovopuskov (fencing), Yuri Sedykh (hammer throwing), Alexander Starostin (modern pentathlon), Tatyana Kazankina (runner), Alexander Melentiev (shooter), Nelly Kim (gymnast).

Swimmer Vladimir Salnikov became the three-time Olympic champion for the first time in the history of Soviet sport. Alexander Dityatin is recognized as the only gymnast in the world who has medals in all exercises, which were judged by the judges. And this is only a fraction of the achievements of Soviet athletes. They took "gold" in almost all kinds of competitions, including volleyball, water polo, basketball. (Football, boxing and rowing left much to be desired).

By the way, Rika Rainish, Barbara Krause, Karen Mechuk (swimmers, GDR), Vladimir Parfenovich (canoeist, USSR) were named triple Olympic champions. The veteran of gymnastics (in his 28 years!) Nikolai Andrianov proved: "who wants, he will achieve" - and won two gold, two silver and one bronze medal. The same dignity of the award was brought home, to the German Democratic Republic, by Inessa Dirs (swimming).

Everyone heard the name of gymnast Nadi Comanechi (Comenec) from Romania (2 gold, 2 silver medals). She performed after a severe back injury, showing an example of persistence and firmness of spirit. Two "gold" and one "silver" were among the gymnasts Elena Davydova, Alexander Tkachev, swimmer Sergei Koplyakov. Natalia Shaposhnikova (two gold and two bronze medals) excelled.

The ill-wishers tried to "boo" the results, explaining that the Olympiad was held in the absence of powerful rivals from the countries boycotting the event. But no: all the victories were deserved and weighty. The intensity of the fight went off scale. 74 Olympic records included 36 of the world's top. The country and the whole world have always remembered 1980. The Olympic Games in Moscow, the Soviet, imbued with the spirit of equality and fraternity, will never be again.

The hour of farewell has come

Meanwhile, the closing of the Olympics was nearing completion. The ceremony was held on August 3, 1980. During the games, athletes from different countries, fans became one big family. It was obvious: human capabilities are great. Aimed at peaceful sports victories, they destroyed language and political barriers. At half past five in the evening, it was reported that The competitive program of the Games has been successfully completed.

The last set of awards was played by the master of equestrian sport. The overall result of the XXII Summer Olympics was as follows: the first place was awarded to the USSR (195 awards, including the RSFSR - 56, the Ukrainian SSR -48, the Byelorussian SSR-19, the Moldavian USSR -1). The second is the German Democratic Republic (126 awards), the third - Bulgaria (41 medals). At 19.30 the holiday of joy and sadness started: in the eyes of thousands of spectators Olympiad-80 became history.

And again crowded stands. The illuminated arena shimmered with all the colors of the rainbow. Fanfares have thundered. Everyone thought: what's the last greeting will give the Olympics in Moscow? 1980 seemed to end with her. The central lodge was allocated for the top leadership of the country - Yu. Andropov, V. Grishin, A. Kirilenko, A. Kosygin, M. Gorbachev (L. Brezhnev was on vacation at the time), other honored guests. Killanin was going to transfer the leadership of Juan-Antonio Samaranch.

Without fireworks

The show began as a parade of athletes. Outstanding bearers, then athletes. The column was not divided into countries and peoples. Greek and Soviet flags fluttered on flagpoles. Hymns of these countries were performed. According to the rules of the closing ceremony, the US flag was to be raised, where the 1984 summer games were supposed to be held. But at the height of the "cold" war they compromised and raised the flag of the city of Los Angeles. Lord Killanin declared the Olympics closed.

The outgoing head of the IOC urged not to use such events as a means of political protest. At 20 hours 10 minutes athletes (8 people) carried the deflated Olympic flag. The fire in the bowl, born in Olympia, began to slowly fade. Five times there was a salute. Many spectators in the stands were crying. For the first time ever, the stadium's scoreboard reflected the minutes, seconds, meters that had not been overcome, but became the screen of an unusual cinema. People saw a short film, where the brightest moments were repeated again. And where was the Olympic Bear? The song about him spread all over the world!

And then he came, the last moment. Fighters, gymnasts, swimmers, athletes, runners and other heroes of the summer Moscow Olympics left the arena. The audience remained in the stands. It seemed that the impending mystery - the sparkling paint of the show of Joseph Tumanov - was meant for them only - the most faithful, loud, sincere. At that moment, sport and art merged. Evening time was not chosen by chance: when the day goes out, the spaces turn into a mysterious background for a grandiose light show. Pyrotechnics were not planned.

Acrobatic etudes

The light was muffled, then flashed again, the action continued! Soon it became clear: the athletes were gone to return! The spectators, who just watched the performances of the dance groups, saw how the strongest acrobats of the world, Europe, the USSR joined the athletes who performed the exercises with the ribbon-scarf. Those who attended the closing testify: it is impossible to forget how a wonderful flower from flexible, fine bodies has grown and blossomed in the arena!

At this time in the space under the stands Mishka was languishing. A huge, ready to "take-off" doll had to blow off and inflate again: it did not go through the dimensions of the trough, directing it to the stadium. While the technical issue was being decided, the show continued. The field turned into a huge area for Russian folk festivals. Circling circled, sounded dashing accordions, balalaikas. It was not without huge matryoshkas. They were taken out on trucks.

As if birches grew up in a fairy tale, white swans emerged - an artistic background was created in the stands by five thousand people armed with colored tablets. There were more than one hundred and fifty copies of changing paintings! Enviable coherence of action! Failures were not observed. At last Mishka appeared. For some time he sailed through the stadium, held by the escort team.

Fairy Forest on the Sparrow Hills

When he reached the flaming cup, the talisman waved farewell to the tribunes, where everything became quieter: the fabulous Misha it was time to go to his fabulous forest. These words from the song, under which the favorite left the "Luzhniki". He flew, according to the plan, rising up three and a half meters, began to move away from the stadium past the bowl, under the tears obscured by the spectators.

The closure occurred. Leaving the stands, some fans, for sure, wondered about where the squat buddy will land. There were those who did not want to lose faith in the romantic outcome. For them, the talisman to this day lives in a magical spruce forest far (or near?) From Moscow. In the Olympic village, the night of farewells, the hopes of new meetings, promises not to forget each other. A glorious rubber beast landed on the Sparrow Hills, was picked up by the search team and sent to the warehouse.

So it remained a "mystery of the century" with a difficult fate Olympic Mishka. The song of this character ended on the Sparrow Hills. There he was picked up and hidden in a warehouse. They say that buyers from West Germany persuaded the authorities to sell yesterday's talisman for good money. But the purchase and sale did not take place.

Misha had another minute of glory. He was exhibited in the pavilion at VDNH. According to some reports, soon the legend came to an end. At the place of storage in the basement of the Olympic Committee, it was destroyed by mice and rats. But the talisman remained in the memory of the people. Like the Olympics-80 itself.